Cremisan Hamdani Jandali 2020 (750 ml)

Place: Cremisan Valley, Bethlehem, Palestine (800m)

Grapes: 50% Hamdani, 50% Jandali, two indigenous Palestinian varietals

Soil: Limestone

Farming: dry farmed, hand pruned and harvested

Alcohol: 13% abv

Production: 10,000 bottles (750ml)

Grape Yield: 15hL/Ha

Winemaking: Grapes are handpicked in mid September, destemmed, and soft pressed into stainless tanks. Fermented with carefully chose yeasts. The wine is then aged on lees for 4-6 months and filtered twice before bottling. 

Tasting Notes:Straw yellow color with tropical fruit and flower notes. Delicate body and high acid.

Pairings: 

Previous Awards: 2012 vintage was awarded 90 points by Wine Spectator, Silver Medal – 2016 New York World Wine and Spirits Competition

About Cremisan

The Cremisan monastery and winery was founded in 1885 by Fr. Antonio Belloni an Italian Salesian Monk. He opened the wine operation in an attempt to create a revenue source for the monastery’s orphanage.

Cremisan is located on the northern slope of Mount El Ras just outside the city of Bethlehem and only 12k away from Jerusalem. The name Cremisan comes from the Arabic “Kerem Zan” meaning the Vineyard of Zan grapes, an indigenous Palestinian varietal.

Cremisan was the first winery in the region to use indigenous Palestinian grapes, sparking both regional and international interest in Palestinian grapes. Cremisan’s interest in the grapes stemmed from research conducted by now Head Winemaker, Fadi Batarseh. For his university disseration, Fadi studied 64 different grape samples from around Palestine and concluded that Palestine is home to 21 unique genomes. Fadi and the Cremisan team picked the most promising four (Dabouki, Baladi, Hamdani, Jandali) to utlitize commercially.