Perfect Days of Football and Wine

It really is all about football at the moment in our home. First it was the FA Cup being discussed all the time, and now the 2014 FIFA World Cup. I briefly mentioned the fact that it was my birthday on the day of the FA Cup Final in a previous post. Since then Mister Handmade in Israel and I have celebrated our wedding anniversary and, as with any celebration in our home, that means a handmade card. Of course it was football-themed!

Now, I am originally from Hull, in the north of England, and Mister Handmade in Israel is from London. Thus we support two different football teams. My team, Hull City, waited 110 years for their first FA Cup Final, whilst Arsenal, Mister Handmade in Israel's team, have been somewhat more successful in recent years. There was great excitement in our home when we realised that the two teams were to meet in the final... and on my birthday too!
On the morning of the big day our house was ready. The kids had decorated the lounge in a mass of red and white, and black and amber! I excitedly opened my birthday presents and was intrigued to discover a medal inside the package from my husband. "Lisa Isaacs FA Cup Runners Up 17th May 2014" it read. Before we had even played the game!

Well, in the end my team lost but I had a great birthday anyway! I did appreciate Mister Handmade in Israel's little joke and decided to immortalise it on our anniversary card just a few weeks later. Below you can see the two of us on the card. I am wearing my Hull City t-shirt and he's in his Arsenal shirt. Around my neck is the aforementioned medal. We're still holding hands though - at the end of the day it's only a "beautiful" game!

The FA Cup brought an end to the English football season, which meant that our anniversary could be spent in a rather more romantic way than watching a football game. I decided to book a cheese and wine tasting session at the nearby Kadma Winery, a new winery located in Kfar Uriah, a place where vineyards were grown and wine was made in Roman and the Byzantine times.

The Kadma Winery combines ancient wine making techniques with modern technology, and revives some of the wine making methods that were used in the area in the ancient world. It is the only winery in Israel that uses large earthenware vessels, brought from Georgia, as part of the wine production process. Each of these vessels weighs almost 150 kilo grams and when full of liquid weighs over a ton. In the southern Caucasus the huge vessels are usually buried in the ground in order to maintain a fixed temperature during the fermentation process. In Israel the warm soil temperatures do not allow this and as a result the vessels remain standing upright in the cool rooms of the winery. 

The winery has a small visitor centre and our visit included a film about Kadma's unique wine making process and a lecture from Vlad, the husband of Lina, the ex-high tech worker who founded and manages the place. This was followed by a "meal" of wine and locally produced bread and cheese. Neither Mister Handmade in Israel or I are wine experts by any means - we just enjoy a nice glass of the stuff now and then - but we were assured that fermentation in the earthenware vessels and the vessels special structure increases the intensity of the aroma and colour of Kadma's wine. Who knows? The winery is young and only time will tell, but the sight of the elegant vessels, the interesting historical information conveyed by the family, and the beautiful location of the winery, facing a landscape of green Judean Hills, made for a good visit.

As good as the football any day!