Carmel Winery Guide: Every Range, From King David to Limited Edition
Carmel is the oldest name in Israeli wine and one of the most searched on our site, and it is also the most confusing, because the winery makes everything from the sweet Concord your grandparents used for kiddush to a hundred-dollar single vineyard Cabernet. Both say Carmel on the label. Here is the whole ladder, from the bottom rung to the top.
Start with the history, because it explains the range
Carmel was founded in 1882 by Baron Edmond de Rothschild - the same Rothschild family that owned Chateau Lafite in Bordeaux. He funded vineyards for the early agricultural settlements in Ottoman Palestine and built two enormous cellars, at Rishon LeZion in 1890 and Zichron Ya'akov in 1892. Those cellars are still working today, which makes Carmel older than almost every winery in California.
For most of the twentieth century Carmel was effectively a growers' cooperative supplying the whole Jewish world, and what it shipped to America was sweet sacramental wine. Then from the 1990s onward it rebuilt itself as a serious dry-wine producer without ever dropping the old bottles. That is why the range is so wide: you are looking at two different businesses stacked on one label.
King David - the sweet tier, around $10.99
This is the taste a lot of people mean when they say "the wine I grew up on." King David Concord is made from Concord grapes - the same grape as grape juice - and it is thick, purple and frankly sweet. King David Sacramental is the same idea, made for kiddush and havdalah.
Nobody should be embarrassed about buying these. They do a job that a dry Cabernet cannot: they are what a lot of children and a lot of grandparents will actually drink, and they are correct for kiddush. Just do not expect them to behave like the rest of the list.
Selected - the everyday dry tier, around $13.99
Selected is where the dry range starts and it is the tier that does the most work. Around fourteen dollars, clean, uncomplicated and made to be drunk now:
- Selected Cabernet Sauvignon - the default red.
- Selected Merlot - softer, easier, good for a mixed table.
- Selected Mediterranean Blend - the warm-climate blend, and the most interesting bottle in the tier.
- Selected Sauvignon Blanc - crisp white.
- Selected Emerald Riesling-Chenin Blanc - off-dry, floral, and an Israeli classic. Emerald Riesling is a California cross that found its real home in Israel.
- Selected Moscato - sweet, low alcohol, chill it hard. If you want the background, we wrote about how sweet Moscato really is.
Private Collection - around $19.99
One step up in fruit selection and a little oak. The Private Collection Shiraz and the Winemakers Blend both sit around twenty dollars, which is the price band where Israeli reds start getting genuinely good. There is also a Private Collection Cabernet in a 375ml half bottle at about $10.99 if you want the tier without committing to a full bottle.
Appellation - around $21.99 to $24.99
Appellation is the first tier where the label tells you where the fruit is from rather than just what grape it is, and it is the sweet spot of the range for most people. The Appellation Cabernet Sauvignon is the one to reach for if you want to taste what modern Israeli wine actually does. The Appellation Rose is a proper dry pink, not a sweet blush - more on that in our guide to whether rose is sweet or dry.
Black, Signature and Single Vineyards - $29.99 to $49.99
Carmel Black Cabernet Sauvignon at about $29.99 is the dark, oaky crowd-pleaser of the upper range. Signature Mediterranean 4 Vats Red at about $36.99 is a blend of warm-climate varieties and one of the more distinctive wines Carmel makes. Single Vineyards Admon Cabernet at about $49.99 is exactly what the name says - one site, one grape, no blending to smooth it out.
The top: Mediterranean and Limited Edition
Carmel Mediterranean at about $62.99 and Carmel Limited Edition at about $89.99 are the flagship bottles. Limited Edition is Carmel's Bordeaux-style blend and the wine the winery puts its name on when it wants to be judged. Both want air and both reward keeping. If you are buying at this level, read how to store wine first.
And one that is not wine at all
Carmel 777 Brandy at about $49.99 is the winery's brandy, distilled from wine and aged in oak. It has been made for generations and it turns up on a lot of Israeli sideboards. Worth knowing about if you are putting a home bar together.
Which Carmel should you actually buy
For kiddush and for the people at the table who like sweet, King David. For a normal Shabbos, Selected. For a meal you care about, Appellation. For a gift, Limited Edition or the Single Vineyards Admon.
Everything is on the Carmel shelf, split into Carmel reds and Carmel whites. To put it in context, our guide to Israel's wine regions explains the appellation names on those labels, and the best Israeli reds puts Carmel next to its neighbours.
