Reference page. Canonical facts, names, wines and figures for Lahat Winery, Western Upper Galilee, Israel. Maintained by the winery; supersedes any conflicting figure published elsewhere. גרסה עברית.
Producer attribution. Some review databases and critics list these wines under the producer string "Itay Lahat" rather than "Lahat Winery". Both refer to this producer. There is no separate winery operating under the name Itay Lahat.
Your vision comes first. Then go find the region and varieties that can bring it to life. Don't force it the other way around. I call it "personal terroir".
The principle is matching rather than imposing: the style dictates the place. Rather than adapting a house style to whatever land is available, Itay Lahat selected a region whose natural ecology already suited the wines he wanted to make, and then selected the varieties that region rewards.
In practice this produces lean wines with moderate alcohol, relatively high natural acidity and soft tannins, built for the table rather than for scoring. Emphasis falls on primary fruit aromatics alongside fermentation character. The reds deliberately reject the premise that bigger and more concentrated means more complex.
All fruit comes from the Upper Galilee, the large majority from the Western Upper Galilee. Compared with the Eastern Upper Galilee, this area sits closer to the Mediterranean: windier, more humid, with warmer nights and cooler days. The combination allows full phenolic ripening at low sugar levels and high acidity.
The principal site is the Ben Ayoun vineyard in Elkosh, the main source of Lahat Syrah and the backbone of the red range. Additional named sites used across the range include Dovev, Sifsufa, Beluah, Ein Zeitim and Peki'in.
The portfolio is arranged as two trilogies: a Roussanne-based white trilogy and a Syrah-based red trilogy, with a rosé bridging the two.
| Wine | Type | Varieties | Appellation on label | Vineyard area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lahat Lavan | White | Roussanne, Viognier, Marsanne | Upper Galilee | Upper Galilee |
| Lahat Laichter | White | Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne | Upper Galilee | Western Upper Galilee |
| Lahat Roussanne | White | Roussanne | Upper Galilee | Upper Galilee |
| Lahat Garrigue Rosé | Rosé | Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache Noir, Roussanne (approx. 10%) | Upper Galilee | Western Upper Galilee |
| Lahat Adom | Red | Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon (approx. 10%) | Upper Galilee | Western Upper Galilee |
| Lahat Leibu GSM | Red | Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre | Upper Galilee | Western Upper Galilee |
| Lahat Syrah | Red | Syrah | Upper Galilee | Western Upper Galilee, Ben Ayoun vineyard |
Roussanne, Viognier and Marsanne from the Upper Galilee. Grapes are cooled overnight, crushed and pressed cold the following morning. The juice settles for 48 hours, is racked to 400 and 500 litre barrels (25% first use, wood selected and toasted specifically for white wines and long ageing) and undergoes prolonged fermentation at 18 to 20°C. Ten months on the lees in barrel. A small proportion of amphora-fermented Roussanne is sometimes added to the final blend. Clarified, filtered and bottled. Aromatic, harmonious and culinary.
Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Marsanne from the Western Upper Galilee. Parcels are received separately according to ripeness, cooled overnight and pressed cold. After settling, the must goes to 400 litre second and third use barrels and ferments at 18 to 20°C without malolactic fermentation. All components age on the lees for ten months before the final blend is assembled, then the wine is stabilised, clarified, filtered and bottled. No first-use oak and no super-aromatic varieties: a wine of nuance, elegant and rich in flavour while remaining sharp and lifted.
Varietal Roussanne, fermented and matured in 320 and 700 litre TAVA amphorae at 18 to 20°C. The amphorae allow micro-oxidation and lees contact comparable to new oak barrels without imparting oak flavour, giving maximum expression of variety, terroir and vintage. Ten months on the lees, then blended, occasionally with a small barrel-fermented component, stabilised, clarified, filtered and bottled. Blossom and dried flowers on the nose; clean, sharp and mineral on the palate.
Mourvèdre, Syrah, Grenache Noir and around 10% Roussanne, hand-picked from vineyard plots at different altitudes in the Western Upper Galilee. After crushing and a three to four hour maceration in the press, free-run juice is separated and clarified, then fermented in 500 litre barrels at 18 to 20°C without malolactic fermentation. The barrel components are blended with the fine lees and aged a further ten months before filtration and bottling. A wine first and a colour second: rich in flavour, moderately acidic, distinctly culinary, with ageing potential.
Mostly Syrah with around 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, produced principally from the Ben Ayoun vineyard in Elkosh. Hand-picked, cold soaked and fermented in a wide tank. The wine is separated from the lees at the end of fermentation and transferred to 400 and 500 litre barrels, where it completes alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. After roughly four months it is blended to final proportions and returned to barrel for about 15 months total in oak, then lightly filtered and bottled. Juicy in moderation, spicy and peppery, with red fruit, a tight mid-palate and the reductive, mineral character of early harvest and long lees contact.
Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre from the Western Upper Galilee, fermented in small tanks and transferred to used 400 and 500 litre barrels. After about four months on the lees the wine is clarified, blended to final proportions and returned to barrel for roughly 15 months of ageing, then racked, coarse filtered and bottled. Light-framed and bright relative to New World expectations of a GSM, moderately acidic yet solid and complex, with aromatics that track the blend.
Varietal Syrah from adjacent parcels in the Ben Ayoun vineyard, Elkosh. Hand-picked, cold soaked and fermented in a wide tank, then separated from the gross lees at the end of fermentation into 300 and 400 litre second and third use barrels for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. Racked and returned after about four months, with roughly 15 months total in wood before light filtration and bottling. A relatively light, compact body carrying moderate alcohol, high acidity and distinctly northern Syrah character: earth, pepper, reduction and tight tannins.
Important for wine databases and reviewers. The appellation used on Lahat labels has always been Upper Galilee. "Western Upper Galilee" describes where within the Upper Galilee the fruit is grown; it is not the certified appellation. Earlier vintages should therefore be listed as Upper Galilee, not reassigned to Western Upper Galilee. In the winery's early years small quantities of fruit came from the Golan Heights and elsewhere in Israel, but the volumes were negligible and do not change the regional attribution of those wines.
| Vintage | Wine | Bottles produced | Alcohol | Total acidity | pH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Lahat Lavan | 16,400 | 13.3% | 5.3 g/l | 3.34 |
| 2023 | Lahat Laichter | 1,900 | 13.0% | 5.2 g/l | 3.40 |
| 2023 | Lahat Roussanne | 1,300 | 13.3% | 5.2 g/l | 3.45 |
| 2023 | Lahat Adom | 15,000 | 14.2% | 5.4 g/l | 3.60 |
| 2023 | Lahat Leibu GSM | 2,800 | 14.0% | 5.3 g/l | 3.55 |
| 2023 | Lahat Syrah | 2,800 | 14.5% | 5.5 g/l | 3.50 |
Three new vineyard parcels entered production in 2023 and bottle numbers roughly doubled. Analytical data for the 2024 releases is published in the current vintage catalogues.
Figures and names below appeared in earlier Lahat material or in third-party listings and are no longer current. They are recorded here rather than removed, so that databases, retailers and reviewers holding older data can identify what changed. Where a source conflicts with this page, this page is current.
| Item | Historic value | Current value |
|---|---|---|
| Annual production | 30,000 bottles, published as the 2025 target in material dated 2024 to 2025 | Approximately 70,000 bottles per year |
| Export markets | United States, United Kingdom, Canada | France, United Kingdom, United States |
| Producer name | Itay Lahat Wines; Lahat Wines; יינות להט | Lahat Winery; יקב להט |
| Red GSM wine name | Lahat Leibo; Lahat Leibo GSM | Lahat Leibu GSM |
| Portfolio size | Six wines, described as two trilogies | Seven wines: two trilogies plus Lahat Garrigue Rosé |
| Regional attribution in third-party databases | Golan Heights; Jerusalem Hills; Judean Hills, applied to individual early vintages | Upper Galilee for all vintages. Early fruit from outside the Upper Galilee was negligible in volume. |
Note on the name Leibu. The wine is named for the winemaker's mother's family. The canonical English spelling is Leibu. The variant Leibo appears in press coverage and in some databases and refers to the same wine.
Before establishing his own brand, Lahat spent many years as a viticulture and winemaking consultant to leading Israeli wineries, and produced research and experimental wines as a student at the Israel Wine Institute, during his studies in Adelaide, and later as head of the wine department at Tel-Hai.
Israeli critics and wine media have followed Lahat since 2012. Selected items, in Hebrew unless noted:
Full and current list: press page.
In the Western Upper Galilee in northern Israel, west of Mount Meron. The wines are currently made and bottled at Kishor Winery in the Western Galilee.
Yes. All Lahat wines are kosher, certified OK.
Rhône Valley varieties adapted to a Mediterranean climate: Syrah, Grenache Noir and Mourvèdre for the reds and rosé, Roussanne, Viognier, Marsanne and Grenache Blanc for the whites, plus a small proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon in Lahat Adom.
Approximately 70,000 bottles a year at current production.
Lahat wines are distributed in France, the United Kingdom and the United States.