I invited David Silverman, Israel's most well-known wine photographer, for lunch to discuss his work past and present. On the first winter afternoon in Tel Aviv, over a meal of rillettes de thon, couscous with chicken and chocolate cake we reviewed his fascinating life journey and tasted an exceptional wine from South Africa which he now brings to Israel.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1962, and stayed there till I was almost 21. I went to Highlands North Boys High, a government school, and then did a couple of years at university before making Aliyah.
When did you move to Israel and why?
I come from a very community-involved and Zionist family.
My dad's father was born in Jerusalem, and as a teen, around 1916, moved to South Africa with his parents. His dad, my great-grandfather, was a shohet (ritual slaughterer) and mashgiah (kashrut supervisor). They were what we would call today part of the Kehilat Jerusalem ultra-Orthodox community.
Over time, my grandfather became modern in his thinking, and went on to be one of the founders of the Reform Jewish movement in South Africa. My grandmother was involved for many years in Jewish women's' movements and later my father was also involved in the Reform Movement.
As a kid my parents sent me to the Reform Zionist youth movement, Noe called Netzer (similar to NFTY in the States), and by my teens I knew I wanted to move to Israel. I was ready to do so right out of high school but at my parent's insistence I did a few years at university there until I decided enough was enough and I made Aliyah in 1983.
How did your interest in photography develop? Was it always a passion?
I always liked photography. After making Aliyah, and trying my hand at Hebrew University, and recognizing that I was not meant to be an academic, I decided to go to the Camera Obscura photo college in Jerusalem. I studied for two and a half years before finally doing my military service, as a photographer in the Engineering Corps.
After that, I did try my hand at studio and archaeological photography but it was not working out. At the time, I was playing rugby for the Hebrew U. team, and one of my teammates worked for Reuters. I was looking for work in photography, and they were looking for a darkroom assistant, which led me pretty much to where I am today.
You worked for both Reuters and Getty news agencies. Tell us about those experiences and your experience as a photojournalist.
That was almost 20 years of non-stop experiences, for better or worse, from covering religions to politics, through violence and death on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and international diplomacy.
I found myself crossing the line, back and forth, between demonstrating Palestinians and Israeli troops on multiple occasions, coming home drenched in the smells of burnt tires and tear gas. I climbed through windows accompanying Israeli troops in Tulkarem and dodged Palestinian bullets in Jenin.
I had the privilege to photograph Israeli leaders like Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon and Shimon Peres, to be witness to the Oslo peace process, and also its demise.
When did you become interested in wine?
I had always liked wine. We grew up enjoying wine at home in South Africa. One of my last experiences in the country was visiting wineries in Franschhoek just before making Aliyah. When I did move to Jerusalem though, and was staying in the university dorms on Mt. Scopus, I didn't like the Israeli wines that I could afford. It was really at the start of the wine revolution in Israel, the advent of boutique wineries, the founding of Golan Heights Winery, and I missed all that.
Fast forward to when I was working for Getty Images, and could afford decent wines.
It was in 2004 that I became involved.
My friends knew I liked wine, and suggested I join them at a wine evening in the local wine shop in Hod Hasharon, the town we had moved to a few years earlier.
I had been working for Getty Images for nearly four years, and wanted to photograph something different, something positive, after covering the 2nd Intifada, and national politics, on an almost daily basis.
That evening turned out to be pivotal. Alex Haruni, of Dalton Winery, led the winetasting that night. Not only was it fascinating but it also inspired me to ask Alex if I might come and photograph harvest, as part of a broader project on the kosher wine industry. He agreed, and set me up to join their team after midnight on one August eve.
At dawn, Dalton, a kosher winery, the Mashgiah needed to be in the vineyard to supervise the harvest, and as the sun rose, he put on his tallit and went to a corner of the vineyard to pray Shaharit.
As I photographed him praying between the vines, I knew I had not only an image, and a story. I also felt a connection to the industry, and the people behind it, one that I nurtured and developed.
From time to time, I continued to cover wine in Israel for Getty, especially when there was a way to link it to the news, until I finished working there in 2010.
Within a few years I was working mostly with Israeli wineries, photographing their vineyards, harvests and winemaking. I also continued with Getty as a contributing photographer, mostly doing wine and lifestyle imagery during my travels to wine regions in Europe and Argentina.
You are known as one of Israeli's finest photographers and as the senior wine photographer now. Tell us about the work of which you are most proud.
It's not possible to choose a single imFage but rather it was the accumulation of some 16 years of wine photography that lead to my participation in the Israeli wineries guide – Wine Journey, an Israeli Adventure. This book, now in its 2nd edition, was produced with Itamar Gur, Rony Saslove and Guy Haran, with the aim of connecting the public with wineries that offer a visitor's experience.
It was conceived a few months after the start of Covid, when we realized how the average Israeli who was always looking for adventures in Europe, was stuck in the country, that they couldn't go to restaurants, and were looking for experiences close to nature.
It was so successful, the 1st edition sold 15,000 copies, we published an updated version about six months ago.
You have also started a wine importing business. What is the focus of your selection? Where can your wines be found in Israel?
In 2019, I won a wine photography competition, and as a result, in 2020, I was fortunate to be sent to South Africa to do a story on Women in Wine as my prize.
Going back to the Western Cape almost 40 years since I made Aliyah I found a very different environment. Apartheid was long gone, and I found a wine-community of people of all races working together, growing together, and through the Covid pandemic, caring for each other.
I felt more connected to this South Africa than I ever had when growing up as a privileged Jewish white youth who just wanted to make Aliyah.
After a few trips back there in the next few years, to expand on my story, I made some close friendships with some wonderful boutique winemakers. I fell in love with the people, and their wines, and wanted to share this experience here in Israel.
There has always been some import of SA wines here, but mostly the typical big and bold reds from mainstream wineries, or very cheap and simple supermarket wines.
I chose to work with 5 different wineries, bringing in 11 white wines, and mostly Chenin Blanc (my favorite white varietal) or Chenin blends. The wines arrived in Israel and have been sold direct to the consumer through my website, especially after wine tastings with wine groups, or to wine bars which have found them to be an exciting alternative that is easily sold by the glass to customers looking for unique wines.
It has been so successful that some of my wines have sold out but there are still limited quantities available through my website, or even better, by giving me a call.
You have selected Bosman Family Vineyards Optenhorst Chenin Blanc 2022. Why did you select it?
Primarily, it is a delicious wine, 100% Chenin Blanc from a single vineyard that is almost 74 years old, and produced by a winemaker whose work I appreciate and respect.
I also hold the Bosman family in the highest regard. They are 8th generation Afrikaner farmers, and in the post-Apartheid years, understood and embraced the new South Africa. They were one of the first Fairtrade wineries in the country, and in 2009 even established a trust for their permanent African workers, giving them a whopping 26% stake in the family's business. To-date it is the largest land reform transaction in the history of the South African wine industry, and completely voluntarily too.
They are also dedicated to sustainability and the environment. When they had the opportunity to replant the Optenhorst vineyard, which was planted in 1952 on their estate in Wellington about an hour's drive from Cape Town, they decided to revive the Old Vines, and preserve their heritage, and the 3rd oldest Chenin Blanc vineyard in the country.
So, when taking all of this into account, it is a wine that represents some of the very best of the South African winemaking tradition, and one that I am proud to import and share.
Martin Sinkoff's Wine Notes
The Bosman Family Optenhorst Chenin Blanc 2022 is a remarkable wine. Were I served this wine "blind" (without knowing its origin) I would have guessed a wine from Burgundy, a rich Chardonnay. The wine is creamy and rich and yet completely dry. Absolutely delicious. My Mediterranean cooking was not the best match for the wine. I should have followed David's recommendation: a rich creamy pasta, maybe cacio e pepe, with grilled chicken or veal. Yum!
David Silverman
Wine & Photography
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