Up and coming wines from Samaria and the Jordan Valley

(JNS) - "It started as a hobby."

That's what most of the winemakers said, ranging from the Ben Ami Winery in the Jordan Valley, which sells 3,500 bottles per year and holds tastings in the owner's Ma'aleh Ephraim yard, to Amichai Luria from Shiloh, who produces 300,000 bottles that are exported and enjoyed all over the world.

What started as a hobby turned into a passion, a natural one for many who live in the hills of Samaria or Binyamin, where the weather, soil and altitude are just right for growing grapes.

When Vered and Erez Ben-Saadon of the Tura Estate Winery planted their first vineyar...