Having worked at Israeli wineries I was sure that others would eventually acknowledge the high quality of up-and-coming Israeli wines.  Then it was Wine Spectator's Kim Marcus traveling the holy land ("I came away impressed by the leaps in quality, especially of the red wines, and by the dedication of the vintners"). How cool is that! 

Spent the day in and around the Golan Heights today.  It is wild how you can see Syria as you drive many of the high altitude roads of the Golan Heights.  Visiting wineries up in The Golan Heights getting caught behind TANKS that are being transported.   It is really spectacular there.  Pretty wild.