This is a story of unspeakable horror and unbearable tragedy, but also of redemption, rejuvenation, and an underlying optimism. It spreads a feeling of strength in adversity, and hope. It tells the story of the biggest tragedy to befall the Jewish people since the Holocaust, in a bottle of wine.
A message in a bottle. Gideon Pauker, a stalwart of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was a wine lover and encouraged those around him to love wine. He went on the Soreq Winery Winemaking Course, was an integral part of the local Eshkol Wine Club, and was a loyal follower of the tastings and wine tours of wine guru Haim Gan of Ish Anavim (The Grape Man).
His great pleasure was to travel to Italy with his wife, Orna, to enjoy the food and wine culture there. He was the ultimate wine guy – unspoiled, unpretentious, yet infatuated with fermented grape juice. He was a wine lover with a difference.
He did not just want to drink, enjoy, and talk about wine, he also wanted to get his hands dirty in the soil. He wanted to touch, feel, and experience it. So he planted a vineyard, in between the kibbutz and Gaza, and created a domestic winery in an underground shelter.
In 2007, he made his first wine. Gadi Mozes, Haim Perry, and Yoram Metzger are names we have come to know. They were proud sons of Nir Oz.
Each shared the hobby of wine. They were friends and partners in wine with Gideon. On Oct.
7, the kibbutz was attacked by the marauding Hamas savages. Gideon Pauker, just shy of his 80th birthday, was shot wh.
