Established in 1999 on Kibbutz Sde Boker, the Sde Boker Winery makes wine from grapes purchased from Mitzpe Ramon and Ramat HaNegev. The winery is located near first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s home, and adjacent to the luxury Kedma Hotel. The winemaker, Tzvi Ramak, immigrated to Israel from California in 1980 after completing a BA in Agronomy, and settled in Kibbutz Sde Boker together with a garin (mission-driven community) of young immigrants. In 1995, Zvi decided to expand his professional knowledge of winemaking and flew with his family to Napa Valley to learn. Sde Boker Winery is one of the first wineries in Israel to switch kashrut to be under the supervision of Tzohar, instead of the Rabbanut.