In 1980 Alon and Nira Zadokthey left their home and along with five other young friends, moved and established an agricultural settlement near the Egyptian border, in the Negev desert´s wilderness.

With no infrastructure whatsoever, the group struggled to establish a village and learned firsthand the art of desert agriculture. Yet after numerous agricultural attempts they realized that the Negev isn´t in fact a barren place where nothing can be grown. What they learned then is now common knowledge – the Negev has great agricultural potential. For example, the scorching sun helps the growth & photosynthesis of the vines while the cold temperatures at night contribute to the vines being very hardy. Growing in sandy and loamy conditions with controlled amounts of water and little fertilizer, the vines enjoy rapid growth, and since the vineyards are isolated from other vineyards they do not suffer from nearly as much diseases or pests, meaning the there’s almost no need to use herbicide or pesticide sprays. 

Alon inherited the love for wine from his father, who used to make wine at home. With Nira’s backing, Alon enrolled in a wine course with Yair Heidi and Barry Sasselov. He continued on to another program with Dr. Yair Margalit of Margalit Winery, after which he signed up for a wine-making course at Soreq Winery. Soon, Alon recruited his entire family in order to establish a new wine business; this is how the Negev´s first family-owned boutique winery was established.

From the day the winery was established in 2000 through 2010, Alon was the main winemaker of Ramat Negev. As of 2010, the main winemaker of the winery is Yogev Zadok, Nira and Alon’s eldest son who lives in the village of Kadesh Barnea, near the winery´s vineyard. Yogev and his wife, Eden, studied Oenology for three years at the Faculty of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences of the University of Florence. The couple returned to Israel after practical work and an internship in Antinori Winery, the world renowned Italian wine brand. The Italian education they received is reflected in Ramat Negev’s wines: They have less alcohol, the fruit is not as ripe and the wine is more elegant, the taste of the grapevines, fruit is more dominant than the taste of the aging process in the barrels.