The name is suggestive of something subtle like a wisp of lipstick. However, this introductory rosé in the new Alef series – crafted by Bat Shlomo Vineyards in partnership with celebrity chef-entrepreneur Assaf Granit – has a bold blue-and-white mission: to bring unabashedly Israeli fine wine to an international cadre of oenophiles.
Sporting a stylized capital letter alef on the label, Barely Pink (and two reds soon to follow) won’t be available in wine shops. They’ll be sold in Granit’s upscale eateries in Israel, London, Berlin, Paris, and other French locales, as well as from the Bat Shlomo website and tasting room and at curated events.
“Because a lot of my operations are abroad, I was thinking that diners seeing this Alef on a bottle in one of my restaurants, even if they don’t understand Hebrew, will find there’s something mystical and biblical about it, almost like a flame that draws you in. They will take Hebrew home with them, even if they’re not Jews,” Granit said.
“We’re not hiding our identity,” added Elie Wurtman, the venture capitalist and social philanthropist who founded Bat Shlomo in 2010 as a Zionist back-to-the-land enterprise.
“The same way I’m building bridges around the world with Israel through business and hi-tech, Assaf is doing it through food diplomacy. Now we’re doing it through wine as well.”
Jerusalem DNA
Wurtman, 56, and Granit, 47, got acquainted six years ago when both were involved in conceptualizing a chef-related nonprofit initiative. The project never took off, but their friendship did.
“Assaf and I are both real Yerushalmim; we grew up there and retain a strong Jerusalem identity,” says Wurtman.
Though both men are based primarily in Tel Aviv these days – our meeting took place in Wurtman’s PICO Ventures office on Rothschild Boulevard – they have considerable financial and emotional capital invested in the capital city that nurtured them. Granit’s group owns several restaurants in Jerusalem, which include the iconic Machneyuda.
“After meeting Assaf, I went into his personal website, and the first sentence written there described how everything he learned came from the Jerusalem kitchen. And I knew right away we were from the same tribe, as it were,” Wurtman said.
Granit was chosen to light an Independence Day torch at this year’s national ceremony.
“When you light a torch on Independence Day, you’re supposed to say in whose honor you are lighting. The first thing that came to my mind was Jerusalem,” related Granit, who gave each of his fellow torch lighters a bottle of Barely Pink.
The story of Alef started with the friends’ shared Jerusalem DNA and was driven by their shared goal of spreading global enthusiasm for Israeli wine, culinary arts, and hospitality.
A new way to drink rosé
In May 2025, Granit went to Bat Shlomo to film an advertisement for El Al, which was offering Bat Shlomo wines to passengers even before Granit was appointed the airline’s head chef in 2023.
Granit recalled, “We drank some rosé and were standing in the vineyard. Elie said, ‘You know what? We need to make some wine together.’
“After we sat down and understood the essence of the brand we were aiming for, Elie said: ‘You know, the easiest way to test this would be rosé because it’s the quickest wine to make. It doesn’t need time to mature.’ And then in November, he called me and said they were making rosé now; this was our chance,” Granit said.
They were firmly of one mind regarding every detail of the product, its presentation, and its unusual go-to-market plan.
“Elie and I are both strong-minded and dominant personalities in our business life. Yet from day one, we’ve never had a single disagreement. We are always in sync because we have the same endpoint and the same taste,” Granit said.
They described their ideal of a crystal crisp rosé to Bat Shlomo winemaker Ari Erle, who provided multiple iterations for testing. The winning formula for Barely Pink contains a novel blend of Grenache, Sauvignon Blanc, and Semillon grapes. Wurtman called this innovation “a little chutzpadik.”
“We are not doing it for the gimmick or just to be different,” Granit emphasized. “We’ve created a new way to drink rosé.”
A sip of Barely Pink, he said, has “a very soft beginning, almost watery, and then, when it enters the back of your palate, it becomes deeper, and the flavors explode. It can go with very flavorful food, not only the usual local suspects like raw fish, salads, and vegetables, but also with dishes like Moroccan fish stew or a very strong, spicy vinaigrette. It gives it a good balance and a good fight.”
It’s all about Zionism
The letter alef holds a glassful of meanings for the partners.
On a personal level, alef is the first letter of the Hebrew names of its creators – Ari, Assaf, and Elie.
On the national level, it’s the first letter of eretz (land) and adama (soil), reflecting the earthy Jewish values of Bat Shlomo Vineyards, situated in the quiet Mount Carmel moshav where Baron Rothschild planted some of the first wine grapes in pre-state Israel.
More than 15 years ago, when Wurtman approached Jerusalem-based designer Dov Abramson to create Bat Shlomo’s debut wine label, Abramson initially demurred, explaining that his studio specializes in “visual storytelling for value-driven organizations” rather than for-profit ventures.
“My wine will be a little different because it’s all about Zionism and a connection to the land,” Wurtman told Abramson, who then agreed to accept the assignment.
Wurtman went back to Abramson in 2025 with Granit to outline their vision for the Alef brand.
The designer produced a stylized alef based on a font he discovered in the 1966 book This Is How the State Was Founded, by Aharon Ze’ev. The partners were delighted.
“The book told the story of Israel – working the land, working hard, striving for excellence – all the values that Assaf and I stand for,” Wurtman said. “We both see ourselves, in a way, as a continuation of the pioneers. If the original pioneers had to settle the land and work the land, Assaf and I had to bring prosperity to the land. We’ve both spent decades doing that.”
A relationship around wine
Barely Pink’s first run of 4,800 bottles will be followed by 4,200 bottles of a red Alef wine that will be bottled in May, and 300 bottles of a super-premium, limited-edition red – a trio “conceived of as a journey, to go with different parts of a great meal,” Wurtman said.
“We’re trying to build, through Assaf’s restaurants, an ongoing relationship with people around a culinary wine, a grouping of people who want to remain connected with the Alef brand,” he continued.
“We are committed to doing special events for this group. Even with the war, following our soft launch at Wix” – one of several hi-tech companies whose catering service is managed by Granit – “people have been showing up and buying the wine.”
“It’s funny that it’s an actual product,” Granit reflected, “because it’s all about friendship for me, and that’s the reason everything has gone so quickly and smoothly. When you do business, it’s never like this; I usually have to fight for every shekel I earn. It’s fun having a product originate from something so pure.”