It is sad to report that Professor Ben Ami Bravdo z’l has passed away.
He was born in Netanya in 1933 into a farming family and agriculture was always going to be his career. He was the legendary Professor of Viticulture at the Hebrew University, Israel’s representative to the OIV and he was board member of the Israel Wine Institute for many years.
He became one of the world’s leading scientists on the subject of the vine and vineyards. His research gained him international recognition. He was the much loved by his students and generations of agriculturists, viticulturists and winemakers benefited from his wisdom.
In 2008 he was awarded the OIV Merit Award presented by The International Organization of Wine and Vine. For them he chaired research committees and had numerous research papers published internationally. He was in demand as a lecturer abroad.
In 2001 he founded a family winery called Karmei Yosef, which is one of Israel’s very few genuine estate wineries. The wines were sold under the label “Bravdo.” In recent years, in an appropriate gesture, the winery has become more known as “Bravdo Winery.”
Professor Ben Ami Bravdo influenced the Israel wine industry greatly and his work reflected great credit on Israel internationally. He will be sorely missed. May his memory be a blessing.