It all started when Marc Grossfield, a serial entrepreneur, met Yossi Gold, owner and master distiller of vodka and other spirits in Israel. The Gold family has been perfecting the art of making vodka since their ancestors immigrated to the Holy Land in 1824. Gold and Grossfield formed a close friendship and together founded Tzfat Spirits of Israel, LLC. Then Grossfield asked Eddie Phillips, original importer of Belvedere and Chopin vodka and friend of the family, to help with the taste profile distilled from seven fruits and grains grown in the Holy Land.
While Gold was working in the lab distilling and filtering various combinations of the ingredients, Grossfield worked on creating the brand name and bottle. It took Gold three years to perfect the recipe, which is likely the most arduous and expensive production process in the vodka category. Gold makes two batches of alcohol, one distilled three times from figs, dates, olives, grapes, and pomegranates; and the second distilled three times from wheat and barley. The two alcohols are blended to a precise proportion and distilled once more for a total of four distillations, then filtered six times before adding water from the Sea of Galilee. The result is an award-winning vodka with an exquisite bouquet and taste of the Holy Land.
Grossfield named the brand AVIV, the Hebrew word for “spring” in the context of “renewal of spirit” and worked with a team of designers to create AVIV’s bottle which would be a spiritual metaphor for the soul and spreading loving, grateful messages in multiple languages. Grossfield added 613 which represents the number of laws in the Bible, and when read backwards (316) represents the process of how AVIV is made (Hebrew reads right to left).
I am delighted that so many people and vodka connoisseurs are praising and enjoying AVIV 613.
Marc Grossfield, Founder
