I use drink by dates of the late Daniel Rogov, Cellar Tracker, and of course, my own personal notes. This week it was time to get to some bottles that I have been worried about. I got to a couple of them, but missed out on the 2005 Ella Valley Pinot Noir, which we last tasted on some 3 years ago. We did get to enjoy some wine that we have not tasted in a couple of years, the 2001 Yarden Merlot, Ortal Vineyard, one of the finest Merlot that Yarden has ever produced, along with the 2006 Recanati Cabernet Franc, both of which have a year or maybe more left on them. Both are drinking lovely now, but if you too wish to live the motto “no good wine will be left to die“, drink it now and you will not be sorry.

I often laugh when people ask me when they should drink a particular bottle. In the kosher wine world more and more wines are being created that are built for cellaring. All that means is that the bottle you buy is not quite ready to drink, and the wine maker and winery have decided to diversify their risk and have you cellar the wine rather than them. For the most part, most wine (kosher or not) is made to be drunk within the year or two. There are reserve wines that are built to age a few years maybe 4 years at most. Then there are the a fore mentioned high-end wines that are truly not enjoyable at all from release, and need time to come into their own/peak.

The Recanati Cabernet Franc is at its true peak and can be left for another year or so, but why? Unless you have more pressing wine to enjoy – drink it now! There is only one sure thing, other than taxes, and that is – that the wine will eventually die. Why not enjoy it now. There is rarely a perfect time to drink a wine. There is just the acceptable and peak time to enjoy the wine and the rest is what you make of it!

A friend brought over two wines, one was kept it so well – that the wine survived past its peak, and was lovely and truly enjoyable two years after its time. Sadly, because the wine was so old, it died after 40 minutes from its bottle. We last enjoyed the 2002 Château Le Crock  and the 2000 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Edition, Chalk Hill, both brought over by our guest in November 2008! At that time we recommended drink up on both of them. Interestingly enough, I would not have imagined that they would survive another 3 and half years! Further, the 2000 Herzog Special Edition Cabernet was nice last time, but this time the bottle was DOA because of a bad cork. However, getting past the cork, the wine was more than alive with lovely fruit, cedar, and dark leathers. The kind of wine one would expect of a finely aged bottle – so mega kudos to my buddy, dried out corks are just the price one pays for loving wine.

So, the lineup was as such; 2002 Four Gates Chardonnay (bad bottle but OK), 2002 Château Le Crock, N.V Four Gates Soiree – YUMMY!!2006 Recanati Cabernet Franc _ YUMMY!, 2000 Herzog Special Edition Cabernet, 2006 Yarden Odem Vineyard Merlot – YUMMY!, 2001 Yarden Ortal vineyard Merlot – SICK!, and finally the 2007 Carmel late harvest Gewürztraminer – which was OK (lacked acidity).

To pair with these wonderful wines I made pan-fried meatballs along with a new dipping sauce and braised meatballs as well. The good news was that the meatballs disappeared along with the new dipping sauce, so I think it is a keeper!

The wine notes follow below in the order they were served:

2002 Château Le Crock – Score: B+
The wine is ready to go and maybe a bit over the hill, though this particular bottle was stored well and may have given the bottle a drop more of life. I say this as after an hour from opening the wine became unbalanced with the fruit leaving and leaving heavy acid in its wake. After a bit more time the acid blew off and what was left was old, tired, but nice aged black wine.

The nose comes at you right away and for a short period of time with black cherry, blackberry, cassis, plum, raspberry, and classic graphite. The mouth is full bodied, plush, and velvety, with mouth coating tannins, good concentration, nice cedar, and more than enough tannin to keep you very interested. The finish is a bit short with tobacco, chocolate, nice Mediterranean herbs, along with a good-sized dollop of vanilla. If you have any of this wine open it NOW and drink it right after opening, this is not a wine for the cellar, decanting, or airing.

N.V Four Gates Soiree – Score: A-
Blends are all the craze now, and this one is as unique as they come. Soiree is a blend of Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc, both of which are blockbuster wines for the Four Gates Winery. This wine has now hit its stride and is drinking perfectly and is ready to come out and play. From the moment the wine was opened, till it was fully consumed (partially the next day) the wine was lovely, though the wine lacked tannin the next day.

This wine starts off with, a Four Gates and Santa Cruz flavor, chicken cherry cola, raspberry, sweet cedar, prune/plum, herbaceous, mint, licorice, chocolate, and vanilla. The mouth of this medium to full-bodied wine has playful tannins, and a crazy concentrated attack of earthy notes, black cherry and red fruit, along with mouth rounding integrated tannin, and lovely cedar extraction all packaged into a layered and structured wine that is unique in its flavor profile. The finish is super long, layered, and spicy with oak, coffee, plum, black pepper, cloves, and vanilla. Drink for another year if you must – but now the wine is perfect and one that is worth enjoying now.

2006 Recanati Cabernet Franc Reserve- Score: A-
This was the last year for Lewis Pasco, the founding winemaker of the Recanati Winery, and we tasted this out of barrel with Lewis in 2008! The wine was awesome then and it is still fantastic. The green notes are so obvious, while also being in control – a lovely balance of green and depth – what a wine! The nose on this black colored wine has rich espresso coffee, tobacco, chocolate, obvious graphite, raspberry, black cherry, plum, cedar, and vanilla. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is super rich and layered, with rich mouth coating integrated tannin, lovely classical franc bell pepper, and good sweet cedar extraction that fills the mouth nicely. The finish is long, rich, and plush with rich black fruit, vegetal notes, nice fat stogie in one hand and a handful of chocolate covered mint in another hand, all while wearing a leather coat.

2000 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Edition, Chalk Hill – Score: N/A
Unfortunately, this wine was corked. However, if you were willing to ignore the moldy nose and the sweaty socks you would see the awesome wine that was there. The nose was rich with chocolate, tobacco, blackberry, wild and beautiful. The mouth of this palate coating full bodied wine carries the blackberry, and has cassis and sweet cedar. The finish is long with good extraction and lots of vanilla. Unfortunately, the TCA was impossible to ignore and as such no wine score could be given.

2006 Yarden Merlot Odem Organic Vineyard – Score: A- (and a bit more)
This is the first single vineyard Merlot from the Odem Vineyard. This vineyard is tended to organically, but the word Organic is nowhere on the label as there are sulfites added. The last time we had this bottle the first thing that hit you was the massive amount of menthol and spice that there was. This time the menthol and herb was under control, and it was accompanied by candied plum, nice chocolate, blackberry, eucalyptus/menthol aromas, and black cherry. The mouth is massive and inky with mouth coating tannin, layer upon layer of spice and herb, black fruit that is focused and concentrated, and sweet cedar that is integrating and rich in the mouth. The finish is super long and spicy with lovely tobacco, chocolate, blackcurrant, orange rind and loamy dirt. Over time the wine opens further and shows layers of butterscotch and creamy vanilla.

2001 Yarden Merlot Ortal Vineyard - Score: Almost A
WOW, WOW, WOW!! What a glorious wine, this one is really ready with its overly date driven issues of old behind it. The wine now shows beautifully and is a wine that we did not have time to watch open as the wine disappeared in almost no time, clearly the winner of the overall tasting. The wine tasted even better than the last winning tasting and it is a wine that has at least another year ahead of it, but why wait! Drink now and you will be rewarded with what may well be the best Merlot that Yarden has made in sometime.

The nose on this wine is quite redolent and ready as soon as the wine is opened, with blackberry, ripe plum, licorice, and graphite. The mouth on this full bodied wine is mouth coating and crazy plush with layers upon layers of concentrated black fruit, raspberry, sweet date, bell pepper, crushed herb, and integrating mouth coating tannins, all balanced nicely with sweet cedar and good balancing acidity. The finish is luxurious, smokey, and long with more black fruit, chocolate, tobacco, and cloves.

2007 Carmel Gewürztraminer Late Harvest Shaal – Score: B++
While many have given this one much higher scores on Rogov’s forum, we all felt this lacked the bracing acidity to make it a true winner. The wine starts off with a crazy nose of rich honey, ripe peach, rose hips, lychee, pear, along with heavy sweetness. The mouth is rich, full bodied, and mouth coating, with good sweetness that takes over the palate, along with floral, pineapple, and melon notes that peek out from under the tropical and honeyed mouth. The finish is long-lasting with cloves and baked apricot pie. If this had more acidity to really balance out the whole, it would have been a real winner, drink up!

2010 Reyes del Imperio – Score: B
While this wine attempts to meet the Terrenal standard especially since this is non mevushal as is the Terrenal Cabernet from Spain, but it falls short because it lacks the complexity to grab your attention. The nose starts off screaming with Boysenberry and blueberry, after time the boysenberry leaves and black cherry appears along with floral notes and vanilla. The mouth is medium bodied, but has some nice backbone and packs enough of a tannin punch to almost coat the mouth and keep your attention. The finish is long with blue and black fruit, loamy dirt, mineral, and tart berries.

The Haruni Family started the Dalton Winery in 1995, in the Napa Valley of Israel in the Upper Galilee. Within the massive Upper Galilee, a few areas are starting to gather fame, such as the vineyard from which Dalton sources its grapes — Kerem Ben Zimra, Yarden’s El-Rom, Ortal, and Katzrin vineyards, and Gailil Winery’s Yiron vineyard. The vineyard and winery are located minutes from each other, which is usually a great benefit to the winemaker and winery, as the winery can truly source and crush the grapes when they have reached optimal maturity. However, when there is a war going on, and that war is in your backyard, you wish you were miles away. In July and August of the year 2006, Lebanon and Israel were engaged in a bloody battle. It raged on for 34 days, before a cease fire was declared. With the winery and vineyard overlooking Mount Hermon, almost spitting distance from the Lebanese border, the winery was in the direct line of fire.

Dalton was the hardest hit amongst the Galilee wineries, but was still able to source and crush all of its grapes within a week of the cease fire. The actual damage was not nearly as bad as the winery’s inability to prune and manage its vineyard, which caused some of the vineyards (the Chardonnay especially) to fall victim to disease and hungry wildlife. However, the winery was blessed with a bountiful harvest that easily made up for the war’s collateral damage.

The Dalton Winery, near Kerem Ben Zimra, is set in the beautiful green, mountainous country of the Upper Galilee, five kilometers from the Lebanese border, overlooking Mount Hermon. Dalton is the only winery situated in this area, and can boast that it is one of the few wineries in Israel that is estate bottled, located minutes from all its vineyards. Established in 1995, Dalton is one of the few family owned wineries in Israel. The Haruni family moved from London to Israel with the vision of developing industry in the long neglected area of the Upper Galilee. Dalton started with humble beginnings in a back yard in Moshav Kerem Ben Zimra, producing 20,000 bottles of white wine. Today Dalton produces close to 600,000 bottles, of premium and super-premium reds and whites, in its state-of-the-art facility.

Starting in 2007, Dalton made Wild Yeast Viognier that was to die for. They followed it up with a vintage in 2008 and 2009. Unfortunately, they decided to stop making this fantastic wine and instead decided to blend it into the Alma Blend. I cannot honestly tell you why they are doing this. Every wine lover that I talk with speaks highly of the earlier Viognier wines. Still, Dalton decided to blend the very Viognier, still made with wild yeast, along with some Chardonnay and attempt to make a better wine. In my humble opinion, they have moved backwards. This wine was nice and clearly has yet to find its true self, but it is in no way a wine that I would score in the same league.

I hope that the Viognier comes back and that they find something to do with the Chardonnay they blend in. Until then, try a bottle of Alma and tell me what you think.

The wine note follows below:

2010 Dalton Alma White Blend – Score: B+
The nose and mouth of this wine act in equal proportions to its blend. The wine is a blend of 66% Viognier and 34% Chardonnay. The wine is a real shame, personally, because it does not come close to being the hit that the pure Viognier was, and Dalton has said that they will continue with this Alma blend, and will not continue producing the pure Viognier. The wine starts off with clear Chardonnay styling, pear, oak, cut grass, and green apple. The mouth is firm and not so round with lemon, some tropical fruit, and oak, all coming together ok. The finish is long with lemon zest, cloves, and spice. Over time the wine’s real winner comes out of hiding and does what it can to help this wine. The Viognier’s obvious stamp is made with lovely floral notes, honey, butterscotch, and lychee. The mouth finally fills out and adds in peach. The finish is lovely but not complex with hints of fig and date. This wine has so much more potential separate than combines, unfortunately this is not an example of the saying: ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. In this case the whole is a less than the sum of its parts.

Sara Bee continues to taste as wonderful as always, but I cannot get the Banero Prosecco here on the west coast There are now two new Terrenal wines; one from Chile and one from Argentina that are both mevushal. I say this because the Spanish wines from February are not mevushal. The two new Terrenal wines continue the tradition of good kosher wine, for a reasonable price.

I am posting the previous notes as a reference, so that you do not need to go back to the older posting:

2011 Terrenal Chardonnay (Curico Valley, Chile) – Score: B++ (close to A-)
This wine is a lovely expression of unoaked Chardonnay and one that I am happy to buy often. Sure the price is also right (4.99 a pop), but price has ZERO bearings on how I score a wine. The nose screams with lemon fresche, apricot, guava, with ripe and almost sweet fruit. The mouth is really nice with sweet lemon, fig, Asian pear, apple, along with lovely and almost mouth-coating mouth. The finish is long with melon, good balanced acidity, a bit of sweet citrus zest (without the pith), along with a bit of vanilla and floral notes to close out the party.

2010 Terrenal Malbec (Mendoza, Malbec) – Score: B to B+
This wine is nice with a unique initial attack of butterscotch, along with blackcurrant, plum, and crushed herb. The mouth is soft and rich with a bit of raisin and blackberry, along with nicely integrated tannin. The finish is long and spicy along with good acidity, inky structure, sweet black cherry, spice, and vanilla on the rise.

2010 Terrenal Cabernet Sauvignon (Yecla, Spain) (not-mevushal) – Score: B+
The nose on this dark garnet colored wine is rich and vibrant with black cherry, an almost perfumed nose of blackberry, and raspberry, along with black currant, rich earth, and herb. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is a nice quaffer with enough complexity to grab your attention, with spicy fruit, almost mouth coating tannin, rich earth, and an overall mouth feel that is nothing short of quite nice. The wine’s core acidity really elevates it and the richness and spice of the finish goes a long way to making you rethink entry-level wines. I could care less what this wine costs, this is a fine wine that if tasted blind would make you do a double take, and in the end, it is quite enjoyable.

2010 Terrenal Tempranillo (Yecla, Spain) (not-mevushal) – Score: B+
The nose on this dark garnet colored wine is rich and vibrant with black cherry, strawberry, an almost perfumed nose of blackcurrant, and raspberry, earthy aromas, herb, and spice. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is a nice quaffer with enough complexity to grab your attention, with spicy fruit, nice round tannin, rich earth, and an overall mouth feel that spicy and enjoyable. The wine’s core acidity really elevates it and the round mouthed tannin, along with nice spice add to the cherry focused wine that adds a dollop of herb and vanilla on the long finish. I could care less what this wine costs, this is a fine wine that if tasted blind would make you do a double take, and in the end, it is quite enjoyable.

N.V. Sara Bee Moscato ((Italy, Puglia) – Score: B++
The nose on this effervescent light gold colored wine starts off with a powerful hit of honey and a touch of yeast. After a small bit of time, the wine explodes with summer and tropical fruits, peach, apricot, mango, pear, lychee, and papaya. This wine has a wonderful effervescence and fruity nose. The mouth on this medium plus bodied wine is lovely with nice effervescence, sweet honey, papaya, lychee, and pear. The mid palate is balanced nicely with acid and light toast, and effervescence. The finish is long and tasty with papaya, honey, and caramel, with the honey and caramel lingering long on the palate.
This is a more balanced, fuller, effervescent wine than the usual kosher blue-bottle Bartenura Moscato. Nothing against the Bartenura Moscato, but it does not compare and it is at least double to triple the price of this wonderful wine. Get a bottle or two and try it out. The Sara Bee Moscato is available at Trader Joe. Finally, as usual my score NEVER includes the price. This wine is scored what it is scored solely on its merit – irrelevant to its price, availability, or its kosher status.

N.V. Banero Prosecco – Score B+
The nose on this straw-colored Prosecco is screaming with a lovely bubble fest, along with a nice muscat nose, perfume, orange rind, yeast, toast, and honey. The mouth on this rich medium bodied wine starts off with a hit of bitterness, apple, honey, prolonged small mousse bubbles, and toast. The mid palate is core with acidity, toast, and drop of yeast, and orange peel. The finish is long and mousse-y with honey, slight bitterness, and toast. This is a wine that has a bit of beer bitterness at the start, which fades a bit, but lingers with a nice balance of perceived sweetness from the honey notes. The mouth is rich with small mousse bubbles that lie on your palate for a very long time, long after the wine is gone.

To pair with lemon rosemary roasted chicken I opened a bottle of the 2005 Four Gates Chardonnay, which was AWESOME! The wine started off very closed, but soon it turned around and made its way out of its oak and butterscotch haze to open into a tropical and summer fruit paradise. To pair with the braised sweet and sour short ribs we opened a bottle of the 2004 Four Gates Syrah. The last time we had the 2004 Four Gates Syrah, it was lovely but the weakest of the vertical. Today when we opened the wine it was fantastic! It was deep and rich with good extraction, crazy black and blue fruit, and lovely herbs and eucalyptus.

The wine notes follow below:

2005 Four Gates Chardonnay – Score: A-
This wine started off way wrong, with almost zero fruit and huge amounts of wood, along with a large dollop of butterscotch. I jokingly called it a wooden butterscotch Popsicle. Well, thankfully I waited and sure enough the wine popped out of its funk to create nothing short of heaven. The wine nose is redolent with lovely butterscotch, melon, rich butter, peach, and apricot. The mouth is full bodied, rich, and layered with rich ripe summer fruit, lemon, floral hints, Asian pear, and mango, all wrapped in good acidity and toasty oak. The finish is super long with smoky notes, caramel, nice butterscotch, with a touch and finish of cut grass vanilla.

2004 Four Gates Syrah – Score: A- to A
The nose on this wine explodes with nice blueberry, blackberry, rich earth, eucalyptus, menthol, and blackcurrant. The mouth is extracted, concentrated, and layered with layers of black cherry, mint, blue and black fruit, nice oak influence, and crazy tannin that is still integrating. The finish is long and balanced with good acidity, lovely tobacco, chocolate, vanilla, and butterscotch. Over time the wine also shows black olives and hints of tar. This is a lovely wine that has another two years ahead of it and may well be at its peak, while probably not evolving much better than right now.

In Israel, we enjoyed many wines for Passover and for other meals. Some of the wines were quite nice while some were just OK. The best two wines we enjoyed were the 2010 Dalton Zinfandel and the 2010 Saslove April. The other wines were fine but none of those were really note worthy. The 2010 Dalton Zinfandel showed far better than when I had it at the Gotham Wine Event. The Tulip White Franc was really nice, though a bit less Cabernet Franc-ish than the 2010 vintage. This is the second time I had the chance to taste April, when I enjoyed it at Sommelier last year, and it continues to impress with its light oak influence (they used staves) and interesting blend.

The only real downer for me was 2011 Galil Rose; it was OK, but nothing to write home about. I was not a huge fan of the Dalton Roses either, but hey I keep trying! I do love the Flam and Catsel Roses. The Tulip Just Cab and Merlot were lovely and continue to improve and show good varietal characteristics. I had the 2010 Galil Wines and they were average at best, which is OK, but again not wines to write home about. My father-in-law and I both enjoyed the bubbly Cabernet. Yes, I said I liked a semi-sweet bubbly Cabernet, because it was actually enjoyable. Sorry, to all the wine snobs out there, but the 2011 Tabor Pnimim (Pearls) sparkler, was enjoyable, unpretentious, and though semi-sweet, not cloyingly so in any way. No, I would not normally, bestow any praise upon a semi sweet Cabernet nor even write about it in a positive manner, as normally Cabernet and sweet do not logically go hand in hand, but Tabor did a good job, so Kudos!

Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to visit any wineries, but I did get a chance to see Gabriel Geller, a man I can happily call an acquaintance, and hopefully one day a friend, that now own a wine store in the heart of Jerusalem, called the Wine Mill. The wine store is located in the Wind Mill right next to the Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem, and essentially at the corner of King George and Ramban streets. The store is laid out in a quite enjoyable and clutter free manner, with more than enough room for informal gatherings of his clients and customers. When I was there, I picked up some wines that I took home and I also had a chance to talk with both Gabriel and David Rhodes, a wine critic/writer who I have not yet had the chance to write about here in the blog, but a person who has solid wine abilities and who I have had the pleasure to talk with a few times now. The conversation inevitably came around to kosher wine, Israeli Wine, and Daniel Rogov (man I cannot believe it has been 6 months already since his passing), but hey what happens in the Wind Mill stays in the Wind Mill. I did have the chance to taste a lovely bottle of Domaine Ventura Cabernet Franc, but I did not write notes on the wine – sorry. From what I remember, it was very characteristic of Cabernet Franc, with good green notes, lovely ripe red fruit, without the raisin or date flavors, that are so characteristic of Israeli wines. The oak did not overpower though was felt and clearly present, and there was some nice extraction along with tobacco and light leather. An unofficial score would be B+ to A-.

Many thanks to Gabriel and David and I hope to write more about them both in the coming months, when I get back to Israel again. Many if not all of these wines will be available in America, in the coming months, excepting for the Tabor Pnimim (which many will not bemoan – I am sure). The Tulip White Franc is not imported, but one that I personally like. The wine notes follow below:

2010 Tulip White Franc – Score: B++
The wine is a blend of 65% Cabernet Franc (pulled from its skins to keep it clear) and 35% Sauvignon Blanc, along with 15% residual sugar. The nose was a true joy with unique franc expression of green notes, flowers, violet, peach, strawberry, grapefruit, and kiwi. On the mouth the light sweetness adds a clear heft to the wine along with its medium body that makes the wine feel almost full in the mouth. The finish is long with lovely fig and good acidity that balances the wine well. A unique mouth that clearly turns some people off, but one that I enjoyed.

2011 Tulip White Franc – Score: B++
The wine is a blend of 65% Cabernet Franc (pulled from its skins to keep it clear) and 35% Sauvignon Blanc, along with 15% residual sugar. I really liked this wine though I must say it is highly nontraditional and not as franc-ish as the 2010 version. Still the nose continues to impress with lovely floral notes, strawberry, bright citrus, and guava. The mouth explodes with a bit more weight than the 2010 version, and with more ripe tropical fruit, along with ripe melon, Asian pear, and nice sweetness that adds weight to the mouth. The finish is long and balanced with good bright citrus acidity, lemon zest, and almond shell.

2010 Tulip Just Cabernet Sauvignon – Score: B+ to A-
We had this wine before, and the wine did not show as well as our previous tasting which may have been a bottle variation or just me. The wine was aged in French barrels for 8 months and shows clear oak influence. The nose is filled with chocolate, cedar, tobacco, blackcurrant, raspberry, plum, and vanilla. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is well extracted with almost mouth coating tannins, nicely integrating tannins, and enough oak to round the mouth. The finish is long and spicy with hints of tar and roasted herbs.

2010 Tulip Just Merlot – Score: B+ to A-
The grapes for this wine hail from the same hallowed grounds as the grapes from Karmai Yosef Bravdo winery, which is surrounded by vineyards that belong to other wineries. The nose explodes with heavy roasted herb, plum, cranberry, currant, and citrus zest. The mouth is medium in weight, along with good concentration and extraction, black cherry expression, nice ripe but not overly sweet fruit, along with enough oak to round the mouth and integrating tannin. The finish is long with good spice, vanilla, black olives, and blackcurrant flavors.

2011 Galil Mountain Rose – Score: B to B+
Once again, I have a love hate relationship with Israeli Roses. I loved the 2011 Castel Rose and I have very little love for Dalton or Galil’s Rose. Rose is one of those tough wines to make well. The Dalton 2010 edition caused me great consternation when I could not come to appreciate the wine. This wine did no better, actually, I had two bottles of it and both times that I drank it I could not come to truly enjoy it. I guess, the bitterness of the fruit really gets in my way. The wine is a blend of 75% Sangiovese, 13 % Barbera, 10% Pinot Noir, and 2% Syrah, so an eclectic mix to say the least, but one that did not live up to the winery as much as I had hoped. The nose is the clear highlight of this wine with beautiful strawberry expression, cherry, raspberry, and good citrus notes. The mouth is medium in weight with more acidity, floral notes, and balancing tartness. The finish is long with bitter herbs and olives on the rise.

2011 Tabor Pninim (Pearls) Sparkling Wine – Score: B to B+
This is a great example of a wine that is truly enjoyable but has no redeemable characteristics to give it a good score. Still, a fine wine that I would happily quaff when it is around. The wine is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, but yet a wine I did not find offensive, tough it is semi-sweet in nature. The nose on this sparkling wine explodes with ripe strawberry aromas, rich cranberry, and raspberry notes. The mouth is medium in weight with nice medium-sized mousse bubbles, good acidity, and light sweetness that is reminiscent of candy drops, along with bitter Kirsch cherry, that all together fills out the mouth nicely.

2010 Kadesh Barnea Merlot – Score: B to B+
The nose is lovely and floral with violet notes, fig, raspberry, and a bit of raisin. The mouth is filled with plum and mouth-coating tannin, the sweetness is evident from the overripe fruit, but balanced with good oak extraction that helps to fill the mouth. The finish is long and spicy with dark cherry and cinnamon commanding your attention. A nice wine that will last a year or so more.

2010 Saslove April – Score: B++
This wine is another example of Israel’s desire and ability to create wild and crazy blends, very reminiscent of Australia blends, that are also quite diverse and non-Europe conformant. While the Cab/Shiraz blend may well be the Great Ausie Blend, this is an example of a blend that is not made anywhere else that I could find on Google. The actual blend is not far at all rom a classic Bordeaux blend, 40% Merlot, 20% Cabernet, but the other 40% is a blend of Nebbiolo, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot. I tasted this at Sommelier last year and I wanted to taste it again to see how it was progressing. The wine is now opened with a nose that is both unique and quite lovely. It starts off with rich almond paste, raspberry, plum, crushed herb, and floral notes. The mouth is round with nicely integrated and mouth coating tannin, nice rounding and balancing influence from 4 months in oak along with nice ripe blackberry fruit. The finish is long and spicy with cinnamon, mint, eucalyptus, licorice, vanilla, and chocolate. Not for long storage drink till 2013.

2010 Galil Mountain Shiraz – Score: B to B+
This is another of those wines from Galil, this year that just does not grab me. Sure it has bright and talkative fruit, but that is really all there is to write about. The nose has nice blackberry, plum, and raspberry fruit while the medium body is balanced and soft with nice integrated tannins. The finish is a bit stunted and starting to fade. I would drink up and buy no more.

2010 Dalton Zinfandel – Score: B++ to  A-
I tasted this wine before at the 2012 Gotham Wine Event, and I did not like it there. It was too floral without weight and body that I have come to associate with Dalton’s Zinfandels. Well, I guess it was just resting because this bottle was awesome and one of the clear highlights of the wines I tasted. This wine was aged for 12 months in American Oak, and BOY can you tell. The nose starts off with a blast of big black fruit, blackberry, black plum, and cassis, along with cinnamon, hickory, and spice. The mouth is rich, layered and full-bodied with tannin that is yielding, along with nice oak extraction, and black ripe fruit that is meddling together quite nicely. The finish is super long and spicy, with black pepper, chocolate, vanilla, cloves, leather, and black olive. Quite a lovely wine and one worth having a few more times. Drink till 2015.

To meet those needs Welner Wines has really come on strong to own this zip code. However, since then, Herzog Cellars and the Yarden Winery have both moved down into this price range with their own labels and wines. Yarden released the Ha Sod label in 2009 with both a Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon. We liked the 2009 Ha Sod Cabernet but were not as enthralled with this Carmenere. According to Wikipedia, Carmenere is a member of the Cabernet family of grapes, the name “Carménère” originates from the French word for crimson (carmine), which refers to the brilliant crimson color of the autumn foliage prior to leaf-fall. It was considered part of the original six red grapes of Bordeaux, France, but since then it is almost impossible to find in Bordeaux. However, the grape did not disappear, as Chile is now the world’s leading grower of this grape. The grape adds deep color but it lacks deep flavor and concentration.

The Terra di Seta was very nice, and just as enjoyable as the last two times we had it. The Chianti started off closed, but over time it opened to a lovely and enjoyable Chianti, and stays one of the best Kosher Chianti wines out there. Also, Terra di Seta is the ONLY completely kosher winery in Tuscany.

The wine notes follow below:

2010 Ha Sod Carmenere – Score: B
This is a new vantage for the HaSod label, which is a wine made in Chile by the Yarden Wine Company. They started this in 2009 because they needed a wine that could compete in the higher quality low priced wine market. Carmenere is a grape that does not make wine that is rich, deep, or powerful, however it makes for perfectly fine average and above average wine. The wine starts off with raspberry, plum, cranberry, and a distinct floral attack. The mouth is soft and medium in body with sour cherry, blackcurrant, integrated tannin, and a round mouth that makes for a very food friendly wine. The finish is long and spicy with nice herb, earth notes, black pepper, and vanilla.

2008 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico – Score: B+ to A-
The wine starts off very closed and one that needs an hour or two to open up. Once open the wine hits you with powerful and expressive roasted espresso, along with rich burnt oak, nice extraction, cherry, raspberry, and currant. The wine is throwing sediment so be careful when you pour the wine. The mouth is medium to full bodied with nice blackberry from a blending of 5% of Cabernet Sauvignon, mouth coating tannin, and toasty oak that makes for a fuller mouth. The finish is long and spicy with vanilla, herb, heavy spice, and lovely floral attack.

The bottle is one of the more recent single vineyard Merlot to come to the states. This bottle is already old news in Israel. However, here in the states the wine is still not selling out and hence, the obvious conundrum that Yarden faces. If the wine cannot sell because there is not enough demand at 50 dollars maybe they can repeat their earlier success and hope that lightning strikes twice. The funny thing is that the retailers that bought the bottles at the old higher price are now stuck with them and are being undercut savagely by the retailers that just recently picked them up.

This was the first Merlot release from Yarden’s Organically tended Odem Vineyard. However, there are already 6 or more single vineyard wines ready and available for sale in Israel – and they have yet to sell through the 2006 vintage! OUCH! Talk about inventory! Clearly there is a need for Yarden to sell their wines and they are fine wines as well, but the kosher market is growing and may well be leaving Yarden behind, when it comes to these high-priced wines.

I would suppose that online retailers that had old stock will need to cut their prices to match the new lower prices, and eat the difference. Further, this wine is just one of many more single vineyard wines, that are of course sold at a premium from the normal Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Syrah, that are quite lovely by themselves and do not cost 50 or more dollars a bottle.

Anyway, this wine is fairly priced at 26 or so dollars a bottle so pick up a few bottles and store them away. The wine is clearly still too young and is a pure attack vehicle with heavy spice, herb, and candied fruit. After a few many hours the wine settles down beautifully, the crazy and cloying eucalyptus/menthol nose dissipates and makes way for some wonderful butterscotch and vanilla. While this is not a Merlot that is true to its varietal, it is a wine that can be cellared till 2017 and then drink up. For now decant it and enjoy!

The wine note follows below:

2006 Yarden Merlot, Odem Vineyard, Organic Vineyard – Score: A- (and a bit more)
This is the first single vineyard Merlot from the Odem Vineyard. This vineyard is tended to organically, but the word Organic is nowhere on the label as there are sulfites added. The first thing that hits you is the massive amount of heady spice and herb, what follows is crazy candied plum, nice chocolate, blackberry, eucalyptus/menthol aromas, and black cherry. The eucalyptus dies down over time and makes way for more rich spice and black fruit. The mouth is massive and inky with mouth coating tannin, layer upon layer of spice and herb, black fruit that is focused and concentrated, and sweet cedar that is integrating and rich in the mouth. The finish is super long and spicy with lovely tobacco, chocolate, blackcurrant, orange rind and loamy dirt. Over time the wine opens further and shows layers of butterscotch and  creamy vanilla.

Cabernet will always be the classic and default red grape that most wine drinker will reach for. Why? Because it is well know and consistent. I state this because if you buy a Cabernet Sauvignon from Hagafen Winery, Herzog Cellars, or many Israeli wineries, you may find ones you love and some you hate, but they are similar in nature. They are either green with classic graphite and green notes, or maybe they are black and red with other classic flavors, but they are not going to be massive failures or unfortunate wines. Since the start of kosher wines, all the wineries have started with the noble grapes; Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir. Some have done better with them and some have done a so-so job. Hagafen excels with their Cabernet Sauvignon that are sourced from the Napa Valley. Herzog, has been doing a really lovely job with their Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Israel, of course has been doing a lovely job with their Cabernet Sauvignon, especially by Yarden Winery, Bravdo Winery, Recanati Winery, Castel Winery, and others. However, recently two wineries have been selling Cabernet Sauvignon as well. Four Gates Winery first released a 2005 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, a few years ago and it sold out quickly. Since then Four Gates has once again released a Cabernet Sauvignon, but this time from the Betchart Vineyard on Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Another and even more Cabernet focused winery – is Covenant Winery, which makes killer Napa Cabernet. They started with the 2003 vintage and has been releasing Cabernet in two or three different formats since then.

The saying, all good wine starts in the vineyard is true, but the real saying should be, the price of wines starts in the vineyard! If you own the vines like say, Hagafen or many of the wineries in Israel, than you have a chance to control the quality and the price of the wines. However, if you buy the grapes from growers, than you are at the mercy of their cost structure and what the market can bear. Sure, many wineries get into long-term contracts that assure them consistent pricing and hopefully, some control of how the vines are managed. However, as the contracts come to a close, the pricing will increase, which places pressure on the winery’s ability to keep its margin’s alive.

Grapes in the Napa Valley have been increasing, though last year the crop tonnage went down, the prices increased slightly. The same can be said for other highly sought-after wine regions. However, there is still tons of bulk quality grapes out there that get turned into pure swill, but that can be said for any variety and/or region. In the end, Cabernet will always be the starting grape fro most wineries and the starting grape for most vineyards, because there is a consistent market for the grape and the wine, be it kosher or not.

Many wineries have built their portfolio is a logical manner, starting with mass amounts of average and drinkable wines, for the masses, and then slowly adding layers of more expensive wine to add to their cachet. This was how Hagafen started and now it has three lines of wines, and continues to grow with more and more labels and quality wine. Herzog did the same, starting in 1985 with their baseline wines, and then adding in the reserve wines as years went on, and now they have what could best be described as four levels of wines; Baron wine line (base), Reserve wines, Special Edition and Single Vineyard wines, and then the top line Generation 8 wines. Israel wineries have done the same, slowly building with baseline wines and growing from there. However, Jeff Morgan, the head winemaker at Covenant Winery, did things a different way, he started with the high-end wine and slowly built backwards. In 2003, Covenant Winery had their maiden voyage into the wine world by releasing a wonderful wine, the 2003 Covenant Cabernet! He went straight out with the flagship wine, with zero ground cover – amazing and very gutsy. The wine, is still lovely, and is one that we will enjoy again very soon. It was not till 2006 that Mr. Morgan added some ground cover with his 2006 Covenant Red C! Another smash hit and one that we tasted, not long ago, and still liked very much.

So, with that in mind I put together another wine tasting that I hoped would showcase the ability and range of Cabernet Sauvignon in the kosher market. We had one of the best ever Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2001 Yarden El-Rom Cabernet Sauvignon, a wine that the late Daniel Rogov, called Israel’s best Cabernet. We had another winner from Yarden, the 2003 Yarden Cabernet, its second line Cabernet and a wine that is consistently good and reasonably priced. We had a bottle of the 2005 Four Gates Napa Cabernet, and we had two bottles from Covenant Winery, the 2004 Covenant Cabernet, that Jeff brought over for the winemaker dinner, and the 2008 Covenant Red C that a friend brought over. Finally, we had a bottle of the 2008 Herzog Single Vineyard Trestle Glen Cabernet Sauvignon, whose grapes were sourced from the B.R. Cohn winery, which made a bottle of its own Cabernet at the Herzog Winery, this bottle was also brought over by a friend.

The 2008 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Single Vineyard, Trestle Glen, Sonoma County is Herzog’s second Single Vineyard wine from the 2008 vintage. It is also Herzog’s second year for its Single Vineyard wines. The wine is using the same grapes as the 2008 B.R. Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon was, and is clearly as elegant as its younger and cheaper brother. However, it received a bit more oak than the B.R. Cohn wine did, and had shows more extraction than its younger brother does.

So there you have it the lineup actually did do what I was hoping for. It opened conversation, it showed the range of red to green to black flavors, from leathers and chocolate, to green notes and graphite, and everything else in between. It was a wonderful evening of Cabernet and great food, and one everyone seemed to enjoy.

For dinner we made some lovely black bean soup, along with a bunch of sausage stew, and spinach kugel. As always, the sausage stew is great because of two main reasons. First, you eat everything and there are no parts that you need to remove or eat around, such as bones or nasty cartilage. Also, it can be made for vegetarians – which ROCKS!

The wine notes follow below. Many thanks to the guests that brought over wines, including Benyamin from Four Gates Winery, who brought over a bottle of his 2009 Chardonnay, which has turned the corner and is now tasting very Chardonnay like, and not as Viognier like as before. He also brought over a bottle of his 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, if you have some – DRINK UP!!!

2005 Four Gates Cabernet, Napa Valley – Score: B+ to A-
This was the first Cabernet Sauvignon ever released by the Four Gates Winery. This is a wine I have not tasted in more than a year, and it has lost a slight step in that time. The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine is filled with blackberry, cassis, plum, and spice.  The wine fills your mouth with concentrated fruit, black cherry, herbs, nice sweet cedar, surprising acidity, and light tannin that comes together nicely. The finish is long with earthy notes and good fruit. This wine needs to be drunk up and one that is still quite enjoyable.

2009 Four Gates Chardonnay – Score: A-
The Chardonnay is back!!! Congratulations to Benyamin this wine that clearly was tasting more like Viognier than Chardonnay has turned the corner and is now showing beautiful tropical fruit, combined with a very luscious and full mouth that still starts off with honeyed notes, but parts way for the more classical butterscotch and spice that appears with time in the glass. The finish is long and spicy with cloves, mineral, bright citrus, melon, and a hint of herbs.

2004 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon (Larkmead Vineyard) – Score: A- to A
The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine is refined and elegant rich ripe blackberry, cassis, blackcurrant, and classic Covenant Black cherry. The wine is a classic green and graphite monster, with lovely bell pepper notes, red fruit, graphite, and loamy dirt, that melds well with sweet cedar, and mouth coating tannin that brings the wine together into a still vibrant and attention grabbing mouth. The finish is super long and rich with chocolate, tobacco, nice spice, cloves, leather, ripe plum, and good vanilla. Drink Now.

2004 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon – Score: A-
The nose is filled with crazy black cherry, blackcurrant, and blackberry fruits that are super ripe and sweet, along with heavy oriental spice, licorice, cloves, and good mineral. The mouth is full with heavy date flavors from the super ripe black fruit, along with mounds of sweet cedar, and mouth coating tannin that makes for a rich and spicy mouth that is still seductive and attention grabbing. The mouth clams over time with less date and ripe fruit and more mineral and balance. The finish is long and spicy with crazy menthol, eucalyptus, and mint that does calm down over time and make way for chocolate and hints of vanilla on the long linger. Drink now till 2016.

2008 Covenant Red C Cabernet Sauvignon – Score: A-
This wine starts off very closed and was clearly one of the wine of the evening, along with the Herzog, that needed time to express its tannins and dark fruit that lie underneath. If you are looking to enjoy this wine in the future, I recommend opening this two hours or more before and then enjoying it open in front of your eyes.

The nose starts off with crazy tobacco, black cherry, blackberry, plum, and blackcurrant. The mouth is medium to full in body, with a round and full mouth filled with attention grabbing and mouth coating tannin, lovely sweet cedar, and good fruit that makes for a lovely mouth. The finish is long and filled with chocolate, licorice, loamy dirt, good green notes, all backed with vanilla, and hints of mineral. The wine is made predominantly from grapes grown at the Young Family Vineyard in Napa Valley, just south of St. Helena, along with press wine from the flagship Covenant Cabernet. Open ahead of time and drink now till 2016.

2008 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Single Vineyard, Trestle Glen, Sonoma County – Score: A- to A
The wine needs time to open, but once it opens it shows a beautiful classic cold weather red and green Bordeaux nose with expressive graphite, mint, bell pepper, eucalyptus, licorice, currant, and cherry. The mouth is medium to full bodied with lovely blackberry, plum, and red fruit, that mingles well with sweet cedar, and mouth coating tannin that makes for unique mouth that is more refined and elegant than it is ripe and explosive. The finish is long and spicy with cloves, tobacco, hints of chocolate, and vanilla. The wine is truly elegant with lovely tobacco, graphite, green notes, red fruit, and vanilla. Enjoy this till 2015 or so.

2001 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon, El Rom – Score: A
The notes on this wine have not changed drastically, the tannin is still kicking, the mouth equally as rich, and the heat has dissipated. This is one of the best wines I have tasted from Israel. The wine is still a bit closed, so an hour or two of air time would be of great help! Also, where the 2004 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon was heavy with date, this is a wine that shows elegance and power, it shows ripe fruit that is not so ripe that date and cooked fruit comes to mind.

The nose on this wine is filled with heavy layers of blackberry, cassis, raspberry, currant, dark cherry, and plum. The mouth on this wine is complex and multi layered. This is no simple wine, it hits you in waves. The mouth on this full bodied wine has begun to soften, but that only means that the tannins are not so in your face, while still being integrated while adding even more opulence to this rich and mouth coating wine, filled with sweet and almost jam-like black and red fruit (but not cloyingly so) , sweet cedar, and eucalyptus that comes at you over and over with intensity and elegance. The finish is crazy long and is filled with lovely spice, cloves, herbs, chocolate, tobacco, and rich dirt, with slight vegetal notes. This is really quite a fine wineand one that still needs a single hour or so of air before being ready to enjoy, but one that should be consumed by 2015 or so.

Bravdo is imported into the United States by Happy Hearts Wine Importers, who has kept the prices on these wonderful wines at a reasonable level, while also continuing to make the newest vintages available, and not bringing in old wines. While, I was talking with Hadar, which is always a joy, Benyamin, manager of Happy Hearts, swung by and proudly stated that Happy Hearts had suggested they make a blend – and the output was Coupage! WOW! That is quite synergistic, if I say so myself, the importer suggesting a different wine, and the Professor delivering, with what I think is the best bottle, along with the Shiraz, that Bravdo makes.

There was one slightly under performing wine and that was the 2011 Bravdo Chardonnay, but given the trouble that 2011 presented, in Israel and the US, the wine is just fine thank you.

I must excuse myself for the lack of pictures, but I seem to have forgotten to take pictures of the 2010 wines! I am very sorry. The bottles look the same as the 2009 vintages just of course with a different year. You can find those, along with the wine notes here.

So many thanks to Hadar, The Bravdo Family, Happy Hearts, and of course Costas for the wonderful opportunity to taste through these fantastic wines. I hope to be tasting through these wines again soon, at a shabbos table, where I can have a bit more time to enjoy them and actually drink them.

The wine notes follow below:

2011 Bravdo Chardonnay – Score: B+ to A-
This wine only had 30% oak influence, while the 2010 vintage had almost 50%, though oak still plays a nice role in rounding the mouth and adding in some characteristics to boot. The nose on this dark straw-colored wine, with a green tinge starts off with bright citrus, lemon, light toast, green notes, and crushed herbs. The mouth is round and full with green apple, light quince, good acidity, light oak influence that comes together nicely. The finish is toasty with hints of butterscotch, crazy tart pink grapefruit, green notes, and on the rise a nice dollop of lemon zest. Drink this till 2014.

2010 Bravdo Merlot – Score: A-
The Bravdo Merlot continues to impress me by being a wine that is more true to its varietal. Overall I think it was the weakest of the four reds, but that is nitpicking. The wine is lovely and one that any winery would dream to have in its portfolio.
The nose starts off with lovely green notes, light hints of butter, blackcurrant, blackberry, and lovely raspberry. The mouth is full, expressive, and richly buttered with good mouth coating tannin that is slowly integrating, nice spicy wood influence, black cherry, and focused fruit that comes together into a pleasing mouth. The finish is long and spicy with mounds of vanilla, good spice, and a lovely hint of leather at the end. Best from 2013 till 2016, though in a pinch you could start now as well.

2010 Bravdo Cabernet Sauvignon – Score: A- to A
Hadar told me that Professor Bravdo believes this may be a better Cabernet than the 2009 and I would have to say for now that it is as good, and in time may be better. This is another great example of how wonderful a wine can taste with ripe jammy fruit that does not taste over ripe.
The nose starts off with crazy rich blackcurrant, crushed herb, blackberry, cassis, lovely green notes, and menthol. The mouth starts off with big in-your-face menthol, focused and concentrated ripe jammy black fruit, big and heavy extraction, and massive tannin that needs time to settle down, all slowly coming together into a luscious mouthfeel. The finish is long and lovely with classic graphite flavor, tobacco leaf, chocolate, and light leather. Quite simply a lovely Cabernet with ripe jammy fruit that is balanced and lovely and one that will be best from 2013 till 2017.

2010 Bravdo Shiraz – Score: A- to A
The nose on this deeply black colored wine starts off screaming with black pepper, blackcurrant, and black plum, that gives way to beautiful and ripe blueberry and spice. The mouth is massive and extracted with good mouth coating tannin, nice ripe blue and black fruit, black cherry, and nice oak that comes together into a velvety mouthfeel. The finish is super long and spicy with chunks of chocolate, spice, cinnamon, cloves, tobacco, and nice soft leather at the end. Drink from release till 2016.

2010 Bravdo Coupage – Score: A- to A
This is the second vintage of this wonderful blend that continues to impress and make me a believer in the ability of Cabernet Franc to thrive in Israel. The blend is once again a combination of Cabernet Franc, Shiraz, and Cabernet Sauvignon. This is another example of what I call the Israeli blend, as there are truly few countries and wine regions where you can ripen Bordeaux varietals, like Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, while also being able to ripen Shiraz which normally ripens much later on. You need the proper heat, quality, and age of the vines to make a blend like this work, where the ripe flavors can all blend well together.

The nose starts off with lovely Cabernet Franc notes of asparagus and zucchini, along with light floral notes, crushed herb, and blackcurrant. The mouth is full bodied, round, and rich with layered attacks of focused black cherry, raspberry, ripe fruit, along with mouth coating tannin, and good spicy oak that makes for a delightful and complex mouth. The finish is long and spicy, and continues with more lovely green notes, vanilla, and a hint of leather. Drink this from release till 2017.

Personally, I think it is the correct business structure to have for a growing winery. You need simple bulk wines that have high margins and can be sold anywhere and everywhere. Wines that people buy in the millions, literally. Then you need wines that bolster the lineup, entry-level wine-drinker wines, that can be the bridge to take you from swill to paradise. Think white zinfandel from Herzog Wine Cellars, they sell those bottles by the millions and they are the perfect gateway drug to get you to Chenin Blanc and then maybe to Chardonnay or Black Muscat, and finally to some real dry red wines.

Today the winery we are looking at is the Teperberg winery which was founded in 1870 by the Teperberg family (from where the name of the winery is derived) in the Old City of Jerusalem. Actually, to be accurate it was located in an alleyway of the old city of Jerusalem, and may well have been the first winery in the modern era of Israel. Later in 1964, the winery moved outside of Jerusalem, to the then quiet suburb of Motza (now a thriving community), and took on the name Efrat. The winery, ignoring its many name changes, continues to mostly produce sacramental sweet wines, as that is what its main clientele are looking for. However, in the 1990s Efrat started to create dry red wines, and to be honest they were a disaster. I remember always passing up on them, even when in school, and buying Carmel dry or semi-sweet wines instead.

Starting in 2002, under the supervision of California-trained senior winemaker Shiki Rauchberger the winery began producing wines destined to appeal to a more sophisticated audience. They rebuilt the winery, from the ground up, to just outside of Kibbutz Tzora, with massive investment into its future, and it once again changed its name to Teperberg. It also added to the winemaking team, French-born, and trained Olivier Fratty. The new winery boasts all new modern equipment, a massive barrel room, and a lovely visitor center where people can come and see the facility and enjoy their wines.

Of the four million bottles sold, much of it is still sacramental in nature, however, more and more the very target audience for the winery is shifting beneath them. Life in Israel is improving, and so are the taste buds of its inhabitants. They are looking for more sophistication, and as such the winery is looking to expand its portfolio of wines and clientele.

At the Gotham event I had a chance to talk with Shiki and understand what his team is doing differently now and where it wants to be in the future. The winery now is sourcing its grapes from the Judean Hills, the Shiloh sub region, and the Shomron region. Ignoring the Efrat label, which has basically been relegated to the sacramental wines and dry wines that are not noteworthy, the winery still has many labels but the only ones of note are the; Reserve, Terra and Silver series. All wines are made mevushal, except for the Reserve and Terra. Soon more expansive and better quality vineyards will be coming on-line with even more varieties and with far better yield and quality control.

For the most part, the reserve series of wines are oak aged for 18 months, the terra series are oak aged for 12 months, and the Silver series (which is also mevushal) is oak aged for 6 months. Clearly not all the wines that we tasted at the Gotham Event, where Shiki was leading the initial part of the VIP tasting, or the wines I tasted at Sommelier, last year, are top-notch. Still the wines are clearly improving and they are making a clear and steady climb upwards, towards consistency and higher quality.

The wine notes here are from wines I tasted at Sommelier and the Gotham wine tasting:

2010 Teperberg Brut – Score: B+
This is the first sparkling wine from Teperberg, and their first attempt is quite passable. The sparkler is made up of 90% Chardonnay and the other 10% is made from French Colombard. The Chardonnay adds the body, while the Colombard adds in the acidity that is natural to the varietal. The wine starts off effervescent in the glass, with fig notes, nice sweet floral attitude, along with light hints of yeast and toast. The mouth opens to small bubble mousse that is controlled and bright, along with peach and tart lemon acidity. The finish has a light hint of oak and more toast.

2009 Teperberg Malbec, Terra – Score: A-
This is the third year for this wine and it continues to get better, with the 2009 vintage being the best to date. The varietal has received much praise in Argentina and Chile, and makes sense to thrive in Israel, given the extreme heat that the area can receive at times. I have tasted and drunk this wine a few times now, and each time I continue to be impressed by it. The wine starts off with a blast of clear animal notes, followed by good mineral, bramble, plum, and raspberry. The mouth is round and full with medium+ weight, nice integrating tannin, blackberry, and controlled toasty oak that is now harmonious. The finish is long with good concentration of fruit, crushed herb, leafy tobacco, espresso coffee, and vanilla. A lovely wine that will be around till 2015 and maybe a bit later.

2010 Teperberg Cabernet Franc, Reserve – Score: A-
I do have a soft spot for Cabernet Franc, and I have tasted through quite a many of them, and this is a fine example of what the varietal is capable of. The wine is still in barrel, and was transported from Israel in a bottle of course, so the wine was decanted to allow it to show its best, and because of its obvious youth. The wine will continue to age in oak for a few more months, until it reaches its 18 month birthday, after that it will be bottled and let rest for a few more months till it goes on sale. The grapes for this wine are sourced from vineyards near Shiloh. The wine starts off with classic Cabernet Franc green notes of asparagus and broccoli, followed by nice violet, and plum. The mouth is controlled with clear restraint applied to both the oak and the body, allowing for a true expression of the varietal, instead of having Cabernet Franc in Cabernet Sauvignon’s clothing. The mouth continues with nice round mouth showing from controlled oak influence, along with nice mouth coating tannin, and sweet cedar whose components have yet to all settle down, but are well on their way. The finish is long with lovely chocolate, good mineral notes and tobacco.

2009 Teperberg Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve – Score: B+ to A-
This was another wine that Shiki decanted and was still tight at the tasting. The wine is lovely and shows ability but one for now that clearly needs time. The wine aged in oak for 18 months opens slowly to show almost classic Cabernet characteristics, with ripe plum, graphite, bell pepper, and blackberry. The mouth is full and round with a heavy body of cassis, mouth coating tannin, and clear oak influence that is still far from all coming together. The finish is long and spicy, with nice cedar, mineral, tobacco, and chocolate. Give this one some time and it will show in a more pleasing manner.

2007 Teperberg Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve – Score: A-
This is a lovely wine and may well be the best wine, in bottle, from Teperberg to date. The nose is rich and redolent with ripe blackberry, cassis, black plum, graphite, and lovely green notes. The mouth on this broad-shouldered and full bodied wine, is far richer and more concentrated than the 2009 vintage, with good fruit focus, nice toasty cedar, and mouth coating tannin that are all coming together nicely and showing extremely well. The finish is long and spicy, with vanilla, chocolate, and tobacco. This is a wine that is beautiful right now and one that can be enjoyed till 2015 or a bit more.

2009 Teperberg Blend, Reserve – Score: B+ to A-
Of the two unique blends from the 2009 vintage this one is a level below the premium blend. This blend is only sold in magnum bottles and is a lovely blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Shiraz, and 10% Petite Verdot. This is another example of Israel’s new theme of making blends that do not exist anywhere else in the world. These blends are not French, Italian, or American in any manner. Rather this blend is very Israeli in nature and in practice. It takes a unique growing climate to be able to have both the Cabernet and the Shiraz ripen at the same time and quality to create a blend like this. This wine is not yet available in store, in bottle, or even in name, as the final name has not yet been officially announced, for now it was called at the tasting – reserve blend. Its final name and label will be announced at a later date.

The nose starts off with lovely black plum, blackberry, raspberry, cherry, and mineral. The mouth on this wine is soft and plush with lovely mouth coating tannin, good cedar, and ripe fruit that fill out the mouth nicely. The finish has hints of animal, chocolate, tobacco, cedar, and citrus zest.

2009 Teperberg Blend, Premium – Score: A-
Of the two unique blends from the 2009 vintage this one is a notch above the reserve blend. Also, this blend is not an Israeli blend but rather a classic Bordeaux style blend. The blend is made up of only 6 barrels total, making for a very limited and assuredly expensive wine. The blend is a selection of only the very best barrels from the 2009 vintage. Three barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon, two barrels of Merlot, and one barrel of Petite Verdot, making for a rough blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, and 17% Petite Verdot (rounding up for simplicity). This wine is not yet available in store, in bottle, or even in name, as the final name has not yet been officially announced, for now it was called at the tasting – premium blend. Its final name and label will be announced at a later date.

The nose starts off with a classic Bordeaux style attack of black plum, lovely green notes, graphite, mineral, blackberry, and raspberry. The mouth medium in body, round and full with mouth coating tannin, nice mineral, lovely sweet cedar, and good focused fruit that seems to be in the front forever, all coming together into a layered and almost concentrated attack. The finish is long and lingers well with vanilla, chocolate, more sweet cedar, black pepper, spice, and herbs. This is a wine that is sure to please everyone and one that will be hard to find, but may well be worthy of the effort.

Teperberg Nevel Port Style – Score: B+
I must admit that sweet red wines are not my favorite thing, though when done correctly the are magical. This is NOT a port or a port style wine. This is a semi-sweet red wine that is oxidized and OK. Sorry, it is not even in the same league as the kosher Port from Royal. So what is this wine, it is a nice red dessert wine, though even with the oxidation and body, many a sweet food will run this over, and forget about a rich creamy mousse. This wine is made from Merlot grapes and aged outdoors using the angel’s technique. Interestingly enough, Tepperberg makes three sweet wines using a musical instrument theme. One is the nevel (harp) port, another is the kinnor (violin) which is a fortified dessert wine, and the third one is called Chalil (flute), which is a semi-sweet Cabernet Sauvignon. Thanks Yossi for the missing info!

The nose starts with heavy oxidation, ripe plum, candied fruit, dark cherry, chocolate, and pepper. The mouth is full with candied fruit that melds nicely with good tannin and nice vanilla. The finish lingers long with much the same.

2008 Teperberg Merlot, Terra (shmitta wine) – Score: B+
This is a shmitta wine, so please beware. The nose starts with crushed herb, date, black cherry, raspberry, along with an almost perfumed nose of cedar and plum. The mouth is almost full with mouth coating tannin, good spicy wood, and red fruit that brings the entire package together nicely. The finish is long with good minerality, vanilla, espresso coffee, and tobacco.

2009 Teperberg Meritage, Reserve – Score: B+ to A-
This is another classic Bordeaux blend with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and the rest filled out with Petite Verdot, and Cabernet Franc. The nose starts with crushed herb, plum, and black olive, followed by smokey aromas, blackberry, and cassis. The mouth is rich and spicy, with layered and concentrated black fruit, along with not yet integrated tannin, and blackcurrant that come together into a mouthfeel that is slowly coming together. The finish is long and spicy with a distinct salty feel of black olives, light leather, and tobacco.

2009 Teperberg Shiraz, Reserve – Score: A-
This is Teperberg’s first Shiraz in the reserve series label and the outcome is quite lovely and rich. The nose is massive and almost assaulting with mounds of black pepper, blueberry, blackberry, smokey wood, and plum. The mouth is full with mouth coating tannin, ripe but not over the top fruit, and good wood that creates a lovely mouthfeel. The finish is long and spicy with bramble, tobacco, leather, garrigue, and vanilla. Quite a nice job and one that you can enjoy till 2016.