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Tzora Winery – the founding terroir estate of the Judean Hills
Say the word terroir and most folk’s thoughts would consciously, or maybe sub-consciously jump to France, heck the word is French after all. Still, ask what does it mean, and now we are off the races. Why? Because other than its literal translation; land or sense of place, there is no real translation for terroir. I think that is fitting in a way, as the word has really just started its long and obviously complicated journey. According to the incomparable Harold McGee and Daniel Patterson, it all started in the 17th century, when used to describe a wine, in a non-complementary way. My! Fast forward to 1831, when it was first used as a compliment! From there, it has evolved over and over, like clay, or silt, or maybe rocks, in the hand of a potter, changing and evolving to meet the needs of place and/or time.
While researching this article I spent a good few hours, heck days, searching the real meaning of the word terroir. I almost felt like Indiana Jones on the search for the Ark of the Covenant. No matter how hard I searched, no matter the words I typed into the oracle of the web, all I got were old and stale answers. Finally, I fell upon the father of wine tasting, Eric Asimov’s, blog posting on the fore mentioned article, and I screamed Eureka (yeah my wife was not impressed)! On an aside, Harold McGee is my generation’s original scientific foodie, his books are the bible to many of our nowadays chef demi-gods gastronomical feats. It comes as no shock to me that he would be my knight in shining armor, remember wine may well be romantic in verse and scripture, but it is a chemical at its most base, in other words, dead center in Mr. McGee’s wheelhouse!
So, after reading more and more on this subject, it became even clearer to me, that the word may well be derived from the Latin meaning “earth”, but that is just the beginning of its true essence. Flash forward to a lovely early spring day in the Judean Hills, where my friend and I walk into the newly appointed Tzora Winery, sited on Kibbutz Tzora, and surrounded by sumptuous foliage and landscaping. Tzora Winery is the handiwork of one of Israel’s original and unique winemakers, who truly understood terroir, and saw Israel’s and the Judean Hill’s potential to become a world class wine region. In 1978, there was no Yarden winery, there was just a single Carmel Cabernet success, and Israel was just in its infancy, in terms of wine making, but to the visionary viticulturist Ronnie James, it was a path as clear as day. Mr. James was the Messiah to your average vintner. In his 30 years of service to the vine, Mr. James, will always remain the pioneer, not only at Tzora but also on the Israeli wine scene. Among Mr. James contributions were his enormous respect and passion for terroir and his insistence that his wines reflect that passion. James, known as “Dr. Terroir,” was the first to make wine from his own grapes and the first to introduce the vineyard name on a label. He recognized that the character of a wine comes from the site rather than the grape. Read the rest of this entry
A bunch of wines shared with family, Provocative Plum Chutney, and Roast Shoulder with Festive Vegetables
The start of Succot was surrounded with family in Chicago and I had the chance to cook twice; to boot! I made a rolled shoulder roast with festive vegetables, much like we did at home on Rosh Hashanah for the first meal. For the other meal, my nephew asked me to make our now patented Black Pepper Seared Salmon. To be honest, I was greatly honored to be asked by my nephew, but I am always terrified to cook in my sister-in-law’s house. She is such a wonderful cook and it is intimidating to say the least, but it is a ton of fun to cook with the family. To boot this time, my wife was there to lend a hand, and of course my brother (der Bruder) was there to lend his ever quick wit and helpful advice, including the name of the chutney and his usual fascination with figs! It was a great ball and it came out ok, but it was a truly team effort!
When making the seared cracked peppercorn salmon, we made two changes. One I used more sesame instead of more peppercorns, in order to lower the heat, which helped a bit. Also, we used a peppercorn mixture of white and black, which was easier to crack by beating on it, which is a long story in and of itself. Either way, when searing the salmon, the cracked white pepper gave off this almost rancid smell, that was not so nice. I have never smelled that particular “aroma” before, so maybe this was the first time I seared anything with cracked white pepper on it. Anyway, if anyone knows about this particular issue/subject, I would greatly appreciate it. Once the fish cooled down, the smell was greatly muted, but still gave off a bit of a bad smell, which was the only real stain on this wonderful team effort.
The last time we made this chutney/salmon combo, we used mango as the core sweetness. This time we used peeled black plums, which were very sweet indeed. This time we again started with browned white onions, along with a couple of sweet peppers as the initial base. Then we moved to ripe peeled black plums to boost the sweetness, brightness, and ripeness of the dish. The garlic was a god send, and minced to perfection by my brother’s wife. Some diced figs and the moscato to finish, and we had another hit! The salmon came out great, even though we had no oven to finish in. Again, my brother’s wife came to the rescue, she skinned the fish, and we seared both sides, which added nice color and flavor, and allowed the fish to cook through in the pan. The fish was a lovely fatty salmon; please make sure to never try searing and finishing the salmon, unless it has enough innate fat in it.
Provocative Plum Chutney
2 or 3 sweet onions
2 sweet peppers diced
5 ripe peeled black plums cubed
Few cloves of crushed garlic
5 small dried figs diced
200 ml of moscato
The wines were enjoyed in this order throughout the meals at my family, the notes follow below:
2004 Tzora Neve Ilan - Score: B++
The nose on this garnet leaning towards brown colored wine is hopping with raspberry, blackberry, plum, red fruit, crushed herbs, mint, coffee, oak, and graphite/mineral. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine was nice but lacked concentration or layers. The black fruit and tannin meld over time to become full in the mouth, along with raspberry, blackberry, plum, and slight minerality. The mid palate is balanced and acidic with more tannin, oak, and coffee. The finish is long and spicy with oak, plum, black fruit, coffee, and a nice dollop of vanilla that lingers on the palate. The wine is throwing sediment that showed in the glass and on the sides of the bottle.
2005 Monte Olivo Umbria Roso – Score: B to B+
We have tasted this before and each time we like it, but it has hit its high and ready to drink now, as the party is over. The nose on this purple colored wine is hopping with dark plum, black cherry, and raspberry to start, but shows black fruit later, with black pepper, loamy dirt, and oak. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is nice but it and the rest of the wine fades quickly. It starts with rich black plum, dirt, black cherry, and raspberry. The mid palate is balanced with light complexity of black pepper, acid, oak, and nice tannin. The finish is medium long and spicy with black pepper, tobacco, plum, and vanilla. Drink up, no flaws but fading quickly.
2006 Casa Da Corca Reserve (Douro) – Score: B+ to A-
This wine was the last one we tasted over the weekend and it may well be the best. I was expecting NOTHING when buying this wine. What I got was a fun wine with a bit of complexity and a wine that showed itself like a four gates merlot for a bit of time. That said it is now at its peak and does not last more than a few hours, open it and watch it change in the glass. It is throwing a fair amount of sediment so watch for it. It is not showing age, so the sediment is harmless.
The nose on this dark ruby to garnet colored wine is screaming with coffee, smoky notes, black cherry, raspberry, blackberry, fig, crushed herbs, mint, and oak. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine turns full in the mouth after a bit of time, along with blackberry, plum, and dark cherry. The mid palate transition has a quick note of what I can only call a combination of green bean/fig/mint, along with acid, oak, nice tannin, and coffee. The finish is long and spicy with plum, nice oak, tannins that linger along with vanilla. This is a nice wine that should be bought once to open your mind to what the heat of Spain can bring you with its unique fruit and terroir.
2006 Rothberg Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Winemakers Reserve - Score: B- to B
Wow what a true waste of a nice wine. I cannot tell you what made the wine so acidic and off balance in the front. At first I thought it was just very bright fruit, but that was quickly proven incorrect. The fruit was initially asleep but once the fruit came out and then relaxed, the acidic front stayed on, almost to the point of being spoiled or corked. That said, the rest of the wine was very nice, but just from an academic point of view. The mevushal process on this wine is not the suspect, none of the flavors were cooked in any way. The nose on this dark ruby colored wine has blackberry, plum, fig, sweet oak, chocolate, smoky notes, and black pepper. The mouth on this medium bodied wine was a sleep for some time. Once the mouth woke up, it started with a blast of acid and followed through with sweet oak, blackberry, and plum. At one point in time, if the wine had not exhibited the initial blast of acid, I would have sworn it was a bottle of Hagafen Merlot. The mid palate has oak, more acid, chocolate, and integrated tannin. The finish is long with chocolate, black pepper, sweet oak, acid, tobacco, plum, and vanilla. It would have been such a nice wine if not for the crazy acidic front a true shame. Still it is a lighter wine that would have been expected, but would have been nice none the less, given its complexity, but alas the front killed it. The wine is throwing sediment as well, but that was not a flaw in the wine.
2009 Jerusalem Wine Festival – Pictures and Wine Notes
Our story begins in 2003 and bombs are exploding up and down the state. Residents are worried to leave the house, and the wine industry is taking a severe hit, as overall morale is down. As the state steps up, and brings its considerable weight to bear on the problem, private individuals start to wonder how to remove the malaise from among the populace. Up steps Avi Ben, an owner of a successful chain of wine stores, who comes up with an idea to kill two birds with one stone. So Avi sat down with a few local wine marketers, and organized the first Jerusalem Wine festival. In his own words, as described by Jerusalemite.net – We decided to organize a fair that would bring wine distributors to Jerusalem. We picked a great location, the Israel Museum, and once they agreed to house the festival, all the planning became easier. People loved the location, they loved the idea, and it was a huge success. Under this backdrop, my friend and I were more than happy to attend the 6th annual Jerusalem Wine festival, which was once again located in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
As we gave our tickets to the attendant (previously bought at the Nahalat Shiva Avi Ben store for 60 NIS) and slowly walked our way to the sculpture garden in the back, we could already take in the night’s air. It was filled with the smell of olive trees, pine trees, open wine bottles, and the initial sense of excitement. As we got closer to the open air arena, that hosts the 33 wineries that were presenting their wares for the evening, we were greeted by a table of glasses. The glass was ours to use during the evening, one that would be our ever present partner to the evening’s soiree, and one that we could take home after the long evening. I paused at the opening to the garden, and took in the spectacle that was in front of me. Beyond the dim lights, the 33 wineries that rimmed the garden and the center as well, essentially creating a pair of concentric circles, what was evident was the lightness of the evening. This was not going to be a wine snob event, or an event that would require heavy wine talk. Instead it was a casual affair, accentuated by the dress code of many of the attendees – shorts, tee shirt, and flip flops. But even more evident was the electricity, the life, the joy (even if alcohol fueled), that powered the evening and lit up the night’s sky. It was almost ethereal yet real, and one of the most exciting aspects of the evening.
<slight tangent about kosher issues>
Unfortunately, I must take a moment to talk about what I can only now explain as a kashrut problem surrounding the whole evening. As much as I loved the festival, those of us who are Orthodox practicing Jews, had a few problems that we faced that evening. They were:
- Shmitta wines for those of us who live in the Diaspora. The 2008 vintage is a shmitta year, and many of the wineries use a loophole called heter mechira, where they sell the grapes to non-jews. This is a not so accepted practice in the modern era, and so most Orthodox Jews do not drink those wines. The only way to know is to pick up the bottle and read the back label, where things of this nature are spelled out. The wines from Yarden, Galil, and some others, use a more accepted practice called Oztar Beit Din, and so I happily enjoy Yarden and Galil wines from the 2008 vintage.
- As lovely as the Spieglau glasses were, they were not “toveled” – ritually immersed, which Orthodox practicing Jews do, before making use of the utensil.
- 99% of the wines served that night, were non-mevushal wines. Meaning they were not pasteurized, which sounds great, because why would you want to pasteurize wine for goodness sakes, this is not milk with volatile bacteria. Well, because “mevushal” wine can be handled by non Jews, while non-mevushal wines cannot be. Furthermore, if a non Jew were to touch my wine glass or bottle, I cannot drink that wine anymore. The law is not very PC to say the least and truly requires a long post to analyze it better (which I will be doing soon God willing), but my belief system is based on faith and not one that I can turn on and off when it suits me or my friends. Now, I do not bring this up to disparage the Jewish lineage of those that were pouring the wines. Rather, I bring it up because the rules around the open bottle were lax to say the least. The open bottles, from which the wine was being poured was touched by many a passerby, and of their lineage, I have no idea.
My feeling is that the next time I go to this event; I would probably attend, but not drink any wines.
</end tangent 
>
Once we were finished taking in the scene/madness that was swirling before us, we moved our way to the booth of one of Israel’s most exciting wineries – Yatir Winery. It has captured the imagination and attention of many wine lovers including myself. I have been lucky to visit the winery twice before, and each time I am in awe of their progress and continual assault at the wine world’s malaise and opinion of Israel’s wine industry. Just this past year they were awarded one of the highest scores for their flagship wine by Robert Parker and Mark Squires of the Wine Advocate. There I had what can only be described as a brain freeze, when I tasted one of the best white wines of Israel - the 2008 Yatir Sauvignon Blanc, before I realized that the wine was produced using heter mechira. I was mistaken at that time, and once more unfortunately, and is the main reason that I did not enjoy more of the whites that evening, as they were either produced by non kosher wineries, or because they were the 2008 vintage and used heter mechira. That said the 2008 Sauvignon Blanc was wonderful, but was clearly not opened long enough to get its legs under it. Still, it showed a nice tropical fruit flavor along with a bit of cut grass and some lychee. From there we moved on to the Galil Mountain Winery‘s booth, where we were hoping to be able to taste the highly acclaimed Galil Meron. Unfortunately, it was not available for tasting till 9PM, so we were “forced” to partake of their other showings until the hour passed. I was happily distracted by the Galil Pinot Noir, which is a more classical take on a French Burgundy, than those recently produced by Israeli wineries. Still, the wine has enough facets – like its soft oak and coffee flavors to throw you off the French scent. The other two wines I tasted while waiting for the grand moment, were less than enthralling. The 2008 Galil Rose, was bland and flat, and the 2007 Galil Barbera was but a glimpse of its older brother’s power and depth. Where the others disappointing, the Galil Meron did not. It was a wine well worth the wait and one that I highly recommend for those in Israel (the US allotment will not be available till 2010, probably for Passover).
We next visited the booth of Dalton Winery, where we tasted a dud of a wine and a real nice winner. The Dalton Rose, made of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes was an average quaffer, with a rose petal flavored mouth and a raspberry nose. Nothing to write home about or post about. The winner was the 2007 Dalton Shiraz – WOW! A solid blockbuster of a wine and one worthy or your attention. We then weaved our way on over to the booth of the Binyamina Winery, where we took in a nice 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. While some booths had massive and expressive signs – note the Yarden/Golan Heights Winery’s sign, other small wineries had zero signage. Yarden being one of the biggest wineries in Israel had a sign to match their importance and prestige. Heck, forget the sign, they had a whole platform. The sculpture garden is lovely and expansive, but the floor is rock and dirt, which while native to Israel and Jerusalem, is a bit too native for many of the folks standing and walking around for the 4 to 5 hours that the event was open for. Yarden and another winery had a lovely platform, with soft padding, great lounge chairs, a few tables, and awesome wines (which is obvious). I cannot seem to find a picture of the platform, but take my word for it . Anyway, we once again weaved around and through the crowd, and moseyed on over to the booth of Tzuba Winery. We have spoken before about Tzuba, and we had the extreme pleasure of visiting their lovely winery before. They are a winery with a long lineage of managing vineyards of the Judean Hills. The wines were a nice selection of the wines available from the winery, within Israel, and yet another reason for us of the Diaspora to do Aliyah! Yes, they export some wines, but the vast majority sells fine within Israel. We enjoyed a lovely 2007 Belmont (55% Sauvignon Blanc and 45% Semillon) which showed nice dirt, lychee, grapefruit, and peach. The 2006 Tel Tzuba Merlot was also quite nice. The 2006 Tel Tzuba Cabernet was a bit off, so I did not write it up, the bottle tasted over ripe or oxidized.
We were off again, and moving towards a booth with a large sign, the Tishbi Winery Booth. It was mostly a waste of a trip, this time around, except to prime the pump for a return trip later in the evening, to taste their wonderful desert wine, when my evening of tasting was done, and my evening of drinking began, but we are jumping the gun! I digress again! After the awful and overripe 2006 Tishbi Shiraz tasting, we ran into a bunch of acquaintances from Rogov’ forum. The inner circle of wine booths did not take up all the possible space, so they filled the empty space with some nice standing tables. I rolled up to the table to augment my wine notes, and as I am of to do, I struck up a conversation with the people around me. Standing there as well was Zvi and his lovely wife. He overheard the conversation I was having (which is shocking given my quiet personality), and quickly surmised that it was I that had blown him off earlier in the evening. We were supposed to meet up at the booth of Assaf Winery. Well that never happened, because we could NOT find the bloody booth! It was one of those booths that had almost no signage, and so made it a bit hard to find, given the swarms surrounding the booths. Anyway, after talking a bit, Zvi pipes up asking “did you get to taste the 2003 Magnum Yarden Merlot”? Well no I say, heck I had yet to stroll over to the booth/platform at all. Given the opportunity, I bid my adu, and head on over to the Yarden “booth”. I nicely asked for a bit of the Merlot, and was rewarded with what can only be described as a drunkard’s convention sized glass of the dark garnet gold! Keeping in the new Hebrew and non-sequitur slang the Merlot was chaval al ha zman (translated literally — it’s a waste of time” in slang — fantastic, wonderful, out of this world, great). I lingered long at the booth while I slowly enjoyed my glass of wine. The Merlot was fat yet not over ripe, red fruit, with a ton of chocolate and tobacco. It almost felt like you were drinking ripe fruit and wood, while smoking a fat cigar and inhaling boxes of dark chocolate – quite a trip to say the least – like I said – chaval al ha zman.
Once I had my chance to talk with the Yarden crowd and enjoy my wine, I found my way over to the booth of Tzora Winery. We have spoken about this winery before, and have also had the pleasure of going to their lovely winery, just before the untimely passing of their founder Ronnie James. Well, the wine has not missed a beat, with the new winemaker Eran Pick. The 2006 Neve Ilan was dirty and lovely. The 2006 Shoresh was a bit lighter, but still quite enjoyable. As I continued my trip around the inner circle, I hit upon Alexander Winery’s booth. The winemaker Yoram Shalom was pouring and his marketing agent was talking – quite a show! The wine that was pouring was the 2007 Sandro (named after Shalom’s brother). We were fortunate enough to meet Shalom the last time we visited his winery in Moshav Beit Yitzchak. The booth was abuzz with the recent award they won in a Spanish Wine Contest (missed the name – sorry) for their top star – 2005 Alexander The Great – Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2007 Sandro was overripe, as I have said before. The wines in the Golan and Upper Galilee can tend towards overripe flavors if not picked at the correct time. The Sandro is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot. We meandered around a bit, and we found ourselves at the Agur Winery’s booth. There I made my second faux pas, and tasted the 2008 Agur Blanca – which was also a shmitta wine and they use Heter mechira. The Blanca was really nice, though there are critics out there that do not like it as much as I did, oh well . I was not as impressed by the 2007 Agur Kessem (40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 20% Petit Verdot, and 10% Cabernet Franc), still a nice wine with a mix of black and red flavors, along with nice toasty oak, earth, and mouth coating tannins.
My friend disappeared by now, and I was moving around alone by now. I swung by the Yarden booth again, to get a taste of the 2004 Yarden Ortal Merlot, which was stunning (I had not tasted this one before). At this point, my palate was shot and I swung by the Tishbi booth once more, to get a taste of the stunning 2006 Jonathan Tishbi Barbera-Zinfandel Fortified Dessert Wine. I absolutely loved it and it reminded me of the Carmel Vintage – which is another desert wine that is quite impressive as well. The evening ended and I picked up some wines to go, in an outside pavilion.
My take away overall was that the festival was well run, while most of the wine purveyors were pushing some light weight wares that met the interest of the majority of the festival customers. There is nothing wrong with that, the average wine consumer likes their wine smooth and easy to drink. Given that trend, the wineries were pouring wines that met the consumer’s interests. The wineries that I highlighted were pouring wines that were quite enjoyable and highly unexpected (Galil and Yarden). Finally, ignoring the wines for a second, the festival’s attendees were all very amiable, courteous, and joyous. Yes they were imbibing alcohol, but alcohol can bring out the worst in people, and that was NOWHERE to be seen, and I stayed to the closing on Tuesday night. There is a lovely saying in Jewish Lore that goes something like this; When alcohol enters the person’s true self comes out. That was more than evident Tuesday night, under the full moon’s sky, the beauty that is Israel, was open for all to see and enjoy.
So, thank you so much to the Israel Museum, Avi Ben and all the wineries that were pouring their wares, the wine notes follow below:
2008 Yatir Sauvignon Blanc – Score: B+
The nose on this straw colored wine is filled with lychee, grapefruit, and tropical fruit, along with a strong sense of brightness, and almost clean steel smell. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is super bright with lychee, grapefruit, and tropical fruit, along with some nice balancing green flavors. The mid palate is bright which leads into a long and crisp finish of more tropical fruit. A really nice crisp Sauvignon Blanc with just a hint of roundness that comes from a bit of time in French barrels.
2007 Galil Pinot Noir – Score: B+
The nose on this dark ruby colored wine is classical in nature with nice terroir notes, along with cherry, cranberry, and raspberry. The nose was hot out of the bottle, and I did not stick around long enough to see when it dissipated. The mouth on this medium bodied wine follows the nose with more cherry, raspberry, and not yet integrated tannins. The mid palate is still tannic and hot, along with coffee and bright acidity. The finish is long and spicy with bright red fruit and an almost toasty flavor
2007 Galil Barbera – Score: B
The nose on this light garnet colored wine is filled with cranberry, plum, oak, and coffee. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has nice light and integrating tannins that work well with the mouth’s plum and cranberry. The mid palate is almost smooth with light tannins, coffee, and oak. The finish is long with bright acidity, coffee, and red fruit. This is not the winner that the 2006 vintage was, and may be too early to really tell where this wine is going.
2006 Galil Meron – Score: A-
The nose on dark garnet to black colored wine is popping with blackberry, raspberry, ripe plum, chocolate, coffee, and rich oak. The mouth on this full bodied and complex wine has layers of blackberry, tar, coffee, and rich plum. The mid palate is layered with oak and integrating tannins that come at you in layers. The finish is super long with tar, pepper, blackberry, and chocolate. This is a real winner and one that is sure to please almost anyone at the table.
2007 Dalton Shiraz Reserve – Score: A-
The nose on this dark garnet to purple colored wine is filled with ripe fruit, plum, blackberry, tar, and pepper. The mouth on this full bodied wine with complex layers hits you often with wave after wave of blackberry, ripe plum, and cassis. The mid palate is filled with tar, oak, and coffee. The finish is long and spicy, with oak, tar, blackberry, and chocolate. Quite a nice Shiraz indeed.
2006 Binyamina Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve – Score: B – B+
The nose on this dark garnet colored wine was hot out of the bottle, with ripe fruit, cranberry, blackberry, and oak. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine has cassis and blackberry flavors. The mid palate is balanced and spicy with oak and bright acidity. The finish is bright and spicy with blackberry, coffee, and oak.
2007 Tzuba White Belmont (55% Sauvignon Blanc and 45% Semillon) – Score: B+
The nose on this bright light straw colored wine has mineral qualities, along with lychee, grapefruit, peach, and an almost toast aroma. The mouth has very ripe flavored fruit that mingles nicely with earthy and mineral flavors, along with grapefruit and peach. The mid palate is tart and earthy. The finish is long with more tart fruit and clean mineral flavors.
2006 Tzuba Tel Tzuba Merlot – Score: B+
The nose on this dark ruby colored wine has nice earthy notes along with raspberry, cranberry, cherry, oak, and vegetal notes. The mouth is medium bodied with integrating tannins, cranberry, and raspberry. The mid palate is balanced with oak and acidity. The finish is accompanied by earth, spices, and round red fruit. This is a wine that can use more air in and out of the bottle and one that will serve you well.
2003 Yarden Magnum Merlot – Score: A-
The nose on this black colored wine (not showing any hint of slowing down or brown), is ripe with rich red fruit, slightly hot, plum, raspberry, cassis, rich oak, and mounds of dark chocolate. The mouth on this complex and full bodied wine was throwing sediment, and comes at you with layers of with rich plum, blackberry, and chocolate. The mid palate is bright and balanced with acidity, integrating tannins, and coffee. The finish is long with tobacco, chocolate, and nice tannins. It almost felt like you were drinking ripe fruit and wood, while smoking a fat cigar and inhaling boxes of dark chocolate, quite a treat indeed.
2006 Tzora Neve Ilan (70% Cabernet Sauvignon & 30% Merlot) – Score: B+
The nose on this dark garnet colored wine is filled with rich earth, blackberry, cranberry, oak, and coffee. The mouth on this medium bodied wine follows the nose with cranberry, raspberry, roasted oak flavors, and something akin to toffee. The mid palate has integrated tannins that flow into a long finish with spice, dirt, and red fruit.
2006 Tzora Shoresh (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) – Score: B+ – A-
The nose on this dark garnet colored wine filled with plum, raspberry, earth, and toasted coffee beans, and oak. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is spicy with somewhat gripping tannins that have yet to integrate, plum, cassis, and raspberry. The mid palate is bright with acidity and oak, and leads into a long and earthy finish with rich oak, coffee, and nice spice.
2007 Alexander Sandro – Score: B – B+
The nose on this garnet colored wine is perfumed with almost overripe fruit, toasted oak, blackberry, and raspberry. The mouth on this full bodied wine is gripping with powerful tannins, cassis and plum. The mid palate is filled with toasted oak and balancing acidity. The finish is long with cassis and plum fruit, and chocolate.
2008 Agur Blanco (65% Viognier & 35% Riesling) – Score: B+
The nose on this electric straw colored wine is perfumed with rich and lively grapefruit, honeydew melon, and peach. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is rich and almost glycerol and oily with ripe peach and honeydew. The mid palate is balanced with bright acidity that leads into a long and rich finish of tart fruit.
Baked Gefilte Fish Loaf, Sweet and Sour Brisket, Roasted Root Vegetables, Tzora Cabernet Sauvignon Givat haChalukim, Yarden Merlot, Four Gates Merlot, Yarden Ortal Vineyard Merlot, Galil Mountain Winery Merlot
This past weekend saw us hosting one of our epic Friday night dinners. We had friends and family over and I was really looking forward to tasting the Ortal Merlot, the best Merlot made in Israel by far. We have had it a few times, but not for a couple of years now. We purposely made a triple baked fish, brisket. and roasted vegetables on Wednesday to serve at both meals, and that worked out quite nicely, go there to see the recipes.
The night was supposedly meant to be Merlot night, but when I looked into the cellar, I did not have that much Merlot. So I started with a 2005 Four Gates Merlot M.S.C. (that Benyamin brought over and still available for purchase), and threw in a Cab that I have been holding for too long, and finished with some not so spectacular Merlot bottles. The 2005 Tzora Givat Hachalukim Cabernet was awesome, and one I brought in by hand a few years ago from Israel. Well worth the effort, and one that is not available here – though the 2006 is available and really yummy.
Tzora is one of those wineries that truly appreciate terroir and a winery that is helping to define a flavor to Israeli wines. Major kudos to them, especially after the passing of Ronnie James, the founder of the winery. The first two bottles we had were really great and we thought that we were going to have one of those magical wine evenings. That all came to a screaming halt when we had the two Yarden Merlot(s), which is a real shame. I had been looking forward to tasting them and as you will see, they did not live up to the billing. I can only hope that the Ortal merlot (of which I have a few more), is not dead in my cellar.
The meal was wonderful, and even better was the chance to catch up with my family after the meal, really quite nice. The wine notes follow below, in the order they were drank:
2005 Four Gates Merlot M.S.C. – Score: A-
The nose on this almost black colored wine is packed with blackberry, cherry, plum, eucalyptus, and oak. The nose and body have a fair amount of oak, more than I remembered before, I guess the wine is in a phase where the oak is showing a bit more right now. The fruit is still very forward on this massive and brooding full bodied wine. The mouth starts with more blackberry and raspberry. It flows into a complex mid palate layered with oak, acid, tight tannins, and a nice amount of coffee. The finish is long and luxurious with more black fruit, balancing acidity, and a dollop of espresso.
2005 Tzora Givat Hachalukim Cabernet Sauvignon - Score: A-
This was a fun bottle of Cabernet. The nose on this garnet colored wine is popping with cassis, plum, blackberry, raspberry, oak, and chocolate. The mouth on this full bodied wine is velvety with tight tannins, cassis, plum, and raspberry. The mid palate is popping with acidity, tannin, and oak. It flows into a long, satisfying, and spicy finish with more black fruit, oak, and chocolate.
2003 Yarden Merlot – Score: B
The nose on this garnet to black colored wine, was fresh with cherry, blackberry, and cassis. The mouth on this full bodied wine was over ripe and almost oxidized, much like the Yarden Ortal we had the same night. The wine’s full bodied structure was able to support the oak but was overpowered by the overripe/oxidized fruit. The finish was long with fruit melding nicely with vanilla and herbs.
2001 Yarden Ortal Vineyard Merlot – Score: B+
This wine is meant to be a blockbuster, but something was wrong this night. The wine tasted almost off/oxidized or maybe extra fruity. Either way, it was not a hit. The nose on this wine was absolutely awesome, with big spicy oak, super jammy blackberry, plum, and chocolate. But once we tasted the wine all bets were off, which is a real shame, because it was a huge bodied wine with blackberry and cassis, along with a luscious mouth feel, that was totally thrown off kilter by the over jammy and/or oxidized flavors. The mouth was complex with layers of fruit that flowed into a tannic and acidic core. The finish was pure heaven with chocolate, oak, and tobacco. Real shame.
2005 Galil Mountain Winery Merlot – Score: B+
Nice wine indeed, rich and satisfying, while keeping itself in balance and check, a nice showing. The nose of this black colored wine is screaming with cranberry, raspberry, green pepper, and herbs. The mouth of this full bodied wine is velvety with raspberry and cranberry. The mid palate is bright with complex layers of fruit, acidity and terroir. The finish is long with more fruit, acidity, and herbs. Read the rest of this entry
Tzora Judean Hills and Bone Licking Good Short Ribs
This past weekend saw us enjoying some really nice food and wine. We were in the mood for a nice cut of meat and so, we dipped into the freezer and pulled out some of my wife’s favorite cuts of meat – short ribs (or ribs in general). Now ribs and short ribs really have nothing in common, short of the name. Short ribs come in two styles as explained here, flanken which is cut against the bone, so a strip of flanken comes with many small pieces of bone, and the riblet is cut along the bone and is more akin to a rib. Short ribs are not particularly short; they are called as such because of where they come from – the short plate.
Short ribs are a hard and tough piece of meat and love being braised. We started the braise by browning the riblets, and then we removed them from the dutch oven, and sautéed a mirepoix in the rendered fat. After that I deglazed the pot with red wine and a thick and meaty sauce of liqueur, brown sugar, and onion base. I brought the pot to a boil and then transferred the pot to a 350 degree oven for two hours.
The meat was fantastic, but like all cuts of meat from the lower section of the cow that is riddled with connective tissue, intercostal muscles, and tons of collagen, the meat needs to be cooked low and slow and left overnight to cool. The next morning you want to skim the fat from the pot, strain the sauce, and thicken it. Reheat the meat inside the sauce and serve right away.
We served them over a bed of firm rice. This is not a classical match, but we were in the mood, and the sauce was a bit watery, so the pairing went along quite nicely.
We paired the meat with a nice red wine blend from the Tzora winery. I have blogged about this particular wine before and it has pretty much stayed the same, except that this time I noticed a nice roasted herb in the nose and finish. Also, the wine stood up to the meat and the rich sauce, which impressed me and once again, the price to value ratio of this wine sticks out from the prices of kosher wines now a days.
Tzora Judean Hills 2006 – Score: B++
The nose on this bright garnet colored wine is filled with earth, blackberry, cherry, raspberry, and roasted herbs. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine starts with blackberry, raspberry, and herbs. The mid palate is highlighted with acidity, integrated tannins, and coffee. The finish is medium long with spice, coffee, and more tannin.
Spaghetti Bolognaise and Tzora Judean Hills
This past weekend found me returning from the frozen tundra of Chicago, in search of warmth and unfrozen sidewalks and roads. So with an evening to cook, I opted for making some soup. We had frozen our previous week’s san fromage Spaghetti Bolognaise to make the transition back home easy. So an appetizer of warm soup was on order. I opted for a simple soup of sautéed onions and winter vegetables fortified with white wine and vegetable stock.
When choosing a wine to pair with the acidity and sweetness of the Spaghetti Bolognaise and the freshness and body of the winter vegetable soup, I chose a bottle of Tzora Judean Hills. The wine is really nice, not an overly complex wine. However, for the price, this wine cannot be beat (at least in the US anyway).
The tasting notes follow below:
Tzora Judean Hills 2006 – Score: B++
I have to say that this wine improves with a ton of air. The ripeness of the nose and fruit become far more pronounced and exciting. The mouth opens more as well, and the balance and body are more accentuated.
The nose on this bright garnet colored wine is filled with earth, blackberry, cherry, raspberry, and mint. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine starts with blackberry, raspberry, and dirt. The mid palate is highlighted with acidity, integrated tannins, and coffee. The finish is medium long with spice, coffee, and more tannin.
Tzora, Goose Bay, and Rothberg Cellars – Oh my Oh my!
This past week some friends from out of town came by, as did some from around town. It was a really nice time. Dinner started with a dense black bean soup – from the classic Moosewood Cookbook from Mollie Katzen. It has been modified to protect the innocent, but the core recipe stands strong. Dinner was sweet roasted summer vegetables, succulent hot pepper lemon roasted chicken, and a mushroom and onion Quinoa side dish.
To keep the dinner within reach we stayed with some robust yet tasteful wines. The first was a 2007 Goose Bay Viognier, followed by the 2004 Rothberg Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, and finally the 2004 Tzora Single Vineyard Shoresh (100% Merlot). In case people are not so up on Viognier – I thought I would add would re-post a description and contrast of Viognier and other white wines:
Viognier is a white grape that it is closer in style to a Chardonnay than to a Sauvignon Blanc. All wines can be operated on – but classically these are the styles that the white wines have:
1) The Sauvignon Blanc – can be as clean lined and crisp as a Sancerre and become fat and a bit ugly like in California, and everything in between. Still the classic lines of a Sauvignon Blanc are crisp clean lines, with intense fruit and floral flavors. If picked early there is more green, if picked too late there is more of a fruit bomb which winemakers turn into a fat wine because of all the sugars – or manipulate it by decreasing the alcohol. It is commonly high in acid and is not meant for a long shelf life – though many a Sancerre have lived long lives – mostly because of the crazy acid and mineral characteristics that come from the Terroir.
2) The Chardonnay is the wine that we all know and can have many different lines. It is a grape which by its nature is screaming to be modified. The grape loses its crispness early on as it ripeness but in its place comes the weight, fruit, and body. The more oak that is applied the more toast, espresso, smoke, and spice flavors get introduced. The grape has less acid as it ripeness but gains more fruit. This is the real quandary with Chardonnay – when do you pick it? When it sits on the vine for too long you get a ton of fruit, little or no acid and high alcohol. To counter act that wineries will dealcoholize the wine and add pH as well. Again – Chardonnay is a grape that is screaming to be managed. However, when done correct you can either get nice green and floral wine with less acidity than Sauv Blanc, but still enough to hold the wine up and enough fruit to carry the day. Or you can make it California style and lose the acid but gain nice weight and body (from the fruit, alcohol, and oak) – but pH added still tastes fake to me.
3) The Viognier grape/wine is a different beast. It is a wine that has distinct characteristics: perfume, floral notes and acidity, but it is a very picky grape. It is very easy to lose to mold and because of this wineries will plant roses next to the grape vines to act as a canary for detecting mildew early on. The grape needs to be picked late otherwise, it does not give the classic perfume that we get from the Muscat and Riesling grapes. Depending on if the wine maker puts the wine through malolactic fermentation (to give it a bit more weight) or let the wine lie in the must (to give it more perfume) or to let it have a bit of wood to give it roundness. In the end, the wine is not meant for long storage – hence the VERY early release dates on these wines and the wine should have the acidity, fruit, and perfume to make it a real winner.
Now back to the wines…
The unfortunate part is that my friends are not white wine drinkers – and this kills me! As I am trying to grow my knowledge of wines and trying to be more open minded about white versus red wines – my friends are not following along for the ride! So when I want to pop a white bottle to see what a Sancerre, Chardonnay, Chablis or a Viognier tastes like – I feel like a party pooper on my own table. This is an issue that I hope to find a remedy to soon.
The thing is that to me the Viognier stole the show. At first open it was nice – but the heady perfume that would soon be gracing our olfactory receptors was still closed up in the wines cold embrace. However, as the wine opened up so did the oohs and ahs around the room. They still did not appreciate the white wine, but they were able to discern that this was not just another white. The Rotherberg Cellar was the red winner around the room. It was heady with its own enveloping sensations. The nose was just over the top. The second we opened the bottle till some hours later the nose was still pumping and quite nicely as well. Beyond the nose, the mouth was smooth, full, and round – like a California Cabernet. The oak was NOT over the top, it accented the wine – it did not define it. The ripe fruit was obvious and maybe too obvious – but still a very nice showing. The Shoresh was raw, young and quite tannic. It was a stark contrast to the smooth Viognier and Cabernet. It was not a hit on the table and again – I disagree. The wine is more like a tiger ready to pounce and one that I think has not yet hit its peak. The Rothberg Cellar and Goose Bay are awesome specimens – but are in my eyes – at their peak. When Shoresh reaches its peak – in a year or so, it will have its day in the sun. Finally, I has tasted the Shoresh in Israel at the winery and the wine has made a clear shift from then. It is still as tannic – but I swear I had a double take when I realized that it tasted a lot like a cab – except for the clear and present licorice in the mid palate. The score is a bit lower, but one I am sure will return when it reaches its peak.
Tzora Single Vineyard Shoresh 2004 – Score A-
The nose on this garnet colored wine (100% Merlot) is laden with red berries, mineral aromas, cherry, and wood. The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts with tight tannins – though integrating and a strong and slightly complex attack of black cherry, and blackberry. The middle is filled with green, earth, and licorice. The finish is long and woodsy. This has changed since I last tasted it. If tasting blindly – I would have thought this to be a Cabernet Sauvignon. The licorice was a giveaway that it was not a cab – but still the earth, dense fruit, and cab like fruit – makes made do a double take.
Rothberg Cellars Winemakers Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 – Score: B+
The nose on this muddied reddish purple wine is crazy and may well be the wine’s best feature. It is an enveloping nose and one that lasts all night. The nose is filled with strong ripe fruit fragrance along with cranberry, pomegranate, and fig aromas. The mouth on this very smooth and full bodied wine is fruit forward with ripe fruit, blackberry and black plum notes. The mid palate is acidic in its core along with soft tannins and a hint of chocolate and tobacco. The finish is long lasting with fig and cranberry.
Beyond the technical details the things that stand out to me when thinking about this wine are:
- its acidic core
- its smooth nature
- its soft and integrated tannins
- the lack of overpowering oak – this wine is assisted to by the oak, it does not define it
- the muddied color and over ripe fruit flavors throw me a bit and lower the score
- the wine is at or just over its peak – drink up and really enjoy. This is not one to lay down for even a few more months.
- The wine felt like it was aged in French oak – no smoke or toasted spice just a nice and round fullness
Goose Bay Viognier 2007 - Score: B+ to A-
This is an awesome and fun white. When we first opened it I was hoping for the perfume to overpower me and take control of my senses. However, the nose did not open up right away, instead the mouth was full of the perfumed fruit while the nose was hiding behind the mask of fruit and oak. The nose would open and so I will say that the notes here are from an hour or two in – with the difference being the deep and almost striking perfumed nose that showed itself later.
The nose of this light yet bright straw colored wine was filled with classic Viognier perfume, grapefruit, apricot and citrus aromas. The mouth of this medium bodied wine is strikingly fruity while also being infused with the perfume quality. The mid palate is strongly acidic and laced with grapefruit, lemon, and green flavors. The finish is acidic in an almost puckering way. This in contrast to a previous post, where the acid was overpowering and not well integrated with the wine.
Beyond the technical details – this wine too has some nice take aways for me:
- The wine has oak but again in a supporting role – like it should be
- The wine is acidic to its core and here the acid truly integrates and lends a large assist to the wine
- The wine is perfumed in a way that also balances well with the oak and acid
- Finally, this too is a wine to enjoy now and for a few more months.
Tzora Winery
We made an unplanned stop at the Tzora Winery on a cold winters day and we are so happy we did. We arrived in the late afternoon and there was quite a party going on. A bunch of kids from America had arrived and they were making the most of the winery’s insanely kind hospitality. When we arrived the party was in full swing and we did not want to bother them or the winery staff. As we were getting ready to leave (please folks – always make reservations in advance – do not expect to be as lucky as we were), the staff was super kind and was able to squeeze us into the wine tasting that was in progress. The sad aspect is that though Tzora has increased the volume of wine – the best wines will continue to stay in Israel and not be imported abroad.
The thing that makes Tzora such a special winery are their vineyards. Ronnie James tends to the vines, and it is a labor of love. Unfortunately, as we write this article we are told that Ronnie has passed away. Ronnie and Tzora wines were built on the ideal that terroir makes the wine. The land that the vineyards sit on are the names given to the wines (Shoresh, Neve Ilan, Givat Hachalukim).
Ronnie was growing grapes since the 50s for himself and many other wineries. We will all miss him and his wine and vines will continue to pay tribute to him and his legacy.
We would like to thank the staff at the winery for allowing us to join in and enjoy the tastings. Following are the tasting notes which we sampled at the winery.
Tzora Judean Hills 2004 - Score: B+
The nose on this ruby red colored wine (60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot) is laden with raspberry, cherry, and oak notes. The mouth on this medium bodied wine fat with tannins and cherries. The finish is medium long and quite enjoyable.
Tzora Givat Hachalukim 2006 - Score: B+
The nose on this garnet colored wine (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) is laden with red berries and cherry. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is smooth and balanced with oak and soft tannins giving way to cherry and spice. The finish is not so long, but the wine lingers long on your palate after the wine is gone.
Tzora Shoresh 2004 - Score: A
The nose on this garnet colored wine (100% Merlot) is laden with red berries, mineral aromas, and cherry. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is balanced with integrated tannins giving way to red berries and oak. The finish is medium long with cherry and spice.
Tzora Or 2006 - Score: A+
This wine has quite a story around it as Robert Parker gave it one of the highest scores in a recent Israeli wine expose that he conducting along with Mark Squires. We were able to taste the end of the bottle and it was still quite impressive – none the less. Gewurztraminer grapes are harvested and then deep frozen for two months. Then they are extracted for 24 hours and only the first drips of the grape juice become Or. The nose of this golden wine is filled with honey and tropical fruit. The mouth of this full bodied and almost syrupy wine is fruity with citrus, pineapple and a touch of mint.
