This past weekend we enjoyed a lovely a simple meal by sauteing browned sausage, browned onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. That paired with Basmati rice, fresh green salad, and a bowl of chicken soup.

The wine I drank was a bottle of the 2005 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon and it is a wine that is OK now and not going anywhere, but it new world styling was a bit too much for me. The wine did tone down over time, but lost its complexity, so I am not as in love with it as I was with previous vintages. I think the new world styling of Yarden wines are not to my likings, but that only happens when the sweetness is over the top. In this case the wine was overly sweet to start, but did also show nice black and dried fruit. Those fruits stayed, the dates receded, but it lost some complexity – which is a shame, but I fear it is a problem with my manic hatred for all things dates.

Wine notes follow below:

2005 Golan Heights Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Yarden Kosher – Score: B++ to A-
The nose on this wine is screaming with black fruit to start with black cherry, blackcurrant, some green notes, and eucalyptus, over time the wine opens its nose to mounds of graphite and dirt. The mouth is rich and ripe with a bit of date, along with cassis, black plum, crushed herb, bell pepper, concentrated fruit, all wrapped up in sweet cedar and sweet mouth coating tannin. The finish is long and spicy, with tons of malt chocolate, leafy tobacco, licorice, and vanilla.

2008 Weinstock Cabernet Sauvignon, Cellar Select, Napa County – Score: A-
From the score you can see that I liked this wine a bit more than the 2005 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon, simply because it lacked the new world sweet notes. It is a ripe Cabernet with crazy tobacco notes that make you think you are literally in a Cuban cigar factory (hyperbole never been to one). Still, the control is there and the ripe fruit with chocolate and really good charcoal and pencil shavings. This wine is well worth finding and enjoying. Open the bottle, taste the wine and than leave it to air for an hour and taste again – interesting change in the wine.

The nose explodes with blackberry, cherry, cassis, rich smoking tobacco, like in a cigar factory, and sweet cedar that almost dominates the nose. Over time the wine calms down and the tobacco recedes, with graphite and mineral slate taking control. The mouth is rich, layered, and unctuous, with clear black fruit attack, layered with cedar and concentrated black plum, all wrapped together in a sweet tannin shell – quite nice. The finish is long and spicy with black pepper, herb, and tons of minted malt chocolate.

2008 Celler de Capçanes Montsant Peraj Petita – Score: B++ to A-
The nose is expressive with cedar, espresso coffee, super ripe blackberry, raspberry, cranberry, nice spice, and herb. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine shows mouth coating tannins that are now integrated, along with pomegranate, blackberry, currant, herb, and a clear sense of green beans, along with nice dirt and cedar that ties the mouth together. The finish is long with sea salt, mushroom, cloves, spice, and a nice dollop of chocolate. Drink in the next year or so. Also, this wine needs a good hour to properly open up and lasts only a few hours after that.

2008 Galil Mountain Winery Alon – Score: B to B+
This blend is not a fun wine, there are clearly good components, but the blend is way out of whack and disjointed. This wine is a blend of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Syrah, 9% Petite Verdot, and 3% Petite Franc. I do not have exact details of this wine as I was drinking a few bottles by then, still, I had a good idea of what I liked about this wine and what I do not like. The wine showed lovely Cabernet styling, but the Syrah is really not integrating well. The Syrah’s blue fruit was showing through – but the flavors are not working well together.

2005 Galil Mountain Winery Yiron – Score: B+
The wine is throwing mad amounts of sediment, and black goop. The wine is showing very much like the last time we enjoyed it. This time the dates were not as pronounced but neither was the complexity, DRINK THESE UP!!!

2010 Kadesh Barnea Cabernet Sauvignon – Score: N/A
What can I say about this wine – it is not for me. The wine is filled with tons of red fruit, but they taste cooked and over stewed. Way too much heat and with little to no complexity, while being candied all at the same time – not my cup of tea.