Without any attempt on my side we enjoyed a Syrah weekend, along with a unique Cabernet Sauvignon from Herzog. This past weekend we were invited to the home of some very good friends of ours, ER and HK, ER of the baking culinary fame! Well this meal was culinary all the way, roast beef, perfectly cooked chicken and great side dishes to boot! OH! I cannot forget that split pea soup, which was quite lovely as well.

We brought two Syrah like wines and another guest brought a Syrah wine, while yet another guest brought the new and limited 2007 Herzog Napa Cab 7. Sorry, I have no pictures, though most of the wines are well-known wines, other than the special Herzog Cabernet. The wine is called: 2007 Herzog One Over XII Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and Vivino has an image of it, which is displayed to the left. The wine has a great story, a bunch of barrels from the 2007 Herzog Napa Cab, which we tasted, was left in a barrel for 55 or so months. So, one would think it would be an oak bomb, but it is not overpowering, though friends of mine disagree. The thing that is really lovely about the wine is its caressing and insane tannins and the mineral that jumps up and slaps you across the face! Like I say in the notes – this wine is polarizing and to me that is what good wine is all about! This bottle is limited and available only at the Herzog Winery’s wine bar.

Thanks so MUCH to ER and HK for hosting us and putting up with me! We love hanging with you guys! The wine notes follow below:

2010 Tabor Shiraz, Adama, Terra Rosa – Score: B+
The nose explodes with awesome blueberry, plum, currant, cherry, with loads of dirt and licorice. The mouth on this medium plus bodied wine is nice and spicy with good concentration of date, sweet blue and red fruit, nice candied raspberry, sweet cedar, with good integrated tannin, and good extraction. The finish is long and spicy with garrigue, bramble, fig, date, chocolate, light leather, and animal notes. This is a wine that is a hair under the QPR line, though if pressed it could well join the ranks. A great Israeli “supermarket” option for sure.

2009 Dalton Alma (shiraz, mourvedre, viognier) (QPR) – Score: A-
What can I say all things SMV captivate me, the sweet blue and black notes are a siren that I am lost to ignore, and the control and finesse used throughout, shows Dalton as the winery I have always felt it is – top notch and professional.
The wine is a blend of SMV, 82% Shiraz, 12% Mourvedre, and 6% Viognier. While, the wine does not start with that evocative and perfumed nose of peach and apricot that comes from the viognier, there is a perfume of floral notes that scream through the thick layers of ripe blueberry, blackberry, black plum, and of course root beer (AKA ginger on steroids), along with sweetened anise, graphite, mineral, dirt, and quite literally sweet and ripe raspberry jam. As always Dalton knows how to push the envelope but keep the wine from going over the cliff of sweetness, with a controlled sweet nose.
The mouth is medium to full in body, more to the side of medium, and one that is in no way shy, with a concentrated attack of black and blue fruits that hit you in waves with good acid balance, filled with boysenberry, plum, and currant presented in a mound of sweet cedar, along with searing mouth coating tannin. The finish is long and spicy with crazy tart and ripe fruit, lingering long with sweet tobacco, espresso coffee, bakers chocolate, and many lovely spices, cinnamon, sage, cloves, leather, along with heaps of black pepper, and black and blue fruit covered with sweet vanilla. This is a great Israeli and US QPR wine.