As I stated here, I was going to open a few wines that I was really looking forward to enjoying for too long. The list included a perennial winner, the 2001 El Rom Cabernet Sauvignon and a pair of Yarden wines, including a very hyped wine; the 2007 ROM. In the end, the ROM was OK at best, the 2004 El Rom was super overripe and so sad, as the structure of the wine was so impressive that it felt like a true loss. The dark horse that ran away from the rest of the pack was the 2008 Tabor Adama II, which was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot.

That said, the most exciting wine we had Friday night was the Four Gates Sparkling wine from some 20+ years ago! The wine bottle “label” had disintegrated, and the beer cap top was mostly rusted off. The awesome thing about it was that the sparkling wine was insanely sparkly! The bubbles were hopping, the fruit was rich, and the acid was insane!

My wine notes follow – looking forward to this week’s wines!

Four Gates Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine – Score: A- (A for pure excitement and hedonism)
The wine was some 20+ years old and was rich in acid, bubbles, and pure hedonistic joy. The nose on this light gold colored wine was hopping with rich dried quince, straw, dried grass, green apple, and herb. The mouth on this medium bodied wine hits you in layers of rich small bubble mousse, followed by dried fruits, brioche, and yeast. The finish is long and lively with insane acid, citrus, and more yeast lingering long – BRAVO MY MAN!!!!!

2001 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon, El Rom – Score: A
What a wine, what a lovely wine this is! The nose starts off a bit funky and with time shows barnyard and some reduction, but blessedly that blows off to show a nose of rich and expressive mineral, spice, black and red fruit, green notes, and lovely leafy tobacco. The mouth on this full bodied wine is rich, layered, expressive, with insane fruit structure, silky rich tannin that linger insanely long, along with rich earthy notes, graphite, and layers of concentrated blackberry, cassis, and currant all coming together into a symphony of fruit, tannin, and mineral. The finish is long and earthy, with rich mineral, spice, oak, and tobacco that lingers long with leather, chocolate, and earth finishing the long rise. BRAVO!!!!

2008 Tabor Adama II – Score: A- (and more)
This is a lovely wine and one worth seeking out! The wine is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Petite Sirah, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Merlot. The wine is rich and layered but like blends, comes at you in different ways as it opens and shows itself to you in the glass.

The nose on this wine starts with classic Cabernet style notes, graphite, black fruit, and earth to start, with time it opens to show blue fruit and root beer. The mouth on this full bodied wine needs time, a long time, like a few hours to really open and show its true potential. The mouth on this medium to bodied wine is truly rich and layered with lovely and rich tannin that lingers, with extracted fruit and boysenberry, blackberry, plum , and spicy oak that mingle in a way that is truly intoxicating. The finish is long with sweet licorice, great balancing acid, nutmeg, sweet spices, watermelon, and tannin that coats with hints of leather. BRAVO!!!

2004 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon, El Rom – Score: B+ to A-
When I first opened the bottle it was so sweet and over the top that I thought it was oxidized. However, as the wine opened, it started to come together and show rich structure and layers of fruit that are truly impressive.
The nose on this sweet wine shows rich expression of extracted fruit, blackberry, dried and candied fruit, rich dirt, and graphite. The mouth on this full bodied wine is so over the top that it is humorous, with layers of concentrated sweet fruit, mouth coating and richly integrated tannins, along with sweet cassis, plum, and dark cherry, all wrapped within sweet sandalwood and spice. The finish is long and spicy with richly upholstered leather, chocolate, tobacco, and sweet tannins that ride the long and luxurious finish.

2007 Yarden ROM – Score: B+
This was a very tough call. Cellar Tracker asks if I liked the wine, yes I did, but not for anywhere near the price. The score is the score, irrelevant of the price, but man – this was a hyped wine for no reason, IMO.
The nose on this classic Israeli blend wine, Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, is lovely in the nose with rich motes of blueberry, black cherry, cassis, graphite, dirt, and crushed herb. The mouth is where things let you down, with nice fruit, but no oomph, not enough acid or graphite or mineral to hold up the show, with good fruit structure, sweet sweet cedar, and mouth coating tannin. The mouth is rich and layered, but not complex which is what is really missing. The finish is long and rich with more sweet and candied fruit, spice, leather, chocolate, and tobacco.