I wrote about Kishor Winery a couple of times, when I saw them at Sommelier the last few years. I also wrote a more in-depth article about the winery here, last year. Well, since they did not come to this year’s Sommelier, it meant I had to go and see the winery again this year.

Last year I loved the 2014 Kishor Savant Red, but when we tasted this again late last year, it had turned hard. I asked to taste it again at the winery, and it had indeed become another wine, not the crazy old-world wine I adored last year.

Well this year, there are new releases, and many are quite nice, even if they were 2015 wines. As I have stated before, in my post on the Sommelier event, 2015 whites were and are a disaster. There were a few here and there, but the vast majority were horrible.

That said, I am finding that the 2015 reds are actually drinkable, at least some anyway. Sadly, the curse of Rose in Israel has continues into 2016, the crop of roses so far are B+ wines at best. However, the clear white grape of 2016 is Viognier – it is doing very well in all the wine regions of Israel.

I arrived early, really early, like 9AM early, and my many thanks to the team for meeting me at this early hour. As I stated on my Bokobsa post, I had just landed at 5AM, dropped my bags at my host, then I essentially drove directly to Kishor! So, it was early when I arrived, and it was great to taste some nice coffee and get down to tasting wine!

Yair Una, the winery’s marketing agent was there when I arrived, and he was VERY kind to call the winemaker, Richard Davies, to come from the fields to taste the wines with me. Richard Davies is one of those Vignobles of Israel. He makes the wines and he prunes the vineyards himself! He is one of those Renaissance guys you read about in the wine books!

The winery has three labels. The Kerem Kishor wines (rose, white and red) are the first label. Next is the Kishor Winery label, which seems to only have Viognier, and finally the Savant label, which has the red blend.

The winery has 3 labels:
The first label is called: “Kerem Kishor”. It includes the Rose, white, and red.
The next is called Kishor it includes: Syrah, GSM, and Viognier (from 2015 and on)
Finally there is the top label: “Kishor Savant” that includes: Red, and Riesling

Israeli wine direct is importing the wines, so look for them around the shops in NYC and tell me what you think about them. The Grapevine’s wine event will be pouring some of these wines, so make it your business to be at the The Grapevine Wines & Spirits, in Wesley Hills, New York, on Feb 19th! I think they will also be at the Jewish Week Grand Wine Tasting, taking place on Monday, March 20th, at the City Winery, in NYC.

As always, the wines were solid to really nice and while, I wish some of the wines were more controlled or showed more acid, the winery continues to impress with their focus on quality and price. Sadly, I did not taste the Riesling.

My many thanks to Richard Davies, Yair Una, and the rest of the Kishor Winery gang! My wine notes follow below:

2016 Kerem Kishor White – Score: B+ to A-
This wine is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. The nose on this wine shows lovely gooseberry, with great garrigue, grapefruit, hay, and peach, lovely. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is nice, showing great acid, with nice weight, great summer fruit, with lemon curd, and great spice. The finish is long, green, and tart, with good citrus fruit, pith, and nice spice.

2016 Kishor Viognier – Score: A- (QPR)
Lovely peach perfume with sweet oak, orange blossom, with great spice, and herb. Wow what a mouth, ripping acid, with great apricot, peach, and lovely fruit, but perfectly balanced with a crazy acid core, great herb, lovely pith of orange and nectarines, with spice, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom. Bravo!

2016 Kerem Kishor Rose – Score: B+
Gorgeous color. Nice earthy nose, with strawberry, raspberry, ripe peach, and elegance. Nice but would have loved a bit more acid, showing lots of currant and dried quince, giving way to spice, earth, and nice garrigue that adds complexity to the wine. The finish is long and spicy, with acid, along with good dirt. Pith, spice, cloves and pepper linger.

2015 Kishor GSM – Score: A- (QPR) (Shmita)
A very nice wine for 15, with great blackberry, plum, a drop of blueberry, earth, garrigue, with mineral and charcoal. Nice medium body wine with blue notes on the mouth, showing dirt and mineral, nice balance, good extraction with nice fruit, a bit old-world in style, with lovely chocolate, coffee and dark spices. Long, green, and earthy finish, bravo, really impressed for a 15. I cannot say for how long this will stay as it is, but for now, it is solid!

2015 Kishor Syrah – Score: A- (QPR) (Shmita)
Another solid red wine from Kishor in 2015. Lovely nose with great spice, sweet oak with herb, tar, rich old-world style wine, with dark fruit, herb, and mineral galore. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine shows tart and ripe fruit, with draping tannin, good elegance, black currant, tart juicy boysenberry, with nice sweet but controlled fruit, with charcoal, green notes, and nice spice. Long, green, and spicy finish with some dirt, herb, coffee, and lavender on the finish. I cannot say for how long this will stay as it is, but for now, it is solid! Nice!

2015 Kerem Kishor Red – Score: A- (QPR) (Shmita)
This wine is a blend of mostly Merlot and rounded out with a kitchen sink approach of other reds. Very interesting wine, blend shows aromas of blue and black fruit with red, green, and lovely floral notes. Very impressive medium bodied mouth, impressive, old world, green notes of elegance with floral notes, cherry and raspberry, followed by elegant tannin, black currant, with herb and green foliage with coffee and red tart juicy notes. Long green and red finish, with chocolate and spice. I cannot say for how long this will stay as it is, but for now, it is solid! Nice!

2015 Kosher Savant Red – Score: A- (Shmita)
This wine is a blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, followed by Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and some Merlot. The nose on this wine shows nice herb, elegant, with chocolate, and red fruit notes. The mouth is full-bodied and elegant, showing draping tannin with lovely green notes, herb, and nice garrigue that gives way to currant, cherry, with blackberry in background. Long and elegant finish, foliage, green notes, red fruit, with chocolate, and cigar notes. I cannot say for how long this will stay as it is, but for now, it is solid!