This past Purim my friends and I enjoyed a wonderful meal at the synagogue, along with a few wines that I brought along, and a couple of wines that were brought by some other congregants.  Some of the wines I tasted have notes, while others have just feelings or memories, sorry, this was Purim after all.  My friends still give me a hard time for the one time that I actually took notes on Purim.  To me, tasting wine is about friends, memories, along with a bit of a job.  To others, especially on Purim, it is about friends, memories, and a bit of a buzz.

Anyway, the wine notes follow below in the order that they were tasted:

Tzuba Port Style Wine – Score: A-
This is a wine that I brought back from my last trip to Israel, one that I bought during my visit to the Tzuba Winery.  The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine shows rich loamy dirt, bright oxidation, rich spicy oak, ripe fig, blackberry, and spice.  The mouth on this full-bodied and mouth filling wine, starts with a concentrated attack of spicy oak, rich sweet and ripe blackberry, and fig.  The wine is layered and concentrated with ripe fruit and spicy oak, yes I repeated that because it is so nice.  The mid palate is filled with nice acidity, integrated yet still gripping tannins, and spice that flows into a lush loam and oak forest.  The finish is crazy long with rich chocolate, oak, mounds of spice, rich and ripe black fruit, and a lingering palate of oak extraction, spice, and more black fruit.  A nice bottle that can handle just about any sweet desert you throw at it.

2004 Four Gates Rishona (375 ml) – Score: A-
Well, we tasted the larger format of this bottle last week and this week we opened the 375 ml size, which was the originally released format.  We still loved it and it is still drinking really well, though the color throws you and the flavor is a bit dingy, the rest of the wines notes are exactly as the previous tasting, and listed here.  The color on this brown tinged/dark ruby colored wine, was hopping with chicken cherry cola, coffee, mature oak, fig, and raspberry.  The mouth on this intense and full-bodied wine was layered with bright black cherry, coffee, and oak.  The mid palate was bracing with bright acidity and oak.  The finish was long and tantalizing with more cherry, oak, and coffee, layered under a canopy of mature flavors.  This is clearly a wine that needs to be consumed now, but to some, this was one of the winners, which was shocking given the list of wines we enjoyed.

2006 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve, Napa Valley – Score: B/B+
The wine was OK, but it had a huge hole in the middle with almost no acidity to be found.  It was OK, but uni-dimensional with almost no fruit and a bit of oak.  Not fun.

2006 Baron Herzog Cabernet/Zinfandel/Syrah Special Reserve – Score: B++
Yummy, fruity, acidic, rich, with black fruit showing well from the Cabernet, while standing tall with enough oak and tannins from the Syrah.  Nice and one that is probably at or close to its peak.

2006 Hagafen Merlot, Napa Valley – Score: A-
I remember loving it that night for its classic Hagafen soft yet layered mouth feel, along with rich and ripe black fruit and chocolate.

2007 Barkan Classic Petite Sirah – Score: B/B+
This is a nice and lively wine with rich blackberry and smoke on the nose and mouth, along with a firm and structured mouth feel that allows the wine to stand up to meat and rich sauces.  A nice and simple wine that is enjoyable by all.

2007 Backsberg Pinotage – Score: B++
The nose on this bright purple colored wine is packed with loamy dirt, mineral, rich black cherry, mulberry fruit, spice, vanilla, oak, and pepper.  The mouth on this medium bodied wine is rich and spicy though not complex in nature, along with mulberry, Kirsch cherry, and a hint of strawberry.  The mid palate is bracing and almost tart with code acidity, nice soft yielding tannins, spice, and dirt.  The finish is long with layers of smoke and spice, along with red fruit, and a nice dollop of vanilla.  A nice wine for the price, quality, and its mevushal status.

2006 Rashi Select Barbera d’Alba – Score: B/B+
The nose on this wine moved from being bright and red to rich and chocolate.  Not a bad wine, but one that did not live up to my hopes for it.  The tannins were nice and helped to highlight the soft mouth, bright acidity, and red fruit.  With air the fruit disappeared, the mouth was still bright but turning fast, and the finish was packed with chocolate and vanilla.  I guess it is an OK wine, but drink up fast, and not  a wine worth its cost.