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My top 25 kosher wines of 2014
Well, 2014 has come and gone and my top wines of the past year were too many to limit to 10. Now these wines comprise a list of wines I enjoyed over the year. Some were released in 2014 and many were released a long time ago. Either way these are wines that made an impression upon me and that is the only characteristic that I used to define this list.
Some of these wines may not score a solid A, but they deserve to be here because of their trail blazing characteristics Take for instance – the 2012 Recanati Marselan. It is the only kosher Marselan and it is very good. The 2013 Yarden Sauvignon Blanc, one of the best whites to come out of Israel along with the 2012 Tzora Shoresh White, a wine that I believe is better than the 2013 Shoresh white, were both on my list last year, so they are not on it this year. The 2013 Tzora Shoresh is on this year’s list and if you have not gotten any – you are making a huge mistake. I had both in 2014, and even though I liked the 2012 a bit more, the 2013 is an epic white wine, in its own right. The best rose, hands down, was the 2013 Hajdu Pinot Gris rose. It is tied for best ever kosher rose with the 2012 Shirah rose, but that was already enjoyed in 2013. The next white wine was the epic 2013 Dalton Viognier, a wine that is worthy, once again, of the Dalton reserve label. It beats the 2012 hands down, and reclaims the title as the best kosher Viognier that is available in the US or Israel. There may be a French Viognier that is available there, but I do not know of them. The final non red wine was the 1996 Four Gates Chardonnay, which while never released officially, it was an awesome wine indeed! I tasted while tasting an entire vertical of all of Benyamin’s Chardonnay wines and this was the best of the bunch. Many others were solid A- and maybe a bit more wines, but the 1996 was a A- to A wine that was truly epic.
The rest of the wines are red, and there are many special wines there including the fantastic 2012 Recanati wild Carignan and Syrah/Viognier wines. BRAVO! There were many more French wines, but they will have to fall till next year, when I get a chance to sit down and enjoy them over a long meal. The 2012 Chateau Giscours, the 2012 Pavillon de Leoville Poyferré, and the 2012 Roches de Yon Figeac are lovely wines and may well get on the list next year. In the end, California, France, and Spain continue to be my sweet spot. There are a few exceptional wines from Israel, like the epic and insane 2000 Yarden Katzrin and others. Along with current releases from Tzora Winery, Recanati Winery, and Yatir Winery. In the end, Israel will improve by having 2009, 2010, and 2011 in their rear view mirror, all the while enjoying the new 2012, 2013, and from what I hear 2014 vintages.
The wine notes follow below:
Wines of Spain
2012 Capcanes Peraj Habib (Crazy QPR) – Score: A- to A
Before I talk about this epic wine, I must sadly say that one of the wines that was on my list last year – the 2012 Capcanes Carignan – never made it into its own bottle. Sadly, it was not deemed worthy of a leading role. Thankfully, it found its place here, in this fantastic 2012 Peraj Habib! The wine blend for 2012 is not far off from 2011, consisting of 40% Grenache, 30% Carignan, and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from very old vines.
The nose on this dark and impenetrable purple colored wine is redolent with roasted animal, intense black fruit, and mounds of dirt and mineral. The mouth on this full bodied wine hits you with an intensely inky structure, filled with layers of of rich concentrated fruit, ripe freshly squeezed black berries, cassis, plum, along with tart fruit, spice, and mouth coating tannins that may well make some people think that this is the best Capcanes Peraj Habib ever made. The finish is long and purely mineral based to start, like sucking on a salt and graphite stick, as it recedes, you sense the incredible balancing acid, which is then immediately replaced with richly roasted coffee, sweet and herbal spices, more black fruit, a sense of animal fats, leather, hints of tobacco, and finally followed by bitter notes on the long finish. BRAVO!!!! Read the rest of this entry
A lovely wine evening with new and old friends in NY last year
Well, as I posted here, those of us lucky enough to have “special” or older bottles are really responsible for their well being, besides just owning them! What is the use of having many great bottles and watching them all die?? So, in that light, a friend of mine decided to start a monthly tasting evening, where your entry fee is a good bottle of wine and he would take care of the rest.
It was with this in mind, I entered with a 2006 Four Gates Cabernet Franc, which was not in tune with the evening’s theme, but was entry fee enough to let me partake of the festivities. The wines and food enjoyed that night were:
Wines and Food Enjoyed
Golan Heights Winery, Yarden, Blanc de Blanc, 2005
Golan Heights Winery, Yarden, Blanc de Blanc, 2007
Appetizers
Home Cured Bresaola
Panko Crusted Chicken Strips
80-hour Sous Vide, Dry Aged Prime Short Ribs
Rustic Cornbread, Beer Braised “Bacon” Baked Beans, and Red Cabbage Slaw
Wine List
Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, 2001
Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, 2003
Château Léoville-Poyferré, Saint-Julien, 2005
Carmel, Limited Edition, 2003
Galil Mountain, Yiron, Syrah, 2004
Golan Heights Winery, Yarden, Katzrin, 2000
Golan Heights Winery, Yarden, Katzrin, 2003
Golan Heights Winery, Yarden, Katzrin, 2004
Hagafen, Prix Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, MJT Block, 2002 Magnum
Hagafen, Prix Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, MJT Block, 2005
Wine Cellaring and what it means
Yarden Katzrin Chardonnay 2003
This past weekend was one of those lay low varieties. The meal comprised of spicy chicken and a killer creamy (with no cheese) risotto with cubed portabella mushroom, sweet potato, and yellow squash. The sweet vegetables were pre-caramelized to give the risotto a killer sweet twang and the portabellas added a lovely firm texture to the creamy mixture. The chicken (my wife’s specialty) was awesome – chicken breast that was cooked just right and seemed to add more than just spice to the risotto.
The wine of choice was the 2003 Yarden Katzrin Chardonnay. Yarden has three lines of wines – from the bottom up:
- The Golan line
- The Gamla line
- The Yarden line
- Yarden label
- El-Rom and Ortal vineyards
- Katzrin Yarden
The Katzrin line is either the red variety or the Chardonnay. The red variety can be found at very specialty shops – only, because of its high cost (100+ a bottle). The Chardonnay Katzrin on the other hand, is an affordable bottle and sometimes worth the extra few dollars. This was not one of those times.
Just a few words on Katzrin. Like more and more vineyards nowadays, Yarden markets the vineyard that the grapes came from on the bottling. Katzrin is a smallish city – but it is still the largest city in the Golan Heights. On my last trip to Israel, I once again ventured up to the Golan Heights and was met with a scene that will stay with me for a long time. The bus was rolling up the hills to Katzrin and half way up the climb, this cool rolling fog came in out of nowhere. The windows on the bus starting to fog over from the condensation and it was then that I realized what made Katzrin and the rest of the Golan Heights so special. It was the hot summers, cool evenings, rocky volcanic soil, and its altitude. The Golan Heights and the rest of the Upper Galille wine region has flourished since the creation of the Yarden Winery.
Now back to the wine…
Yarden Katzrin Chardonnay 2003 – Score B+
This was a nice wine – just not what I was hoping for. I love fruity yet complex white wines. Wines with a body and fruit that play off each other and have enough acidity to keep the fruit in check. In the end, this one was just being overpowered by the oak. Way too much of it. There was still fruit, but the oak and the over the top acidity was not in balance – it felt all over the place.
The nose on this golden colored wine had notes of peach and nectarine along with a huge dollop of oak. The mouth on this medium+ bodied wine starts off with a nice hit of peach, green apple, and nectarine. The middle hits you with what I can only describe as sour apple candy – without the sugar – crazy acidity. The finish is strong with oak and a hint of nuts. However, the acidity is almost puckering and just throws everything off balance. Really quite a shame. The more I read about wine makers creating soups of concoctions (adding tannin, acidity, fining agents, etc), I wonder if there was a healthy dose of ph added to this wine during or after fermentation. The ph is so off and is not integrated with the wine at all. Just a thought.
Best Wishes to all