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Lasagna, Tomato Potato Soup, Four Gates Merlot, Chardonnay, and Umbria Rosso
This past week we threw a party for our friends whose daughter had just gotten married. I made the meat lasagna that I have spoken of in previous postings. My co-host made the tomato potato soup, and some wicked awesome braised mushrooms. Some guests made a wonderful fresh salad with roasted nuts and assorted additions like palm harts and artichokes. The founder and owner of Four Gates Winery came by and brought some real cool wines, while I brought an old bottle of 1997 Four Gates Merlot and a bottle of Monte Olivo Umbria Rosso.
The wines notes follow below:
Four Gates Merlot 2001 (Magnum) – Score: B
The nose on this bright garnet colored wine has aromas of oak, cranberry, blueberry, cloves, and cherry. The mouth on this red to blue wine starts with cherry and flows into cranberry. The mid palate is a classic Four Gates flavor profile of acid and oak. The acidic core is the hallmark of all estate bottled Four Gates wines. The finish is long with coffee, acid, oak, and vanilla.
Four Gates Merlot 1997 – Score: B+
The nose on this soft red to black colored wine is a rich and opulent aroma of chocolate, cherry, blackberry, and oak. The mouth on this wine is full and mouth coating and is filled with chocolate, blackberry, and cherry. The mid palate is oaky, with light acid, and integrating tannins. The finish is a long and luscious walk down the oak boardwalk with a warm espresso and a shot of vanilla to boot. This lovely wine has pushed past its peak and is time to drink up.
Four Gates Chardonnay 1999 – Score: B
The nose on this pale straw wine is packed with peach, guava, oak, and lemon. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is fascinating in a way; it has notes of strawberry which is strange in a white wine, along with lemon, peach, and guava. The mid palate is balanced and filled with sweet oak and has a nice acidic core. The finish is long with acidity and sweet oak.
Monte Olivo Umbria Rosso 2005 – Score: B+
The nose on this garnet and orange haloed colored wine has aromas of chocolate, dirty earth, blackberry, and oak. The mouth of this medium to full bodied wine is heavy with blackberry and cassis. The mid palate is almost mouth puckering with not yet integrated tannins and acidity. The finish is long and nourishing with acid, more tannin, cloves, tobacco, coffee, and a nice spicy closing.
Vegetarian Stew and Baron Herzog Merlot
This Friday night was a quiet one for us and I wanted to make a recipe that actually hit the spot. I was in the mood for stew and my wife was not in the mood for a meat dish, so we agreed upon Vegetarian Stew. Readers of this blog will know that I am a fan of many of Mollie Katzen’s recipes, from her original vegetarian cookbook, which is getting harder and harder to find. The recipe calls for a nice mix of starch and mirepoix vegetables, along with mushrooms chopped up – to mimic the meat texture and flavor. We changed the recipe a bit to meet my interests this week, which was deep stew flavors and thick comfort food. I think I was successful, the stew smelled and tasted great, but the texture was what worked for me. The stew was thick yet sccopable.
I chose a wine to pair with the stew that was not about the wine. Also, I was wined out, and so, I chose a simple wine that is ok, but not one I would drink again, unless there was nothing else. I opened a Baron Herzog Merlot 2004 – which is a plain Merlot. It was OK, the same old same old. The interesting thing was that the more air it got, the nicer the nose became, but the more cooked the wine tasted – funny thing how Mevushal wine acts. It’s real fault is its plain mouth and body, lack of acidity, tannins, life. It has a quick but fleeting feeling in the front of the mouth and nothing more. That is what you get for a kosher 9 dollar bottle of wine. Just more stuff to talk about on Daniel’s other thread about wine prices.
Baron Herzog Merlot 2004 – Score: B-
A fine wine to drink but nothing exceptional. The wine starts off with a mild nose of blueberry, cranberry, oak, and plum. The nose does get better as it gets more air. The mouth of medium bodied wine starts with plum and red berries. The mid palate is more fruit. There is no acidity, no bracing tannins, this wine has been smoothed or fined to meet the quaffing needs of the public. The finish is short and has no carry effect to speak of.
Rosh Hashanah Dinner and Katlav Merlot 2005
First night Rosh Hashanah found us at a good friend’s house. We were served some lovely simanim that were both sweet and had really nice texture. We had some nice white table wine with the appetizers, followed by festive meal. There was Parve lasagna (parve cheese – really nice), salmon, and gobs of awesome side dishes. I brought over a Katlav Merlot 2005, while others brought over a Segal wine, whose name, unfortunately escapes my memory.
The Katlav Merlot was way more than the food could handle, but still a nice showing for the wine. The food was out of this world, I just need to remember to bring white or lighter red wines to dinner out sometimes.
The wine notes follow below:
Katlav Merlot 2005 – Score: B+
The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine is filled with black cherry, blackberry, mint, and wood. The mouth on this medium body to full body wine starts with blackberry and cherry. The mid palate is filled with heavy extraction, which is quite surprising for this wine, as many had it as a well rounded wine. The finish is a bit more extraction followed by vanilla and black cherry into a long and satisfying finish. I think this wine is far better than people have scored it.
Ella Valley Merlot, Four Gates Chardonnay and Merlot
We spent the weekend at the Four Gates Winery and we had a grand time. I brought a bunch of wine and Benyamin had a few wines in the ready as well. The food was awesome but I must say that once again, I brought the duds – AAHH!! The worst part of it was that I personally brought these wines back from France and had great expectations for them. Unfortunately, they were total losers. I brought a Sancerre and a Bordeaux. The only saving grace I had was the 2002 Ella Valley Vineyard Choice Merlot.
Dinner started with a lovely poached fish that was rich enough in flavor to match the Sancerre – but it was a real downer. The Sancerre tasted like it was allowed to rot and such was a quarter or more along the way to a Sauterne. After that we had lovely roasted chicken and a meat stew. The Roasted Chicken was solely coated with a spice mixture that I guessed was a combination of Curry, Cumin, Coriander, and cloves. Very nice mix. The chicken and the stew called for a wine that is highly acidic and/or powerful wine. The Bordeaux I brought was truly sad as well. Really, just a sad attempt. The other wine I brought was a hit and really nice – one of my favorites; the 2002 Ella Valley Vineyard’s Choice (VC) Merlot. Finally, the Four Gates wines were enjoyed the following day with Cholent and leftovers. A very nice affair for all.
The wine notes follow:
2002 Bokobsa Sancerre Special Reserve – Score: B-
The nose on this gold colored wine had notes of honeysuckle, grapefruit, earth, and Botrytis. The smell throws off the wine, and unfortunately carries on into the palate. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is fruity. The mid palate was mineral, while the Botrytis commanded the finish. The wine lacked crispness and focus. It was all over the place, a real shame. I had a great experience with a previous Sancerre, and was hoping for it again, but it was not to be.
2003 Château du Desert Grand Vin de Graves – Score: B-
The nose on this garnet colored wine was mineral and raspberry. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has notes of raspberry, and plum. The mid palate had nice earth tones. The finish was muddled with fruit and oak. Again, a non-focused or complex wine. I had high hopes for this one, but it was not to be.
2002 Ella Valley Vineyard’s Choice Merlot – Score: A
The nose on this opaque black colored wine is a big Merlot nose. Cassis, blackberry, and oak scream to the front. Mint, chocolate, and earthy tones follow. The mouth on this full bodied wine starts off with black plum, cassis and mint. The middle is a complex mixture of oak, black fruit, and well integrated tannins. The balanced wine’s long finish is filled with meaty texture and flavor along with chocolate, tobacco, and oak. This is a really fun wine and one that is ready to enjoy now. There was not a ton of sediment, but still keep a watch out for it. The fruit is slowing down, so drink up.
Four Gates La Rochelle Merlot 2005 – score: A-
The nose on this deep garnet colored wine is flush with blackberry, mint, asparagus, and oak. The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts with blackberry fruit and black plums. The mi palate has lovely notes of acid balanced with oak. The finish is long with light tannins that have not yet integrated, and red fruit. The wine is not yet at its peak, but is still quite enjoyable now as well.
Four Gates Chardonnay 2004 – Score: A
One of the best Chardonnay out there right now. This complex yet approachable wine is a real joy. This is NOT a lightweight Chardonnay yet not a butterball like other California Chardonnays. This is what a California Chardonnay should taste like – really nice. We have tasted this in the past and it has clearly improved. The nose has gone more citrus and oaky. The mouth has really filled out and the finish goes on for miles. But the real excitement is the complexity that has appeared. The wine is far more complex in nature, with layers of oak, vegetal notes, and wonderful citrus, peach, and apricot flavors. So on to the actual tasting note now:
The nose on this electric light gold colored wine is filled with peach, apricot, and light hints of herbs, sweet oak and caramel. The mouth on this full bodied and very rich Chardonnay is packed with a complex and layered mixture of peach, apricot and citrus flavors. The mid palate is a strong crisp acid core mixed with cloves, vegetal flavors, and a slight sweetness. The finish is a long crisp and refreshing stroll with sweet wood notes as a partner. A real success. This is one of my favorite Chardonnays. The wine is crisp yet has weight at the same time, a real joy.
Four Gates Winery
It was a beautiful Sunday morning that had us driving up to the Four Gates Winery which is on top of a hill in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The drive up the hill to the winery used to be a dirt road long ago, and with all the switch backs and the almost vertical climbs, it dumbfounds me how Binyamin (and many others who lived on the hilltop) ever drove up and down that mountain side many times a day. Since then, the road has been paved and now by comparison, it feels like a highway.
As we drove to Santa Cruz we were greeted with the usual California traffic on a holiday weekend. However, as we got further into and by Los Gatos, the road cleared up. The drive in was truly beautiful for a couple of reasons. First, I was not driving, a buddy of mine kindly agreed to drive us there. Secondly, the day was just beautiful, and finally, as a passenger, it gave me a chance to look at the Santa Cruz Mountains long and hard with all the traffic! Once we got the winery road, we drove up the hill and past the vineyard and to the winery itself.
The Four Gates Winery is owned, operated, run, and managed by a single man – Binyamin Cantz. He is the chief and only winemaker, along with being the CEO, and sole vineyard manager. Parenthetically, he is a man I am proud to call a friend and I state it here for full disclosure. He has people help him every so often, which is great, but he is really the sole proprietor of Four Gates Winery. Binyamin has been making wine for some 25 years now, more as a home winemaker to start, but that turned into a real passion for wine some 17 years ago, when he planted the vineyard. The vineyard is planted on a lovely hillside with views (far away views) of the Pacific Ocean and parts of Santa Cruz. In 1997 he released his inaugural vintage, which was a success, and to this day, some 11 years later, his 1997 Merlot is still quite lovely.
We met Binyamin in his house where he was cleaning out glasses for the wine tasting. The house is a rustic home rebuilt recently with exposed roof beams and original wood floors. Binyamin built his winery with his own hands and it is quite an ingenious layout. The winery is built on a hillside with no sun direct exposure, as it is surrounded by large mature trees. The winery building has two floors. The top floor is where the crush and press occur for the wines and where the fermentation occurs for the red wines, the Chardonnay is fermented in barrels below (sur lie). It is also used for bottle labeling after they are filled downstairs, and is a general storage for previous year vintages. The ground floor is dug into the hillside and is cool in the hot summer days. This is the perfect place to let sleeping wine lie, and as such, it is the winery’s barrel room. After crush or press, Binyamin funnels the wine to the barrel room via gravity into the stainless steel settling tank. From there it can be pumped into any of the barrels or smaller tanks, for whatever the situation calls for. Once the particular varietal is finished living in its woodsy confines, the wine is blended in the tank before bottling. Read the rest of this entry
Tzora, Goose Bay, and Rothberg Cellars – Oh my Oh my!
This past week some friends from out of town came by, as did some from around town. It was a really nice time. Dinner started with a dense black bean soup – from the classic Moosewood Cookbook from Mollie Katzen. It has been modified to protect the innocent, but the core recipe stands strong. Dinner was sweet roasted summer vegetables, succulent hot pepper lemon roasted chicken, and a mushroom and onion Quinoa side dish.
To keep the dinner within reach we stayed with some robust yet tasteful wines. The first was a 2007 Goose Bay Viognier, followed by the 2004 Rothberg Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, and finally the 2004 Tzora Single Vineyard Shoresh (100% Merlot). In case people are not so up on Viognier – I thought I would add would re-post a description and contrast of Viognier and other white wines:
Viognier is a white grape that it is closer in style to a Chardonnay than to a Sauvignon Blanc. All wines can be operated on – but classically these are the styles that the white wines have:
1) The Sauvignon Blanc – can be as clean lined and crisp as a Sancerre and become fat and a bit ugly like in California, and everything in between. Still the classic lines of a Sauvignon Blanc are crisp clean lines, with intense fruit and floral flavors. If picked early there is more green, if picked too late there is more of a fruit bomb which winemakers turn into a fat wine because of all the sugars – or manipulate it by decreasing the alcohol. It is commonly high in acid and is not meant for a long shelf life – though many a Sancerre have lived long lives – mostly because of the crazy acid and mineral characteristics that come from the Terroir.
2) The Chardonnay is the wine that we all know and can have many different lines. It is a grape which by its nature is screaming to be modified. The grape loses its crispness early on as it ripeness but in its place comes the weight, fruit, and body. The more oak that is applied the more toast, espresso, smoke, and spice flavors get introduced. The grape has less acid as it ripeness but gains more fruit. This is the real quandary with Chardonnay – when do you pick it? When it sits on the vine for too long you get a ton of fruit, little or no acid and high alcohol. To counter act that wineries will dealcoholize the wine and add pH as well. Again – Chardonnay is a grape that is screaming to be managed. However, when done correct you can either get nice green and floral wine with less acidity than Sauv Blanc, but still enough to hold the wine up and enough fruit to carry the day. Or you can make it California style and lose the acid but gain nice weight and body (from the fruit, alcohol, and oak) – but pH added still tastes fake to me.
3) The Viognier grape/wine is a different beast. It is a wine that has distinct characteristics: perfume, floral notes and acidity, but it is a very picky grape. It is very easy to lose to mold and because of this wineries will plant roses next to the grape vines to act as a canary for detecting mildew early on. The grape needs to be picked late otherwise, it does not give the classic perfume that we get from the Muscat and Riesling grapes. Depending on if the wine maker puts the wine through malolactic fermentation (to give it a bit more weight) or let the wine lie in the must (to give it more perfume) or to let it have a bit of wood to give it roundness. In the end, the wine is not meant for long storage – hence the VERY early release dates on these wines and the wine should have the acidity, fruit, and perfume to make it a real winner.
Now back to the wines…
The unfortunate part is that my friends are not white wine drinkers – and this kills me! As I am trying to grow my knowledge of wines and trying to be more open minded about white versus red wines – my friends are not following along for the ride! So when I want to pop a white bottle to see what a Sancerre, Chardonnay, Chablis or a Viognier tastes like – I feel like a party pooper on my own table. This is an issue that I hope to find a remedy to soon.
The thing is that to me the Viognier stole the show. At first open it was nice – but the heady perfume that would soon be gracing our olfactory receptors was still closed up in the wines cold embrace. However, as the wine opened up so did the oohs and ahs around the room. They still did not appreciate the white wine, but they were able to discern that this was not just another white. The Rotherberg Cellar was the red winner around the room. It was heady with its own enveloping sensations. The nose was just over the top. The second we opened the bottle till some hours later the nose was still pumping and quite nicely as well. Beyond the nose, the mouth was smooth, full, and round – like a California Cabernet. The oak was NOT over the top, it accented the wine – it did not define it. The ripe fruit was obvious and maybe too obvious – but still a very nice showing. The Shoresh was raw, young and quite tannic. It was a stark contrast to the smooth Viognier and Cabernet. It was not a hit on the table and again – I disagree. The wine is more like a tiger ready to pounce and one that I think has not yet hit its peak. The Rothberg Cellar and Goose Bay are awesome specimens – but are in my eyes – at their peak. When Shoresh reaches its peak – in a year or so, it will have its day in the sun. Finally, I has tasted the Shoresh in Israel at the winery and the wine has made a clear shift from then. It is still as tannic – but I swear I had a double take when I realized that it tasted a lot like a cab – except for the clear and present licorice in the mid palate. The score is a bit lower, but one I am sure will return when it reaches its peak.
Tzora Single Vineyard Shoresh 2004 – Score A-
The nose on this garnet colored wine (100% Merlot) is laden with red berries, mineral aromas, cherry, and wood. The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts with tight tannins – though integrating and a strong and slightly complex attack of black cherry, and blackberry. The middle is filled with green, earth, and licorice. The finish is long and woodsy. This has changed since I last tasted it. If tasting blindly – I would have thought this to be a Cabernet Sauvignon. The licorice was a giveaway that it was not a cab – but still the earth, dense fruit, and cab like fruit – makes made do a double take.
Rothberg Cellars Winemakers Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 – Score: B+
The nose on this muddied reddish purple wine is crazy and may well be the wine’s best feature. It is an enveloping nose and one that lasts all night. The nose is filled with strong ripe fruit fragrance along with cranberry, pomegranate, and fig aromas. The mouth on this very smooth and full bodied wine is fruit forward with ripe fruit, blackberry and black plum notes. The mid palate is acidic in its core along with soft tannins and a hint of chocolate and tobacco. The finish is long lasting with fig and cranberry.
Beyond the technical details the things that stand out to me when thinking about this wine are:
- its acidic core
- its smooth nature
- its soft and integrated tannins
- the lack of overpowering oak – this wine is assisted to by the oak, it does not define it
- the muddied color and over ripe fruit flavors throw me a bit and lower the score
- the wine is at or just over its peak – drink up and really enjoy. This is not one to lay down for even a few more months.
- The wine felt like it was aged in French oak – no smoke or toasted spice just a nice and round fullness
Goose Bay Viognier 2007 – Score: B+ to A-
This is an awesome and fun white. When we first opened it I was hoping for the perfume to overpower me and take control of my senses. However, the nose did not open up right away, instead the mouth was full of the perfumed fruit while the nose was hiding behind the mask of fruit and oak. The nose would open and so I will say that the notes here are from an hour or two in – with the difference being the deep and almost striking perfumed nose that showed itself later.
The nose of this light yet bright straw colored wine was filled with classic Viognier perfume, grapefruit, apricot and citrus aromas. The mouth of this medium bodied wine is strikingly fruity while also being infused with the perfume quality. The mid palate is strongly acidic and laced with grapefruit, lemon, and green flavors. The finish is acidic in an almost puckering way. This in contrast to a previous post, where the acid was overpowering and not well integrated with the wine.
Beyond the technical details – this wine too has some nice take aways for me:
- The wine has oak but again in a supporting role – like it should be
- The wine is acidic to its core and here the acid truly integrates and lends a large assist to the wine
- The wine is perfumed in a way that also balances well with the oak and acid
- Finally, this too is a wine to enjoy now and for a few more months.
This Past Week’s Wines….
We hung out with our friends last week and so, we brought some stuff and so did other guests and the host. The food varied, which was nice, but really had a bit of a hard time keeping up with the wine. The hearty bean soup did quite nicely – up against a Four Gates Merlot, the rest felt like the wine was pushing forward on the palate, which is fine – just need to think about that when rating wine. There was a few experimental wines at the table, and as such, will not be included in the notes.
Four Gates Merlot – La Rochelle 2001 – Score: A-
The Four Gates Merlot was a joy to taste. It was even better, because we got a chance to taste it up against the M.S.C. 2001. The color on this wine is a crazy blackish blue – with a shimmer of orange thrown in. The nose was strong with black fruit (a distinct shift from our previous review), sweet wood, and a hint of tobacco. The mouth feels fuller, definitely softer, and powered by a strong fruit presence. Cassis starts early and is joined by black plums and raspberry. The mid palate is ruled by an iron fist of acidity which really adds great zip and depth to the wine. The finish is strong with wood and spice. The softness is what throws me on this wine, as I was used to the harder lines. Those lines have softened to reveal black fruits and a nice backbone of acidity, but still a bit more tannin would have been perfect.
Four Gates Merlot – M.S.C 2001 – Score: A
The M.S.C. has what I wished the La Rochelle had – a bit more body and tannin. The color on this wine is a deep and brooding black – with a shimmer of orange. The nose had aromas of black plums and cassis, oak, and a nice sized dollop of chocolate. The mouthfeel on this full bodied wine was firm yet balanced. The tannins played nicely with the cassis, plum, and cherry. The mid palate is backed by an acidic core and nice layers of complexity around the fruit, tannins, and vegetal flavors. The finish is strong with wood and spice.
Psagot Edom 2005 – Score: B
This was not the favorite of the night (even lower then the aforementioned experimental bottle). The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (75%) and Merlot (25%). The color on this wine was a nice deep ruby red. The nose was crazy good – filled with cassis, plum, and strong green aromas. The mouth is where things fell apart. Really, there was none. The mouth is filled with a bit of tannin and a medium to full bodied attack. The fruit was non existent and the feeling in your mouth was of a good Cabernet, but nothing more. Sorry, I would pass on this one.
Purim 2008
This Purim I drank wine with friends on Thursday night and at Friday lunch. After all that, Shabbos was a nice break from wine. Thursday night I did not take notes. So these are more memory of what I tasted than actual facts.
Thursday Night:
Rothberg Cellars Pinotage 2004 – This wine exhibits classic Pinotage stylings with a bit of tannin and spicy oak. The nose was flush with cherries and red fruit. The mouth was medium bodied and fruity. The finish was medium long and had a bit of spicy oak. An OK attempt at a Pinotage – I liked the Welnerberg Pinotage 2005 more, but that is my take.
Cantina Gabriele Sangiovese 2005 – This wine is a classic fruit bomb, and a bit too much for my taste. The saving grace was that it had enough oak to dull the fruit but it had a bit more tannin than I was expecting. The tannins actually accentuated the fruit bomb – almost making it worse. To that I will say that this wine has a chance to age a bit more and maybe calm down. The fruit forwardness of the wine is evident from the nose – filled with cherries, cherries, and more cherries. The mouth was medium – full bodied with sour cherry and briar. The finish is very long with more sour cherry.
Monte Olivo Umbria Rosso 2005 – This wine was a real winner. Huge nose and an awesome specimen. For being a house wine this is a real winner. The wine is reasonably priced to boot. The wine has a wonderful nose of blackberry and tobacco. The mouth on this full bodied wine was fruity but the tannins have yet to integrate, but the mouth coating wine will be better over time for sure. The mouth is filled with blackberries and cassis, the finish is long and loaded with oak and tobacco.
Friday Lunch – with real notes:
Bashan Merlot Eitan 2005 – Score: B+
The nose on this mature garnet colored wine is filled with blackberry, old socks, oak, vanilla, and sour cherry. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has nice integrated tannins, vanilla, black fruit up front and then a medium finish that is filled with a spicy oak finish.
Bashan Cabernet Sauvignon Eitan 2005 – Score: A-
Notes still hold true to my tasting that we had in Israel in the Bashan Winery.
Mount Meroma Cabernet Sauvignon 1993 – Score: B-
This one was definitely passed its time. It is a shame because it was ready to go about 5 years ago. The crazy thing about this wine was 10 minutes after it was opened, it was gone. Nothing left. These notes are right when it was opened and seems to have been from its last gasps of life – if that :-). The nose on this almost brown colored wine has light aromas of oak and red fruit. The mouth on this medium – full bodied wine has integrated tannins, dirty socks, oak, and raspberry. The finish was almost non-existent, but had hints of vanilla and mint.
Baron Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve Napa Valley 2002 – Score: A-
The nose on this garnet colored wine was packed with blackberry, cassis, figs, and oak. The mouth on this full bodied wine starts with well integrated tannins, than the blackberry, cassis, and sweet wood mingle together into a complex blend that is quite intriguing. The finish is medium long with tobacco and sweet oak.
Tanya Winery
Tanya Winery
On a clear and cool winter day we meet up with Chaim Feder – one of the investors in the Tanya Winery. The winery is tucked away in Ofra where the wonderful and eccentric wine maker Yoram Cohen lives. When we first met Yoram he was hard at work building a barrel. Yes, he was hand building a barrel that he had just finished shaving down and toasting, and was now applying the finishing touches to a recycled barrel with equal care that he gives his wines. It was fitting that this is how we met Yoram. In an almost poetic manner, Yoram was doing what he does best – recycling, rebuilding. He is one of those ever restless artists on the hunt for his next challenge. The good news for us oenophiles – is that he chose to ply his new trade in the world of wine. Yoram had a very successful photography business and left it all for the ever finicky world of wine making. In 2002 Yoram started to make wine out of his house. In 2007 one of Chaim’s friends tasted Yoram’s wines and was sure that Yoram was the next big thing in wine. Chaim and his partners met Yoram and the rest is history. They upgraded the winery’s future productivity by purchasing new equipment, plantings new vineyards, and leasing more space for the winery. They hope to be producing 40,000 bottles as soon as the newest vineyards come on line sometime next year.
Upon meeting Yoram and the almost completed barrel, Yoram showed us the newly built wine cellar and tasting room – that is behind his house, and that he built by hand. Anchoring the middle of this beautiful hand crafted structure is a 40+ year old vine! The vine was there before Yoram bought the house.
Yoram showed the way to the slightly smaller cellar and gave us a taste of a 2005 Cabernet from a 5 liter wine cask. Chaim said Yoram was hoping to sell them for the seder table. Yet another example of his eccentric but wonderful artistic talents that Yoram brings to the staid and stogy world of wine making – a truly refreshing attitude and perspective that we are sure will do him and the winery well. Upon tasting the wine and some other white vintages we drove to the newly minted headquarters in Ofra’s industrial area. There we were given to taste a myriad of bottles and barrel tasting that gave us an appreciation of the upcoming wines and the up and coming winery’s main talent – Yoram and his artistic spin on wine and life as a whole.
We want to thank Yoram, Chaim Feder and their respective families for their very kind hospitality and time. Following are the tasting notes which we sampled at the winery.
Tanya Cabernet 2005 (Small Cask) – Score: B+
This garnet colored wine (grapes from Har Bracha) has a nose of date, vanilla, and oak. The mouth of this balanced medium bodied wine is filled with cherry and raspberry. The finish is long with a wooden cloak and cherry clinging on.
Tanya Jerba 2003 (fortified desert wine) – Score: A-
The nose of this honey colored wine is packed with honey, pineapples, and dates. The mouth on this full bodied and fortified wine is still a bit too hot. This will calm down as time progresses. Citrus fruit, honey and apple come in early and stay along for the long finish. This is a wine that one can enjoy with almost any desert – once it calms down a bit. Read the rest of this entry
Wine Musings Blog 