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Assorted wines tasted these past few weeks
Well, I have finally caught up on my main wine themes throughout these past few weeks – but I also realized that I had missed a few wines here and there, and so I am creating a catch-all post to track these last few wines that have slipped through the cracks.
They are a hodgepodge of wines that I have tasted, but people were asking for the notes – so the easiest way to get them all up is to put them here in one post
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:
This is fun, a really lovely nose, with white pepper, hints of funk, with good sweet notes, mounds of crazy honeysuckle, honey, showing pineapple, mango, and nice grapefruit, and lemon sorbet. The mouth on this medium bodied is where things go slightly off course, this wine is not as dry as I had hoped, with good acidity, but too much sweet notes, with good balance, showing more of crazy floral jasmine notes, with blossom as well, giving way to sweet citrus, and tropical fruit. The finish is long and tart, crazy acid, with slate, rich sweet notes, and tart fruit. This is more of a very good dessert wine to me than a “dry wine”, but a fun one either way. Drink Now.
2014 Saporta Rioja – Score: B+ to A-
We also tried to taste the Saporta Crianza, but it was corked 😦
This is a lovely wine, with a nose of bright fruit, fresh and vibrant, with good notes of coffee, tar, earth galore, dark cherry, vanilla, and nice spices. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is well made, with good acid, very nice dried and almost candied fruit, with herbs galore, mint, rosemary, and sage, with nice earth, dried raspberry, and more cherry. The finish is long and acidic with a good core of mineral, spice, nutmeg, and tobacco. Nice! Drink by 2019.
2001 Herzog Syrah, Special Reserve – Score: A- (not mevushal)
Lovely wine, I am shocked it is still alive, with crazy white and black pepper, with lovely roasted meat, with mushroom, and truffles. The mouth is layered and quite alive, with good acid, still nice tannin, rich and still richly layered, impressive and attacking with great focus, with lovely juicy fruit, showing green notes of tobacco, menthol, and herb. The finish is long and green with crazy spices, nutmeg, cinnamon, with lovely herbal notes, and tar galore. Bravo!! Drink up!
2014 Hajdu Counoise, Eaglepoint Ranch – Score: B+
The nose starts off hot, with lovely pepper, warm spices, lots of sweet oak, sweet dill, with hickory notes, roasted meat, and black fruit abounds. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is deeply extracted with more of the sweet oak, lots of rich searing tannin, that gives way to blackberry, blueberry, hints of peach, and white fruit, followed by raspberry, and crazy heady spice. The finish on this lovely wine is spice first and tobacco second, with nice mineral, earth, leather, and rich black tea. Nice Drink by 2019
2010 Damien Gachot-Monot Bourgogne – Score: A- (Crazy QPR)
I must admit I was expecting more old world notes to start from this wine, it starts off more Cali in style than Burgundy, but as it opens it literally transforms within 10 minutes to a classically old world wine, insane, with clear sweet notes of dill, herb, and dried cherry, to start, but with time that changes to rich loam, dirt, earth, with mounds of saline, mineral, and lovely sweet juicy raspberry, dried red fruit, and lovely spice. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is clearly sweet, and Cali in style to start, but with time, it opens to classical Burgundy, old-world notes of hints of sweet notes, but far more balanced, with mushroom, hints of barnyard, candied life saver, all wrapped in mouth drying tannin, that flows into smokey oak, charcoal, and lovely tilled earth. The finish is super long, richly balanced with impressive acid, with more smoke and mushroom lingering long, with almost hints of smoked meat, spiced plum, and candied fruit. A fun experience and a crazy good price! Drink by 2019
2014 Capcanes Peraj Petita – Score: A- (Crazy QPR)
This wine is a blend of 60% Grenache, 15% Tempranillo, 15% Merlot, and 10% Syrah. The nose on this wine starts off fruitier and more accessible than previous vintages, showing a more new world in style. With more time that changes a bit and straddles the two worlds, with nice roasted meat, mounds of smoke, mineral, hints of mushroom, dirt, and tar, with sweet spices, and lovely blue fruit. The mouth on this lovely wine is still very controlled even with its new world leanings, but it is clearly fruitier than previous vintages, with mounds of blueberry, boysenberry, wrapped in searing and draping tannins, that give way to dark cherry, dried herb, menthol, and forest berry that are cocooned by sweet oak, and balanced by lovely acid and dirt. The finish is long and searing still with more tannin, but well balanced with green notes of tobacco, foliage, mushroom, and mounds of mineral, graphite, and black olives. A very fun wine indeed! Drink by 2020
2014 Shirah One-Two Punch – Score: A-
This wine is a blend of 50% Grenache and 50% Syrah. The nose on this wine is lovely, with black and blue fruit, showing cherry, blueberry, and lovely earthy and spicy, cloves, all spice, really impressive and fun, with coffee and vanilla. Lovely medium body with great spice, with great acid and focus, showing nice blueberry and raspberry and spicy oak with coffee and candied currant. The finish is long and spicy, with mineral, and dill with smoke and candied fruit. Drink by 2020.
Wines I enjoyed over Passover 2017
Well, I have been off for too long, that is for sure. First Passover, then travels to Japan and more work. Finally home for a bit, Passover was great as it was enjoyed with family and that is what makes the holidays so great!
I will keep this short and sweet – the wines were mostly good to great, except for one wine that I was really looking forward to tasting – sadly it was clearly not stored well. Other than the single disappointment – the rest of the wines were solid wines.
I also had the opportunity to enjoy some wines with friends at EZ’s house, with BC and CG. It was a lovely evening and we enjoyed 6 wines – the best of which was the 2012 Domain Netofa Latour Red, followed by 2010 Hajdu Grenache, 2011 Netofa Red, the 2004 Chateau Montviel (which is in drink up mode at this point), and the 2011 Hajdu Grenache. Many thanks to EZ and his wife for hosting us so graciously.
The wines are listed below – and I hope you had a great Passover as well:
2012 Herzog Petite Sirah, Clarksburg, Prince Vineyard – Score: A-
I found this wine to be showing better than the Hajdu PS, at least for now. Lovely blueberry jam and crazy black plum, with mounds of fresh vanilla, sweet cedar, with lovely floral notes, and sweet spices. Lovely full body wine with still searing tannin and lovely acid showing rich extraction and crazy spices with boysenberry and blackberry with rich sweet spices and elegance at the same time, along with ribbons of charcoal, and mineral. The finish is long and jammy, with rich leather, and mounds of mineral and black tea, with sweet tobacco, and sweet fruit lingering long. Drink by 2020.
2012 Hajdu Petite Sirah, Brobdingnagian – Score: A-
This wine was really a wine I was looking forward to tasting again, and it is either in a real funk, or it has taken a step back from its earlier stature. The wine opened quickly, it was not as closed as in the past, showing ripe blackberry, blueberry, and lovely dirt, and earth, with root beer galore and spice. The mouth on this full bodied wine is rich, but lacking the impressive extraction of old, with rich layers of blue and dark fruit, sweet oak, and tannin that does not let up. The finish is long with layers of dark fruit, leather, spice, Swiss mocha, boysenberry, and nice tart, and sweet fruit. This wine is on target, but lacking the complexity of old. Drink by 2021.
2007 Yarden Blanc de Blanc – Score: A- to A
Same as last time, deep, mineral, and attack that is almost hedonistic.
NV Gamla/Gilgal Hashmura Brut – Score: A- (crazy QPR)
This is the new vintage (which is now out of stock in most places). The way to know it is the most recent vintage is to check if the wine says extra dry – otherwise, it is a previous vintage and not as fun, the wine is mostly 2011 grapes. The nose on this bubbly is sick with lovely quince, apple cider, with straw and tart citrus. The mouth is full and an attack force of small mousse bubbles, followed by yeast and rich undertones, followed by layers of pear and madly refreshing with crazy acid and pith, and more bubbles that do not give up. The finish is long with dried fruit, nice dry mouthfeel, that flows into nice dried herb, and rich white tea. BRAVO!!!!
QPR Kosher wine options that I have been enjoying recently
In my state of kosher wine industry post – I lamented at the lack of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) options in the kosher wine world. Now that is not to say that the options do not exist, as you can see by the number of QPR options on my top wines for Passover last year. Still, given the sheer number of wines in a kosher wine store (many hundreds) and the number of kosher wines on the open market (many thousands), we are left with a very small minority – sadly.
So, I thought I would list the most recent QPR wines I have enjoyed over the past 6 months. I wanted to catch up with wines I had not had till later last year and place them in a single easy to find place.
My hope is that people will enjoy the wines and demand more of them. For instance, the lack of many of the QPR wines from Elvi Wines on the open market. I can find them on Royal’s website and on Elvi’s website, but sadly I cannot find them at many wine stores. Thankfully, Kosherwine has gotten the Elvi Cava back along with the Gilgal Brut, but they have older vintages or no vintages of the Elvi options. Onlinekosherwine.com, also has many of the older Elvi wines. I have spoken with Moises and he says they exist here somewhere in the USA – only God knows where though!!! Sadly, the exact same can be said for Netofa wines – another QPR superstar! Where are the wines? I taste them at KFWE – but they are not at stores, online or at shops!
I hope to one day write a post about wine cellaring, but till I do, understand that certain wines are made to enjoy early, like Cava, most 2014 white wines, and lighter reds. The richer and tannic reds can use time in the cellar and that is normal. This list is not a list of wines that are meant for cellaring, though many can withstand a few years. The idea here is to enjoy these wines now while you let the long-term wines cellar and age. We all have that interest to drink interesting wines and while I agree with that, that is NO excuse to raid the cellar when u have a hunkering for a complex note or flavor. Many of these wines will scratch the itch while the beasts’ lie and settle.
Finally, some of these wines are hard to find and they may have different siblings – I will point out when an older one will be an issue or a newer vintage would not be on the list (like the 2011 Ella Valley Cabernet Franc versus the 2012). The 2012 Ella Valley Cabernet Franc would never be on this list. The 2011 is a fine wine for another year, after that I fear it will turn to date juice.
Also, many of the white/rose/bubbly wines will be repeats from the various posts I made, as most of the 2015 whites and rose are not coming to the USA as they are shmita in Israel. I tried to keep these wines under 30 dollars or so, some are more most are less and that is the point of this list. Of course, that means that for some wineries there will be one or no options, like Matar or Four Gates Winery. Though I could have thrown in the Four Gates Chard – which is a lovely wine, it is still far from my goal to add into this bucket. The same can be said for many more wineries. Also, 2015 Israeli wines are not on this list, actually no 2015 wines are on this list, though Hagafen Winery, has released their 2015, but I have yet to taste them and the 2014 Hagafen wines are the ones on the market anyway. Finally, wines that can only be found in Israel like the epic Tabor Rose of 2014 and the 2014 Reca Gris du Marselan and the yatir rose and the new 2014 Yatir Viognier – and so on. All of these wines are not on this list because they are hard to find, but they are on previous lists I have posted.
So, without further ado – here is my list of kosher QPR winners so far and if you have any more please tell me!! They are listed below without any real order.
2014 Domaine Netofa White – Score: A- (Crazy QPR)
I must say this is clearly the best Netofa white so far, and I hope they continue to impress! The wine is 100% Chenin Blanc sourced from the slopes of Mount Tabor. The nose is redolent with rich and bright quince, straw, mineral, lemongrass, and wet grass. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is lovely and rich mineral bomb, with more hay, spiced quince, now dry fresh cut grass, green apple, Asian pear, along with a crazy dry and insanely tart crab apple. The finish is long – spicy, dirty, and mineral based, with dry fruit, rich ripping acid, cloves, and nutmeg – BRAVO!!!
2013 Domaine Netofa Red – Score: A- (and more) (QPR!)
This wine is a clear step up from the 2012 Netofa Red, that is not putting the 2012 down in any way, it is just that this wine is even better! This wine is a blend of 65% Syrah and 35% Mourvedre. The nose on this wine is redolent and packed with mineral, lovely smoke, flint, ripe plum, lovely blueberry, with currants in the background. The mouth on this full bodied wine is attacks you first with lovely currants, followed by layers of blueberry, floral notes, richer and more extracted than the 2012, with great mineral, dried strawberry, all wrapped in ripping acid, and lovely tannin. The finish is long, extracted, and richly mineral in style, with blackcurrant, draping tannin, while being spiced with cloves, black pepper, sweet her, and hints of pith and lovely acid. BRAVO!!!
2012 Weinstock Cabernet Franc, Cellar Select – Score: A- (Mevushal) (QPR!)
This is not the same wine as the 2011 vintage, which was crazy and great this vintage started off closed and disjointed, but is now showing far better. The nose on this wine is mad green with red fruit notes, and herb. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is nice and round, with green notes, well balanced with good acid, raspberry, plum, earth, more bell pepper, crazy sweet dill, mouth coating tannin, and green foliage. The finish is long with nice enough acid, forest floor, nice butterscotch, good sweet tobacco, cedar, with tannin adding weight. Read the rest of this entry
Mia Luce, Trio Special Cuvee, and French kosher wine win the night
I will try to keep this short and sweet. I have already posted on the state of Mia Luce here. Kobi is killing it as the 3rd winemaker at Recanati Wienry – but he is also doing exceptional things as the winemaker of his own winery; Mia Luce Winery. Kobi started making wines in 2009, and made both a Carignan and a Merlot, we had both of those along with a 2012 white blend. The 2011 white blend that we tasted when I was in Israel, was fantastic and also a lightening rod for disagreement. Some loved it like us, but the rest of the blind tasting panel hated it deeply, saying it was wet socks and god knows what else.
Well, before I went on my Alaska trip, we tried his 2009 wines along with the 2009 Recanati Carignan, side by side, and Kobi won hands down. Sure the wines showed bret from
Mia Luce, but I do not mind it – when in control. The Recanati wines were clearly more polished – but they were riper and when faced with that comparison, I tended towards the Mia Luca and so did the rest of the table.
The 2009 Merlot was Out of this world, as was the 2005 Chateau royaumont – just lovely! I also wanted to taste two other wines that were on my radar, the 2012 Trio Winery Special Cuvee and the 2012 Lewis Pasco Project #1. We have tasted the Pasco before here, but this was a re-taste to see where it was at this point. The 2012 Pasco is showing sweet now, which was a shock to me. The 2012 Trio was magnificent and truly needs time to come together. The 2012 Trio Special Cuvee was the winner of the 2014 Decanter World Wine Regional Trophy. I normally could care less about these wine events, but Decanter is a well respected award show and to me the wine was truly lovely.
The dinner was meatballs and rice with fresh green salad and a lovely herb encrusted gefilte fish loaf to start. The wine notes follow below:
2012 Mia Luce Bianco Manara – Score: A- (and more)
OK, I must say this is a wine that will create divergent opinions. It has funk and wet notes that many think are socks but are really just dried notes of the semillon. The wine is a blend of 93% French Colombard and 7% Roussanne. The nose is sour with funky sock smell, lovely flint, mineral, smoke, floral notes, intense English lavender, and earth. This nose is truly old world with earth, dirt, mineral, and funk. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is unique to say the least with crazy quince, pink grapefruit, apricot, sweeter notes than the 2011, with riper tangerine, sweet apple peel, all wrapped in a rich, viscous, textured mouth feel, that is combined with crazy acid, and orange pith. Many will have issues with this one, so serve carefully but enjoy!!!
2012 LEWIS PASCO Pasco Project #1 – Score: B+
A Bordeaux blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% merlot, along with 3% of Petite Sirah, for rounding and depth. The wine was aged for 9 months in new French barrels. The nose on this purple colored wine starts with Merlot barnyard funk, black fruit, spice, clear sweet notes that were not there 6 months ago, and herb. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is rich and layered with concentrated fruit, lovely extraction, showing spicy oak, mouth coating spicy and drying tannin, mounds of oriental spice, blackberry, swet notes bordering on date, and dark cherry. The finish is long and balanced with still searing tannin, lovely leather, lovely vanilla, nice balancing acid, dark chocolate, with nutmeg, cinnamon, but the date is overpowering – drink UP!!
2013 Shirah Syrah Santa Barbara County – Score: A-
What can I say, this is what I dream of when you say Syrah. No, this is not big, aggressive, full bodied (though this is mostly), sweet and in your face. This is old school! The wine has fruit and body, but what shines is the mineral, saline, acid, earth, dirt. All the stuff that says Rhone while being in Cali!
The nose on this wine is epic, with earth, dirt, loam, mineral, along with rich roasted animal, blackcurrant, hints of zinberry, and sweet spice. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is all about the dirt and mineral, along with sweet fruit, layered with insane sweet peach, plum, blueberry, boysenberry, with more sweet spices, nutmeg, and all spice. The finish is long with chocolate, leather, cinnamon, and watermelon. LOVELY!
2013 Covenant Pinot Noir Landsman – Score: A- (and more)
Lovely nose with crazy strawberry perfume, sweet cherry and sweet wood. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is rich and layered with spice and coffee, followed by layers of fruit and nutmeg, candied kirshe cherry, blackberry, and really nice tannin. The finish is long and spicy with cherry and blackcurrant, rich dirt, and mineral. With time the nose opens further with a perfume of earth, dirt, intense mineral, saline, and hints of barnyard. The mouth is still layered and concentrated with sweet white chocolate and sweet spices – BRAVO!!
2012 Celler de Capçanes Peraj Petita – Score: A-
This wine continues to impress and is now in the drinkable stage. This wine is a blend of 55% Grenache, 30% Tempranillo, and 15% Merlot. This is a wine that continues to excel at being a QPR superstar, and this vintage is no different. The nose on this wine is rich and black with loamy dirt, oriental spices, intense graphite, crushed herb, green notes, along with freshly paved asphalt, and earthy goodness. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is crazy with mouth gripping tannins, leather, along with layers of blackberry, black cherry, and inky notes, all coming together with oak and green notes. The finish is long and mineral based with still gripping tannin, tar, and sweet herbs that linger long. This is a wine is now ready to go.
2005 Chateau Royaumont – Score: A- (and much more)
What a lovely wine and this just shows the power of the French kosher wine, elegance and finesse in a bottle. The nose on this lovely wine starts off with rich barnyard notes, along with green fruit notes, herb, and lovely raspberry. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is ripping with acid, followed by rich mouth scarping tannin that have yet to fully soften, along with pure elegance, rich loamy dirt, layer of concentrated plum, blackberry, and cherry, along with green notes and more herb. The finish is long with dark chocolate, graphite, mineral, eucalyptus, and smoky notes. BRAVO!!!
2009 Mia Luce Carignan La Speciale – Score: A- (and much more)
Wow what a great wine! This wine is Kobi Arbiv’s first wines and it mad good! It is the same Carignan vineyard that is used by Recanati’s Wild Carignan, the Baal vineyard. that we tasted side by side and was not as good. Kobi is the 3rd winemaker at Recanati and he is a lovely man with a golden touch!
The nose is clearly showing brett, and not that I mind it at all, but some may have issues with it. The nose on this wine is filled with mushroom, barnyard, beautiful blueberry, with hints of cherry, intense smoke, roasted meat, and mad spice. The mouth on this full bodied wine is ripping with crazy acid, elegance and power, with layers and concentration of mouth draping and almost drying tannin, with rich black olives, saline, mad mineral, followed by raspberry, blackberry, and plum. The finish is impressive with tar, loamy dirt, mad coffee grinds, chocolate, tobacco,a nd more smoke that lingers long with hints of licorice and spice. BRAVO!!!!
2009 Mia Luce Rosso, Judean Hills – Score: A- (and much more)
What a CRAZY and lovely wine, this would be a sure fire French wine if anyone asked me blind – no questions asked! There is lovely brett here, get over it! Again, this is the first wine that Wow what a great wine! This wine is Kobi Arbiv’s first wines and it mad good! Kobi is the 3rd winemaker at Recanati and he is a lovely man with a golden touch! This was his first and ONLY Merlot wine, this is 96% Merlot and 4% Carignan.
The nose on this stunning wine is rich and perfumed with barnyard notes, along with lovely green notes, smokey and gamey notes from the carignan, along with raspberry and lovely red fruit. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is layered and rich and pure elegance in a glass, with crazy acid and ripping mineral, followed by deep rooted earth, green notes, bell pepper, asparagus, along with plum, and smoking tobacco. The finish is long with mouth coating tannin, acid, green notes, mint, and herb. This is a once in a lifetime wine to get your hands on and it is still going strong – BRAVO!
2010 Four Gates Petit Verdot – Score: A- (and much more)
Bravo what a lovely wine! This wine shows what a PV can be, with floral notes, wrapped in chocolate, and black and blue fruit – LOVELY!!!
The nose on this wine screams with blueberry, lovely floral notes, rose, along with ripe black and blue fruit, along with smokey game, and roasted meat. The mouth on this full bodied is ripe and balanced with lovely acid, sweet herb, black pepper, along with layers of concentrated blackberry, strawberry, and boysenberry all wrapped in earth, and toasted oak. The finish is long with mouth coating tannin, bittersweet chocolate, tobacco, and sweet herb. LOVELY!!!
2009 Recanati Wild Carignan, Reserve, Judean Hills – Score: A-
This was the first year for this wonderful wine, a great example of what Israel can do when the wine is handled correctly! This wine comes from wild vines that are old and gnarly and dry farmed.
The nose explodes with nice blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, roasted meat, tar, and plum. The mouth is rich and layered, with concentrated but accessible fruit, along with a crazy inky structure, mounds of earth, and a mouth that is massive and rich with mouth coating tannin, and nice cedar, but showing hints of date now as well. The finish is long and ripe with heavy spice, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, tobacco, vanilla, and a salty finish. As the wine opened it turned closer to date than I would like. DRINK UP!!!
This is clearly a new-world style wine with crazy fruit forward and heavy use of oak, but one that is quite lovely all the same. There will be some that do not like the heavy smoke or the super ripe fruit, and that is fine, just know what you are getting into with this wine.
2011 Psagot Edom – Score: B+
This is a blend of 60% Cabernet, 6% Merlot, 19% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. The wine starts off very closed and needs a few hours to fully open up, but throughout the date notes copme through, which is an issue, personally. The nose on this wine is elegant with lovely mushroom and dirt, but the date comes through along with herb and green notes. The mouth on this full bodied wine is well ripe, with good fruit structure, showing clear date, blackberry, dark ripe plum, and sweet cedar, followed by sweet spices, cloves, and green notes. The finish is long and spicy with sweet tobacco, and chocolate.
2012 Trio Winery Special Cuvee, Israel – Score: A-
I must admit I was concerned to start with this wine, solely because it looked like one of those classic israeli blends, the ones that commonly make me gag. However, the fact that it won the best wine of decanter and it scored a 95 from them, reassured me that it has some hope.
The wine is a blend of 63% Cabernet from the Judean Hills and 37% Syrah from the Galilee. The nose on this wine starts off very closed but with time it opens to black fruit, rich spice, made oak, sweet vanilla, and chocolate notes. The mouth on the medium bodied wine is ripe and balanced with good acidity, nice fruit structure, but lacking in complexity with nice blackberry, cassis, raspberry, and anise. The finish is long with nice spicy tannin, black pepper, and Oriental spices. With more time the wine opens to a nose of blueberry (from the Syrah), sweet spices, heat, nutmeg, cinnamon, and mad smoke. The mouth on the wine opens more to show black and blue fruit, roasted animal notes, and lovely sweet spices that meld into peppercorn and leathery notes. Quite nice! This wine needs time, but I fear it may lose balance in 4 years, so drink rom 2015/6 to 2019.
Catching up on some wines from past weeks
I am that the blog has been quiet for a bit of time here and there, but hopefully I will be back into the swing of things soon. I wanted to post three wines that I loved and had recently and ones that are still available here and there – even given two of their ages. The 2005 Hagafen Zin can still be purchased from Hagafen Winery’s library collection. The Galil Yiron 2007 is available at some shops here and there – this one requires effort to still find. The 2012 Petita is available everywhere that good kosher wine is sold.
The wine notes follow below:
2007 Galil Mountain Winery Yiron – Score: A-
The nose on this garnet colored wine is hopping with an expressive and intoxicating smokey perfume of licorice, spice, tar aromas, and animal fats. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is truly explosive with now integrated mouth coating tannin, rich mouth feel and concentration of black cherry, ripe blackberry, ripe plum, and raspberry, followed by tart fruit, sweet oak, softening tannin, sweet herb, and nice acid. The finish is long, spicy and expressive with green notes, eucalyptus, graphite, dirt, tobacco, and oriental spices – BRAVO! Start drinking up – this wine has is at peak or very close, and after that who cares – the fun starts to abate, get it while the going is fun!
2012 Celler de Capçanes Montsant Peraj Petita – Score: A- (Mad QPR wine)
This wine is a blend of 55% Grenache, 30% Tempranillo, and 15% Merlot. This is a wine that continues to excel at being a QPR superstar, and this vintage is no different. The nose on this wine is rich and black with loamy dirt, oriental spices, intense graphite, crushed herb, green notes, along with freshly paved asphalt, and earthy goodness. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is crazy with mouth gripping tannins, leather, along with layers of blackberry, black cherry, and inky notes, all coming together with oak and green notes. The finish is long and mineral based with still gripping tannin, tar, and sweet herbs that linger long. This is a wine that really needs another year to come around.
2005 Hagafen Zinfandel – Score: B++ to A-
The nose on this lightly browning wine is filled with rich fruit, ripe strawberry, along with sweet cedar, brown sugar, and great spice. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is ripe and concentrated with layers of ripe blackberry, black plum, red fruit, ripe jammy boysenberry, all wrapped in a cocoon of sweet cedar and mouth coating tannins. The finish is long and rich with great acid, control, and a bounty of fruit, all leading to a chocolate, vanilla, and spice crescendo, with cinnamon, cracked pepper, and nutmeg. DRINK NOW and do not hold on to these a second longer. When opening it, give it 30 minutes and then finish there and then!
This wine sure is fun, the brown sugar, cedar, chocolate, and dark ripe black fruit all mingle with crazy vanilla and brown sugar on a long and sweet finish – BRAVO!!!
More kosher Rhone varietals over Shavuot and afterwards
Over the Holiday of Shavuot, and weeks that followed, I have been continuing my love for all things Rhone, meaning Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, and things like Petite Sirah and others. Over Shavuot we had one half of the Weiss Brothers with us, and it was a great time to break out my last bottle 2007 Brobdingnagian Grenache! We had a few other bottles as well, of course, but that was the winner of the night for sure.
Many of the wines we have had over the past few weeks are still available now, while some are those MUST keep wines that I hope you all start to build from great 2009/2010/2012 wines (yeah 2011 was a tough one).
Over Shavuot we served rib eye and some brisket, and it went so well with the sweet Syrah and bold wines that we enjoyed. I hope you all enjoyed the Shavuot time with wine, learning, and friends!
Over the following weeks after that we opened Summer wines, many were rose and white, which I will post separately, and many were perfect BBQ wines, like the 2011 Chabad Cuvee Zinfandel. Along with the 2011 Netofa Red made of 60% Syrah and 40% Mourvedre. We truly enjoyed the 2012 Landsman Syrah, which is good news, as some of the other Landsman have been OK but not as good as this one.
We also enjoyed a few lovely Israeli blend wines, with a mixture of Cabernet, Syrah, and other varietals. Like the 2009 Kitron Reserve LIKA, a wine named after one of his children. The wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, and Merlot. The Tzora Shoresh was awesome, and the 2011 Trio was nice, but not great. I hear the 2012 Trio Grenache, a wine only available in Israel, is really impressive, look for that when in Israel next time.
Finally, the 2012 Capcanes Peraj Petita continues to blow me away, and the mevushal version of it is also very good and is actually more accessible now than the non mevushal version, which feels too tight still.
The wine notes follow below:
2007 Brobdingnagian Grenache, Santa Barbara County – Score: A
The name comes from the colossal, gigantic, extremely tall, and giant creatures discovered by Gulliver in his travels on the Northwest coast of California and is used today (although not by anyone I know) to describe anything of colossal size. That said, the wine does in many ways follow the moniker. The wine has a 16.3% alcohol, is massive in the mouth, and in the bottle! The bottle (empty) is one of the heaviest I have ever seen, quite extreme. The name of the winery, though unpronounceable by me, is one you already know by association. The wine is made by Jonathan Hajdu, the associate wine maker for Covenant Wines, owned and operated by Jeff Morgan.
The last time we opened this wine, the wine was inaccessible for many hours. However, this time the wine was immediately accessible with concentrated dried red fruit, raspberry, toast, smokey aromas, roasted animal, sweet cedar, insane and mad milk chocolate, and spice. The mouth on this browning colored wine is super concentrated, almost laser focused, and layered with dried strawberry, cranberry, raspberry, blueberry, root beer, and plum. The attack is what makes this wine; it is clean lined with heft and power, yet focused on delivering not a single but many blows of dried fruit and oak. The mid palate flows from the mouth with acidity to balance the beast, along with still searing tannins, cedar oak, and tobacco. The finish is super long and concentrated with more mouth coating tannin, sweet herb, licorice, white pepper, cloves, lovely acidity, sweet watermelon, and more spice – BRAVO!!!!
This wine has a year or so left – but I would start drinking them now for another year – drink UP mode.
2007 Four Gates Merlot and 2010 Capcanes Peraj Petita
This past weekend we went out to a friends house for Shabbos and I brought over a bottle of the 2010 Capacnes Peraj Petita, which turned out to be a bit of a dud. EP warned me it was going downhill, I should have listened 😦
Anyway, the meal was wonderful, and the host opened a bottle of the 2007 Four Gates Merlot which is hopping now! Rich and layered and with so much wonderful acid.
The wine notes follow below:
2010 Capcanes Peraj Petita
In many ways this wine is consistent and not just an entry-level wine that Capcanes would like you to believe. This is a wine that many wineries would dream to be a front line wine in their portfolios. A blend of Grenache, Samso and Temparanillo, all Spanish varietals that have had great success in the Montsant wine region. The nose starts off with plum, blackcurrant, and coffee. The mouth is filled with rich coffee, ripe black forest fruit, toasty almost burnt cedar, nice black fruit, but the mouth is falling apart and it is hollow in the middle that fills in with air, but loses almost all complexity and concentration. The finish is medium long with nice spice, toast and bramble.
2007 Four Gates Merlot – Score: A-
Having tasted this again recently, the wine continues to show like it did before but with even more concentration and bracing acidity! The nose on this massive wine is screaming with blackberry, black plum, ripe raspberry, herbaceous, bramble/minerality, toasty oak, and coffee. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine, is gripping with tannins, dark fruit and minerality that come together into a nice round mouth. The finish is super long with nice red and black fruit that is topped with rich coffee balancing acid and oak. This is a structured and massive wine that will also open up over time. For now, open it and taste the wine, then watch it grow before your eyes. If that is too complicated, stick with tasting it out of the bottle, and then again after a few hours of air. Drink by 2016.
Wines from Passover and before
Well, to say I was busy in the past two weeks would be a minor understatement! I had people calling me, emailing me, and god knows what other forms of communication, including the time-sink of them all – Facebook!!
So, while getting ready for Passover I also posted some four articles on my trip to Israel, this past December 2012. I have tons more to write up, but for now I need a break – LOL!!! Still, as I have said many times, this blog is more about my journal than a real peek into my insane life of wine.
So, this Passover was the usual madness of hurray up and then wait and then hurray up and wait! Clean one part, boil water and wait. Clean something else, than wait for it to try, and then pour water – man these laws!! Anyway, in between all the madness I was posting about my Israel trip and never got to post about the wines I wanted to enjoy this Passover or even the past Shabbos wine! By the way, the Barbera was awesome from Ramat Naftaly, but man that bottle was crazy! The bottle had cracks going down both sides of the bottle. The cracks were actually done at the time the glass was blown, they need to do a better job of checking their bottles!
2005 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon and a few other Purim Wines
This past weekend we enjoyed a lovely a simple meal by sauteing browned sausage, browned onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. That paired with Basmati rice, fresh green salad, and a bowl of chicken soup.
The wine I drank was a bottle of the 2005 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon and it is a wine that is OK now and not going anywhere, but it new world styling was a bit too much for me. The wine did tone down over time, but lost its complexity, so I am not as in love with it as I was with previous vintages. I think the new world styling of Yarden wines are not to my likings, but that only happens when the sweetness is over the top. In this case the wine was overly sweet to start, but did also show nice black and dried fruit. Those fruits stayed, the dates receded, but it lost some complexity – which is a shame, but I fear it is a problem with my manic hatred for all things dates.
Wine notes follow below:
2005 Golan Heights Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Yarden Kosher – Score: B++ to A-
The nose on this wine is screaming with black fruit to start with black cherry, blackcurrant, some green notes, and eucalyptus, over time the wine opens its nose to mounds of graphite and dirt. The mouth is rich and ripe with a bit of date, along with cassis, black plum, crushed herb, bell pepper, concentrated fruit, all wrapped up in sweet cedar and sweet mouth coating tannin. The finish is long and spicy, with tons of malt chocolate, leafy tobacco, licorice, and vanilla.
2008 Weinstock Cabernet Sauvignon, Cellar Select, Napa County – Score: A-
From the score you can see that I liked this wine a bit more than the 2005 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon, simply because it lacked the new world sweet notes. It is a ripe Cabernet with crazy tobacco notes that make you think you are literally in a Cuban cigar factory (hyperbole never been to one). Still, the control is there and the ripe fruit with chocolate and really good charcoal and pencil shavings. This wine is well worth finding and enjoying. Open the bottle, taste the wine and than leave it to air for an hour and taste again – interesting change in the wine.
The nose explodes with blackberry, cherry, cassis, rich smoking tobacco, like in a cigar factory, and sweet cedar that almost dominates the nose. Over time the wine calms down and the tobacco recedes, with graphite and mineral slate taking control. The mouth is rich, layered, and unctuous, with clear black fruit attack, layered with cedar and concentrated black plum, all wrapped together in a sweet tannin shell – quite nice. The finish is long and spicy with black pepper, herb, and tons of minted malt chocolate. Read the rest of this entry
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