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Kishor Vineyards Winery – the latest 2015 and 2016 wines
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. Read the rest of this entry
2013 Kishor Viognier, Savant
Well last week I posted about the kosher white and rose wines for 2015. Sadly, I had yet to retaste the 2013 Kishor Viognier, let me tell you get some! The wine is lovely, and it is currently available in the USA because of the nice folks at Israel Wine Direct.
Kishor Winery is one of those up and coming wineries that are based in a moshav (settlement) that was built for handicapped individuals, much alike the Tulip Winery. The name of the community is called Kishorit (hence the Kishor Winery moniker). Kishorit was founded in 1997.
Kishorit is situated in the Western Galilee, where Kishorit planted their vines in 2007. Their first vintage was in 2010 and the wienry produces some 35,000 bottles a year. When I was at the Sommelier this year, I had a chance to taste two fabulous reds and some nice whites, including a lovely old Riesling. But the 14 did not get my attention nearly as much as the 2013 vintage. So, I went looking for their wines and when I heard it was available here, I was set.
The winemaker; Richard David, is the hearty man, with a broad smile and a fantastic South African accent. He came to the settlement, worked the vines and eventually became the winemaker. The last two times I had the chance to meet with Richard it was always fun and a wonderful learning experience for me. When Richard is in need, he has the ever present and competent Itay Lahat, on speed dial.
Well, I hope you enjoy this wine as I did, and I hope more of Richard’s wines are brought here to the US, Bravo!
The wine note follows below, and I have updated the kosher wine post with the new wine!
2013 Kishor Viognier, Savant – Score: A-
The nose on this lovely light gold colored Viognier, smells more like a Gewurtz because of the soap than a Viognier, but with time the honeyed notes of peach, honeysuckle, and honey come out, along with sweet apricot and lovely floral notes. The mouth on this wine is actually quite lovely, and improves greatly with time, showing candied nectarine, lemon, grapefruit, and lovely tart acid, wrapped in a textured and velvety mouthfeel, that brings both sweet and tart notes along with good complexity, lovely acid, melon notes, and crazy pith. The finish is long and tart/acidic, with honey covered fig, quinine, and sweet spices. Bravo!