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by Manos Angelakis
Wines from Israel.
As early as six thousand years ago, grapes were cultivated by the inhabitants of the Near East, and wine was made and traded around the area. In the Old Testament, (Isaiah 5:1-2) there is a description of how a vineyard is cared for, and of the structures necessary to making wine. In Ezekiel (17:6-8), there is the trellising of the vines to produce superior grapes, therefore superior wine. And, there are many more instances in the Bible where grapes and wine play a prominent role. Even in the New Testament, the first official miracle was the conversion of water to high-quality wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11).
It is not surprising then that wine is produced today in Israel; most of it is kosher i.e. following exact production and handling requirements as prescribed by Jewish religious dietary laws. All the large Israel wineries and many of the medium-sized ones produce kosher wine from classic European vinifera varietals.
Kosher wines had, for many years, a deservedly poor reputation. Here in the US, most of the kosher wine has been used for sacramental purposes and is traditionally red, cloyingly sweet, and tasting like cough syrup. Then, there are the “mevushal” wines for restaurants or catered events, i.e. wines that can be served to observant Jews by non-observing Jews or non-Jewish servers without loosing their kosher status. These wines have been traditionally boiled; a non-auspicious process even for a decent wine. Today, even with flash pasteurization, these wines lose a lot of their taste as well as the ability to develop in bottle over time. There are kosher wines now produced in Israel that are of world-class quality, worthy of the attention of all wine drinkers, regardless of religious affiliation, and in the past few months I have tasted a number of them.
The reason for my interest in kosher wine is that I have been married into a Jewish family and even though many members are not particularly observant, others are. Therefore, kosher wine is used in most important family affairs when the entire family attends. That became a quest last summer, when one of my nephews that lives in Germany was getting married in Europe. I was asked to advise about good kosher wines available there – the man knows about good wines, but since he was being married to a lovely Jewish girl from the Ukraine by a rabbi, the food and drink for the wedding had to be kosher and good. It prompted my search for drinkable, better than average kosher wines. I discovered one nice red from the Côtes du Rhône (see Uncorked May ’07), which unfortunately was not available where the wedding took place, and then the full lines of two Israeli wineries. The Golan Heights Winery and the Galil Mountain Winery. But, I knew very little about either product lines therefore I had to research and taste as many samples as I could.
Both are modern, large producers that make very good wines that happen to be kosher. I had already known about the Yarden Blanc de Blancs bubbly made by the Golan Heights Winery (see Best 50 Wines ’06). And, by the way, numerous cases of that were consumed at the wedding to the groom’s and family’s complete delight. The red that I found for the dinner was the 1999 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon, a full bodied, well-balanced, deep purple wine, with a nose and palate of forest berries and cherries, hints of vanilla and cedar, and espresso and anise on the long finish. The tannins had started to soften making it very enjoyable. Practically, the entire purchase of five cases was consumed as well.
At a recent Golan Heights tasting and vintner’s lunch I had the chance of tasting more of the line and meeting Victor Shoenfield, the senior winemaker. Initially, we were presented with a four-year vertical of the Blanc de Blancs (’98. ’99, ’00, ’01); three already bottled Yarden Viognier (’03, ’04, ’05) and a 2006 barrel sample; four Yarden Syrah (’00, ’01, ’02, ’03); and finally an already bottled Yarden El Rom Cabernet Sauvignon 2001, two pre-release bottles of El Rom (’03, ’04) and a 2006 barrel sample. During lunch we had a 2003 Yarden Katzrin Chardonnay, a 2003 Yarden Katzrin, and a 2004 Yarden Heightswine; the last a lovely dessert wine, medium to full bodied, made from frozen Gewürztraminer clusters, with white flowers and honeyed peaches on the nose, good acidity and an elegant, lingering finish, which I had also tasted before when looking for logically priced dessert wines.
The Blanc de Blancs is made in the traditional methode champegnoise manner from 100% Chardonnay grapes and is very age-worthy. There were remarkable similarities in the 4 years we tasted; all were well-balanced, long mousse with small bead, slightly yeasty with white flowers, citrus, pear, and tropical fruit on the nose. Long, almost-creamy finish with well-balanced lemony minerality. The 2001 and 2000 were slightly yeastier than the 1998 and 1999, but that I believe is because the wine is so young. The 2001 sample was disgorged during the presentation, and this is the first time I have tasted a sparkling wine disgorged within minutes of a tasting.
The 2003 Viognier is the winery’s first Viognier vinification, released only in limited quantities. It was a bit shy on the nose, yeasty, with oaky vanilla, orange blossoms, apricots and nectarine on the palate, all complemented by lively acidity. The 2005 was much more bright and fruitier with ripe litchi, and floral notes on the nose, nectarine, and peach on the palate, with vanilla from the oak in the finish. The 2006 barrel-sample was very intriguing; straw-colored with a resiny palate and highly cedary and herbal nose, it tasted and smelled to me like top-of-the-barrel Greek Retsina. I hope by the time it is bottled it will be much more appropriate to an American palate, but as I mentioned to Mr. Shoenfield, they can do very well selling it in Athens.
The El Rom, single-vineyard Cabernet samples were mostly pre-release, plus one barrel sample. The first, 2001 El Rom, released sometime in 2003, is a relatively powerful wine with a range of black forest berries and black stone-fruit tastes, spices, and enduring wet-earth hints. The pre-release ’03, I considered light, with not enough complexity. The pre-release ’04 on the other hand was much better, with interesting herbal and chocolate hints, cassis, and blueberries and vanilla on the nose and rather pronounced tannins. The ’06 barrel sample was just too young; I would not offer an opinion at this stage.
Katzrin is the top-of-the-line series that includes a Bordeaux-style blend released only in exceptional years. The Chardonnay has been released annually since 1995. The 2003 red blend was made of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc. Still very young, it has started to display a rich nose of black cherry, black currant, and black plum with slightly spice and herb overtones. The smoky-oak and chocolate finish is long and velvety. A very elegant wine that should come to its own in less than five more years in the cellar, but will give considerable pleasure for a long time to come.
The other Israeli winery I thought produced kosher wines good enough to be drunk by anyone, was The Galil Mountain Winery located at Kibbutz Yiron in the Upper Galilee.
They produce two lines: Yiron, the flagship cellar-worthy line is a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah in the 2003 vintage, and Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot before that date. Depending on the vintage, the blend elements vary in proportion. Based on the 2002 and 2003 vintages tasted, these wines will benefit from a few cellar years to round out. These are meat-eater wines, medium to full bodied, very dark inky purple in color with firm but nicely integrated tannins. Cedary oak aromas with overlays of spicy currant, plum, and black forest berries. Lightly herbal, tar and tobacco, rather long finish, ending with earthy overtones. Very interesting.
In the other hand, the varietals of the second, mostly monovarietal line, Cabernet, Merlot, Pinot Noire, Syrah, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc are well-developed wines that are ready to drink upon purchase. I liked the Sauvignon Blanc, which I thought was light, lemony and aromatic; the 2005 Pinot Noir was nicely muscular with minerality and black cherry and violets dominating the nose. Rather than taking the 100% Merlot, I would opt for the Syrah/Cabernet blend, which was much more interesting, complex, elegant and worth cellaring.
All these wines are very well made and many, as I said, are cellar worthy. Don’t let the kosher designation fool you. If the price is right for you, check out a few bottles of either producer, your taste buds will thank you.
For more on kosher wines please see More Israeli Wines
To your health!
© June 2007 The Oenophile Blog. All rights reserved.
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