In the Desert / WeeksEnd wine

bsd
To different degrees we all set up parameters in different categories to define our real life profile.
Some of which are effected by change and or circumstances,some less so. Many of those are to maintain our equilibrium or even state of sanity.
But the stuff thats deep down inside is the strongest and won't be altered by the outside.Its been said the Date tree is as tall as its roots in the ground.
Have a good one; h

First Harei Galil Cab Sauv 2010. Didn't enjoy it nearly so much as it's Merlot counterpoint from the same vintage we enjoyed a few week's ago. Why not? Primarily because the Cab had a very noticeable bitterness on the palate that was hard to get past. Along with just a bit more acid than the wine could justifiably balance. I enjoyed the dusty rose petals and raspberries/cherries on the nose, but felt the wine would have benefitted from a more prevalent French oak character on the nose as well, and hopefully (because of more oak) more spicy character and vanilla aromas to balance out and round off the fruit.

Next up was the Tepperberg 2011 Silver Merlot and it delivered just what the Harei Galil didn't, much to the pleasure of all assembled. Obvious vanilla, cloves and a hint of cinnamon the nose, some pepper character both black and green, much softer rounder palate with almost zero bitterness at all.

A bit surprising that the 2011 Tepperberg was so much more evolved and ready to drink than the 2010 Galil Mtn...

Hello Lewis!

Personally, I find all the non oaked Galil wines (Merlot and Cab) to be VERY boring and not fun at all. They have taken a serious step backwards in the past 6 years in regards to those wines. I believe they shifted using the better grapes for the higher priced wines, and are obviously willing to live with the consequences.

David

Hi Harry shavua tov !

Lewis, I echo Dave's comments and yes, Teperberg Silver series is a pretty good and consistent value for mevushal entry level wines.

Spent this past shabbat in the Upper West Side and enjoyed very much the following:

Friday night:

Covenant, Cuvée Chabad, Zinfandel, Lodi 2011: Dark garnet with a nice nose of sweet dried strawberries, blackberries and vanilla, medium to full-bodied with on the palate ripe dark and red fruit with vanilla and allspice with soft tannins on the finish. There's some hole somewhere between mid-palate and finish and the wine would have benefited as well from more extracted fruit. I felt this wine was lighter and this different than the Landsman Zin.

Château Malartic-Lagravière, Pessac-Léognan 2004: This was another impressive effort yet a tiny bit inferior to the 2003 I enjoyed two weeks ago. After a couple hours in the decanter this dark purple wine showed a beautiful nose of black currants, plums, red berries, spices and cedar. The wine is very dry yet full on the palate and the fruit comes up brighter as the wine develops in the glass with an excellent balance between the acidity and the mellow and velvety tannins, a backbone that should give the wine easily another 5-10 years if not more. Magnifique!

Shabbat lunch:

Château Gruaud-Larose, Sarget de Gruaud-Larose, Saint-Julien 2003: Purple with a nose featuring notes of barnyard funk, , wet forest floor, smoked wood, licorice and black and red fruit. Medium to full-bodied with cassis, roasted herbs, smoky wood, cherries, mocha, pencil lead, blackberries and more sour cherries and herbs showing with bracing acid and silky tannins on the long finish. Beautiful wine though clearly at its peak so enjoy now and be happy.

Have a great week!

GG

Hi Harry
This Shabbos we enjoyed a 2004 capcanes peraj Habib.. Full bodied , balanced and not overwhelming black fruit flavor. A great accompaniment to the meal.. As a 9 year old wine it seems like the harshness i often find in Younger capcanes is gone . this wine as an easy drink

Hi, Harry, shavu'a tov,

2009 Ella Valley Cabernet Franc.

A good week to all, and Chag Same'ach.

Isaac

Shabbat dinner with the family. 1848 winery, 2012 special series cabernet sauvignon. The label said it had been in some French Oak. Perhaps for a couple of minutes. Was generally not liked. Also some 2012 Harei Galil rose (sangiovese/barbera/pinot nor/grenache); not bad but has more acid than fruit.

Hi; second time with gilgal syrah and didn't dissapoint. Blackberry with a smokey background. By day casa coursa 07 portugal. Stewed plums;chilled it and it drank nicely. H

Hi,
Picked up some 6 bottles of tor. This being 2010 cab sav from judea, these were made or only barreled at shiloh but lord knows.

Friday night we had a winner, shabbat day i think it was corked. Also had a bottle of Avot, these are also CS grapes from hebron that were made at livni.

Louis, i want some of your carigan. can we meet at HHW ? if you say no, i'll just kidnap you

Hi Harry,

2007 Ramon Cardova Rioja Crianza

Shavua Tov

Fri night - Landsman Syrah 2011. Very good with spare ribs
Sat Lunch - Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace - does a solid imitation of a Belgian saison.

Hi Harry,

Hagafen Dry Riesling 2012 - My guest was wowed by the expressive array of fruit, with green apples and white grapefruit taking turns in the leading role. I liked it, too, but I would have liked more complexity and refinement. I still think that Hagafen's Devoto Vineyards offering is the best and most complex of all their releases, but perhaps with time in the bottle this dry bottling might compete for that title. Although designated as dry, the exuberance of the fruit imparts sweet sensations. 13% AbV. B/***/Y

Tzora Shoresh 2006 - Having had the 2009 several weeks ago, and finding it too ripe and sweet, I was surprised to discover that I liked this one better. This vintage is made of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, and it shows. The cassis and blackberry are nicely balanced by green notes. With firm tannins present, the wine is well contained. B-/**/Y

Best Regards,
-> Pinchas

Grading for quality: A - marvelous, B - good/intriguing, C - mediocre/uninspiring, D - subjectively flawed, F - objectively flawed
Grading for value: *** - it's a steal, ** - it's a reasonable deal, * - you've been robbed
Indication of further interest: Y - would purchase again, N - no desire to purchase more

Friday night - Rose du Castel 2012
Shabbat lunch - Midbar Viognier 2010 (excellent)
Chag Sameach.
Zvi

Shavua tov,
Shabbos night, 2009 Gush Etzion Lone Oak Syrah. A decent wine that gets better as the evening goes on.
Shabbos day Bourbon Woodford Double oak. way better than the regular woodford.
Motze Shabbos, 2007 Yarden Blanc de Blanc. I never had the 2005 so I can't compare but this was great.

Hey Zvi the Castel rose is out, how was it in comparison to 2011?

Harkham Shiraz Select Estate 2010 - really nice wine, very unique nose, tons of charcoal and dark fruit, on the mouth at first I got jalapenos in a nice way and a fruity finish, as it progressed over the night the jalapeno changed over to black pepper. Galil Alon 2010 - really liking this wine, especially the QPR.

Hey Zvi the Castel rose is out, how was it in comparison to 2011?

Hi David.
We felt that something was missing from the 2012 in comparison to the 2011 but not sure what. It's a good wine but is it worth NIS 100 when there are some other decent roses on the market for much less? Have not yet tasted the Bravdo or Odem and there should be a Gvaot in the near future.
Chag Sameach.
Zvi

Way late - had the 2008 Psagot Shiraz:

http://kosherwinemusings.com/2013/05/14 ... -vineyard/

Shavout Sameach!!!

Hmm - David and Gabriel,

Are you both certain those wines (Galil Mtn varietal Cab Sauv and varietal Merlot) are both completely un-oaked? I realize they are likely made 100% in SS, but I would have thought they were chipped or inner-staved in tanks to give them some oak complexity.

Anyway you guys didn't see much difference in quality between the Merlot and Cab? To me they were in different classes, really!

Truly have not liked them since 2005 or maybe 2006 - sad.

David, Gabriel -

I feel like we are "dancing" around the essential issue of whether Galil Mtn went downhill because they launched several upper tier level wines that absconded with better grapes that formerly were part of their regular Cab and Merlot,or because Gabby Sadan left to go his own way, or because a new GM took over around that time and shook up the way things were done, AND Gabby Sadan left....

Do others here feel Galil Mtn's basic Cab and Merlot went downhill at some point? When? Did other labels in the Galil Mtn portfolio suffer from Gabby's departure? I haven't drank(or even tasted) too many of their wines since Micha Vadia took over the helm, so I don't have a clear general opinion on their wines (or even some subset of their wines) as a few of you seem to have.

Is the Yiron still where it was? I think the Yiron was consistently one of the best QPR wines in all Israel under Gabby Sadan's direction....

Lewis,

As far as I know both cab and merlot aren't oaked. As to the use of oak chips I don't know but that wasn't my impression when Iast these wines quite a while ago.

Now regarding the Yiron and Meron (the last one replaced the Yiron Syrah since the '06 vintage) they remain among the very best QPR in Israel. Both the '08 and '09 Yiron were classic Bordeaux blends without any Syrah but I wasn't as fond of them as I was with previous vintages, too much fruit forward. I'm also not a fan of the '06 but I love the '07.

Best,

GG

Yep do not care for the unoaked wines - but the Yiron and Meron continue to impress. The 09 Meron is a bit too much sweetness for me, but hey that is me.