Chodesh tov and shavua tov Harry!
This seems to become a new kind of tradition: Tasted friday morning the following wines with Josh Hexter:
Gush Etzion, Lone Oak, Riesling 2009: This bone-dry Riesling seems to be on its way out, the wine was still very good, with aromas of freshly squeezed lime and wet grass the kind that could mislead the taster that this could be Sauvignon Blanc rather than a riesling, but not as good as when tasted with Elk at the winery 3 months ago and goes somewhat flat after a little while in the glass.
Gush Etzion, Lone Oak, Cabernet Franc 2009: Aged for 21 months in french oak barrels, this dark purple wine doesn't fully disclose its varietal origins on the nose with aromas of ripe raspberries, cigar box and dark plums. No green notes here on the nose for us. Medium to full-bodied, the palate gives more space for the Cabernet Franc to express itself with well-extracted ripe raspberries, fresh tobacco leaves, nice acid, notes of coffee and bittersweet licorice lingering with hints of cloves on the long, slightly tannic finish. Truly magnificent Cabernet Franc.
Friday night:
Carmel, Kayoumi Riesling 2011: Fantastic wine, doesn't have the light sweetness of its 2010 predecessor and one needs to be both very sugar-sensitive and pay extra attention to detect any sweetness here. No real change from my previous TN when tasted the wine for the first time at the winery 3 months ago.
Recanati, Reserve, Petite Sirah/Zinfandel 2009: PS my love... If this wine was a woman I would definitely consider marrying her...
Shabbat lunch:
Finished the bottle of Gush Etzion Riesling, then:
Goldberg Vineyards, Maya 2010:This is a brand new kosher "winery" established on the slopes of Mount Meron in the Upper Galilee, having produced 5000 bottles with its first vintage in 2010 and used the facilities of Or Haganuz winery. They intend to produce "premium wine" and the team behind the project is backed up by some of the most famous players of the israeli wine industry. The wines having not yet been released to the market thus I'm not allowed yet to reveal its name. I was first given privately a taste of it at the Kosher Wine show in Jerusalem last week, in the company of Stacey B and her husband but while I could feel the quality, the wine was rather tight and closed which is why I received another bottle to sample and taste quietly later. What's surprising here is that despite the wine was made at Or Haganuz it doesn't carry the Badatz Hechsher as opposed to OH and Netofa but "only" the Rav Amshalei that is also the one supervising Lueria Winery. Now to the wine:
This is a Bordeaux-Blend composed of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Cabernet Franc, 12% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, aged for 14 months in french oak barrels. Dark royal purple, the nose is very young and green with notes of wet grass and green pepper. After LOTS of swirling and decanting, it starts showing dark plums and cassis as well as light hints of toasted oak. Medium to full-bodied with ripe plums, cassis liqueur and notes of graphite, followed by mocha, tobacco and some loamy dirt with smoky wood, moderate acid with soft tannins rising on the averagely long finish. Good balance here with no overripe fruit to be found however while the wine is not yet at its peak and should reach it in about a year from now, its somewhat weak structure will allow to hold it for only 2-3 years at best, IMHO.
Best,
GG