Wines of Israel

Posted by Ray O'Connor | Filed under IWC, Out and about

Today has been a complete eye-opener. There are times when you think you have a wine region summed up or a  a good over-view of a style of wine. The Wines of Israel tasting at the Landmark Hotel in London today managed to convince a room full of people that there is so much more to Israeli wines than just stories of Kosher production.

Tim Atkin MW, co-chairman of the International Wine Challenge, led a straight forward yet very informative master class that gave me the basis on which to asses the wines in the room when talking to the producers who had flown over. Interestingly, it is only a 4 hour drive from the cool wine region of Galilee in the north to the desert region of Negev in the very south. When comparing it to a country such as Chile, Israel’s diversity in climate per distance covered is quite extreme in comparison. The soil varies also from Volcanic and Terra Rossa soils in Galilee to the almost arid land in Negev down south. This map is compliments of Carmel Winery.

Compliments of Carmel Winery

In 1882, the owner of Chateau Lafite in Bordeaux, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, originally brought grape varities he found to suitably match the Mediterranean climate. These included Alicante Bouchet, Carignan, Grenache, Clairette, Muscat and Semillon. Today, the noble grape varieties reign with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot accounting for 45% of production. Once the country’s main grape variety, Carignan has seen a decline from 41% to 16% from 1990 to present day.

And how do they taste? Personally, I struggled to find any dud wines. The majority on show were fantastically fresh, which was the biggest misconception I had when considering the hot climate there. It is of course down to altitude – up to 1200 metres in the Golan Height- and good diurnal variation that maintains this fresh style to the wines. Only one producer I spoke to added any tartaric acid, 2 g/l, which was barley noticeable.

The Bordeaux blends throughout the room tasted like they have been made like this for centuries. In my opinion this comes down to skilled winemakers taking careful attention to harvest dates, some as early as late July, to achieve ripeness without excess alcohol. Margalit Winery in the Galilee mountains produces exceptional examples of these blends with their top wine Enigma showing the best. 2007 appeared a lot fresher than the warmer vintage of 2006.

Chardonnay seems to be a darling in Israel as well. Both the barrel fermented and stainless steel styles were handled very well and would be a match, if not trump, many Chardonnays in the world. Domaine du Castel’s version from the Judean Hills was the best Chardonnay I have tasted in a very long time, reminiscent of the premium, but not over oaky styles from Napa – and at £30, the price tag to match.

Of all the Syrahs I tasted, Dalston Winery in Upper Galilee was both the best value and best quality. The Shiraz Reserve with 5% Viognier would give any Cote Rotie a real run for its money. It was beautifully structured with deep meaty and pepper notes and a great long length full of rich intensity. £19. It would be wrong not to mention the Viognier from them as well. Again, one of the best Viogniers I’ve tasted this year. Barrel fermented, it is fantastically aromatic, with apricot and nutty aromas and an elegant, silky mouth feel. £15.

So a complete surprise, but a very pleasant one at that. Most of these wines are only currently available in Jewish neighbourhoods in the UK. As these would be a hand sell to begin with, the restaurants are faced with the issue of  the price factor as they to make their regular mark up.

It may take time for it to catch on, but this is a fantastic wine producing country making exceptional wine.

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Read more | Comments (0) | May 7th, 2010

Tim Atkin MW Bordeaux interview

Posted by Ray O'Connor | Filed under IWC, Media

I managed to drag Tim away from the endless list of wine flights he was tasting at the International Wine Challenge 2010 to talk about the much hyped 2009 vintage in Bordeaux. Although he enthused about certain appellations, there were words of caution for the merlot dominated wines, mostly from the Right Bank. The video is posted here on the IWC Podium for the time being but you can track it down on the Wine Challenge You Tube channel in future.

Comments welcome…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvpqaBnLxAQ

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Read more | Comments (0) | April 22nd, 2010