), that Rosé was looked down upon. I took a wine tasting course through the Cambridge (Boston) Adult Education Center (does it still exist?????). They said that Rosé was "neither fish, nor fowl." It wasn't red wine nor white wine. So that may explain why I shied away from this class of wine for so long. But after reading in the WineLovers Discussion Group about Castel's new Rosé where everyone extolled its virtues and it was given "Best of the Show" rating at the Royal Kosher Wine and Food Festival in Brooklyn, I had to taste it. WOW, it knocked my socks off 
I went Ga-Ga and joined the masses giving it high ratings in my israelwinetaster.com blog (http://wp.me/p1Dfhj-k7)And then, last night, we opened and tasted the Rosé from Galil Mountain Winery. It came VERY close, in my opinion, to Castel's Rosé, although without the BIG nose and multi-flowered and multi-fruited flavors. The Castel is expensive (89 shekels) and this Rosé (almost) clone from GMW is downright cheap (40 shekels). When it comes to QPR, the GMW wins. I'll drink it as a weekday Rosé and reserve the Castel as a Shabat Rosé. See the article at http://wp.me/p1Dfhj-mr
Incidentally, I was not impressed by the Recanati Rosé. -- http://wp.me/p1Dfhj-ln
I only tasted the Flam Rosé on our way home towards Tel Aviv after leaving a tasting of the four Castel wines at the winery. Perhaps, my taste buds were a little "over the hill."
We have since acquired a Rosé from Lueria Winery and it will be tasted next.
Whatcha all think about these Israeli Rosé Wines of 2011
What's your favorite
What is the best one, including QPR
Dan Kovnat
Don't get me wrong -- I, too, love the Castel Rosé. It is a fantastic wine. That is what I said above and that is what I said in my blog. My only point is that when it comes to QPR and the reality of the absence of limitless funding, we start to compromise. If you are talking about QAAP (Quality At Any Price), I think that the Castel Rosé is at the TOP of the list. And that's why I reserved the Castel for Shabat and relegated the GMW (or some other Rosé that anyone else thinks is a better QPR) for the "sandy" weekday days. 