Yatir Winery - a top Israeli and consistent winery

[David Raccah]

Yatir winery was another winery I visited and tasted through the non 2008 wines and really enjoyed them all. By far one of the mos consistent and reliable wineries in Israel - though a bit expensive. To me their quality supports their price.

http://kosherwinemusings.com/2013/01/30 ... in-israel/

David

[Yakov F]

I read your noted David and while you may be more excited about it than me I tasted the Petite Verdot 09 at the Jerusalem Festival the other night and enjoyed it. I tasted the 08 last year at the same festival and did not like it - too astringent. (Some liked it a lot.) I brought this up to the wine rep from the winery and he explained that the winery had a similar sense about the 08 which was 100% varietal so they added 15% merlot for the 09 to soften it and in my opinion it worked well.

[David Raccah]

Cool Yakov thanks! The gang of Finland guy-trip wine lovers - LOVED the 2008 and though the 2009 was more subdued - LOL!!! Either way, the entire line is solid and that is what makes this winery so unique.

[Yossie Horwitz]

Personally I liked the 2008 which was a more powerful yet controlled wine that was special. The 2009 is excellent but in "taming" the PV, some of the uniqueness of the wine got lost. I think the 2009 is a delicious, well made & elegant wine, just not as unique as the 08.

[Bill Coleman]

Personally I liked the 2008 which was a more powerful yet controlled wine that was special. The 2009 is excellent but in "taming" the PV, some of the uniqueness of the wine got lost. I think the 2009 is a delicious, well made & elegant wine, just not as unique as the 08.

I've tasted the 2007 and 2009 Forest and, while both are indeed well-made, neither one particularly jumped out at me. I strongly prefer any number of reds at one-third to one-half the price. Heck, Yatir's price point is 35-50% above Castel and Covenant! I don't see how to justify buying it.

[lewis.pasco]

Both the 2008 and 2009 Yatir Petit Verdots are excellent wine, and if I may relay Eran Goldwasser's comment directly about the two when Isaac and I tasted both at the winery last week he felt the main difference was allowing the PV to hang longer in the vineyard in 2009. He suggested softening the tannins and allowing the PV to more fully express it's special character as 2 reasons for the later harvest. The bit about 15% Merlot is interesting too, both Isaac and I felt the 2009 had "more going on" in it, but it certainly will be interesting to cellar both and see how they develop with 5 more years in the bottle. I don't recall Eran mentioning the Merlot in the 2009 - but that could be my recall failing - Isaac?

Regarding the price point of Ya'ar Yatir - it's typically subjective whether or not a very highly priced wine and very good wine is "worth the money." I can't speak about Covenant since I haven't tasted it yet (are you listening, Jeff Morgan?) and haven't had a Castel Grand Vin in a while either, but the Yaar Yatir shows every bit of ability to age beautifully along the lines of Yarden's best Cabernets and Katzrin Adoms, so one might think that comes with a price tag. It wouldn't surprise me if the Yatir top wines age as well, or even better, than any other red Kosher wines being produced today. Something to consider?