Yarden T2 (T squared) from israelwinetaster.com

[Daniel Kovnat]

Yarden group of wines produced by the Golan Heights Winery, in my opinion the premier winery of Israel, has again expanded its armamentarium of fine wines by bringing to us a variant of its 2T wine. In their brochure that is enclosed in the handsome box that contains the wine, they assiduously avoid calling this Port or even Port style wine and only mention that “Yarden T2 is made from two Portuguese varieties — Touriga Nacional and Tinta Cao — that are famous in Portugal for their part in producing outstanding wines of the Douro Valley.” They do state that the Yarden T2 is “fortified with brandy during the fermentation process, preserving some of the natural sweetness of the grapes. The wine aged for 26 months in French oak barrels.” Hey, what a coincidence that this is how Port is produced! To paraphrase Shakespeare, A Port By Any Other Name Would Taste As Sweet. The fortification results in a higher alcohol content that most wines, 18% in this case. The sweetness will entice many to drink it as a desert wine, although I love it as an aperitif. And it does have the taste of a fine Port wine. It is rich and thick and creamy with a complexity of flavors reminiscent of stewed prunes, cherries, mixed nuts, and vanilla.

We give it an Israelwinetaster Grade of A- with the minus only because of the price of 150 shekels at the winery. This is the equivalent of approximately $40 and is quite expensive. For this price I have found that in the United States, you can purchase a 20 year old Fonseca Tawney Port. The Yarden is, of course, kosher, providing availability to those who drink only kosher wines. Other than that, I would, some day, like to do a comparison tasting of these two wines.

[Adam M]

What are peoples' opinions regarding the aging potential and peak drinking window of this "wine." Has anyone discussed this with the winery?

[Gabriel Geller]

What are peoples' opinions regarding the aging potential and peak drinking window of this "wine." Has anyone discussed this with the winery?

Considering its relatively high alcohol and residual sugar content, together with Yarden's famed winemaking skills, this wine should age pretty well for 10-15 years, perhaps even longer I'd say if well stored.

[Stephen Weil]

It is pretty sweet but you dont have a port type stopper and you need to treet it like a port but finish the bottle within say 1 or 2 days at most. So its a strange animal expensive and thenvery sweet so how much can you drink.
I would not buy it again simply because I dont know what to do with it.

comments?

[Isaac C]

Why does it have to be finished any sooner than a typical port?

[Stephen Weil]

No replaceble cork and when I visited the winnery they said it would go off. There is no stewed fruit or brown like port style wines, which lasts, its not like a desert wine fantastic colour, so at best 2 days after opening.

[Isaac C]

That's interesting - I've had no problem keeping the ports and other fortified dessert wines for a few weeks - I've had good experiences with Porto Cordovero, Carmel Vintage, and Shiloh's Fort. I wonder why this wine would be different though I'm sure they know what they're talking about at Yarden. If it does need to be finished within a day or two I would also have a hard time finding a good time to open such a wine and finish it so quickly.

[Lior Yogev]

A few comments;

The "declared" price formally given by the winery is 185~ (20% more than 150) which is over 50$

I tasted it blind against a real port that costs the same in Israel (after being imported etc) - Quinta do Estanho, Porto, LBV 2003
There was nothing to compare and the Port was an order of magnitude better on all accounts (except for the kosher parameter). If someone's interested in a Hebrew post I can link it.

Regarding aging - I believe (no empirical evidence yet as this is the first vintage) that it will evolve, at least somewhat over the next few years and may even add some complexity.

Lior

[Adam M]

Hi Stephen - Very interesting comment; quite an odd quandry of sorts indeed. I'd be interested in posing this query to the winery directly. I'll see if I can make time to do this in the next day or so and will report back.

[Andrew Breskin]

Is the wine vintage dated? Tawny ports typically don't age in the bottle beyond what they've done in the cask.

[Lior Yogev]

Is the wine vintage dated? Tawny ports typically don't age in the bottle beyond what they've done in the cask.

It is vintage dated (2008) and the winemaker declared the style he was aiming for was a vintage port.

[Daniel Kovnat]

In response to Lior's answer to Andrew's question, I add that tawny port is aged in wood much more than the two years the GHW ages their Yarden T2. The six to eight years spent in the wood casks imparts the tawny (brownish) color to the wine. This T2 is deep purple.

As to how long to age T2 in your wine cellar before opening, I agree with Stephen that it is anyone's guess. The process of fortification with alcohol should act as a preservative. Hey, that's how this style of wine came about some 350 years ago when the British wine merchants added brandy to the wines of Portugal so that they would arrive in London in good condition during the trip on the high seas. Jancise Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine states, "Wines from a single year, or vintage, are blended and bottled after spending between two and three years in wood. Thereafter, most of the wine is sold and the consumer takes over the nurturing for up to 30 or more years." So it is not unreasonable to buy a few T Tew and open them at tew to five year intervals to see what the aging in the bottle brings.

This preservative should also allow one to not have to drink T2 the same day you open it. I can say that I opened my bottle seven days ago, replaced the cork, clean side in, and tasted it today to find that it is as good as the day I opened it. There is still a lot remaining in the bottle, so I'll continue this experiment and report back at weekly intervals. Do you think that I should keep it under refrigeration after I open it?

I was not correct in stating the price of this wine. They just told me on the phone that the regular price is 190 shekels and that this week before Passover there is a "special" price of 175 shekels. Yes, it is expensive.

[Isaac C]

I believe that the best way to store these types of wines (and any wine) once open is in the fridge.