TN: Gvaot Masada 2010 (advance tasting)

[Gabriel Geller]

Hi there,

I was given today an unlabeled bottle of Gvaot Masada 2010, the winery's flagship wine which will be released only over the next summer and was bottled about 3 months ago. While the wine is very very young and will probably reach the beginning of its drinking window only in about 18-24 months, it was already interesting at first sip poured out of the bottle and quite more approachable after some of it went through my brutal method of express triple decanting; that is to say pouring the wine with an aerator pourer thru a vinturi into a carafe then tasted with a burgundy wine glass. Luckily that did the trick as I didn't struggle to figure it out as opposed to when I first tasted the 2009 vintage a few weeks ago.


Gvaot, Masada 2010 (advance tasting): As always, a Bordeaux-blend mostly based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot as well as some Petit Verdot (the exact percentages are currently unknown to me but I will update as soon as I'll get these) aged for 22 months in french oak barrels. Dark, almost impenetrable garnet with light purple hue at the rim, the nose starts off a little bit hot but then quickly enough makes way for ripe blackberries, a hint of violet, vanilla and backer's chocolate. Full-bodied and dense with well-extracted black and red fruit as well as balanced oak; on first attack ripe bramble, black currants and plums, followed on the mid-palate by raspberries and some earthiness with more dark fruit shining thru with a hint of black pepper, bittersweet chocolate and vanilla with searing yet gently mouth-coating tannins on a seemingly endless finish. Beautiful, complex and satisfying, this is quite a promising wine which I look forward to enjoy again in a few years.

Once again a clear winner by winemaker Dr. Shivi Drori.


Best,

GG

[Elie Poltorak]

Hi there,

I was given today an unlabeled bottle of Gvaot Masada 2010, the winery's flagship wine which will be released only over the next summer and was bottled 3 months ago. While the wine is very very young and will probably reach the beginning of its drinking window only in about 18-24 months, it was already interesting at first sip poured out of the bottle and quite more approachable after some of it went through my brutal method of express triple decanting; that is to say pouring the wine with an aerator pourer thru a vinturi into a carafe then tasted with a burgundy wine glass. Luckily that did the trick as I didn't struggle to figure it out as opposed to when I first tasted the 2009 vintage a few weeks ago.


Gvaot, Masada 2010 (advance tasting): As always, a Bordeaux-blend mostly based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot as well as some Petit Verdot (the exact percentages are currently unknown to me but I will update as soon as I'll get these) aged for 22 moths in french oak barrels. Dark, almost impenetrable garnet with light purple hue at the rim, the nose starts off a little bit hot but then quickly enough makes way for ripe blackberries, a hint of violet, vanilla and backer's chocolate. Full-bodied and dense with well-extracted black and red fruit as well as balanced oak; on first attack ripe bramble, black currants and plums, followed on the mid-palate by raspberries and some earthiness with more dark fruit shining thru with a hint of black pepper, bittersweet chocolate and vanilla with searing yet gently mouth-coating tannins on a seemingly endless finish. Beautiful, complex and satisfying, this is quite a promising wine which I look forward to enjoy again in a few years.

Once again a clear winner by winemaker Dr. Shivi Drori.


Best,

GG

You can always use a hand-blender. Now that's brutal but apparently it does the trick.

[David Raccah]

Besides being brutal - it is so uncouth! A far simpler and equally aggressive approach is to remove some of the wine from the bottle and then shake it vigorously and you will get what you want. Of course, at this point Daniel Rogov is rolling in his grave. His most aggressive approach was to take two glasses and pour wine back and forth quickly between them to isolate the mad damage this does to a bottle of wine - and only aerate the single glass.

David

[Gabriel Geller]

Besides being brutal - it is so uncouth! A far simpler and equally aggressive approach is to remove some of the wine from the bottle and then shake it vigorously and you will get what you want. Of course, at this point Daniel Rogov is rolling in his grave. His most aggressive approach was to take two glasses and pour wine back and forth quickly between them to isolate the mad damage this does to a bottle of wine - and only aerate the single glass

Actually, and with all due respect to Rogov zl, Elie seems to be closer to what's often done in the industry on a global scale. A very good friend of mine in Switzerland works for one of the most exclusive wine trading company dealing and exporting only collector premium wines from all over the world the likes (to give you an idea) of Petrus, Mouton, Lafite, Romanée, Angelus, Haut Brion, La Tache, Gevrey Chambertin, Ornellaia, Yquem, Bodegas Vega Sicilia, Cirsion, Screaming Eagle etc. you know, the cheap stuff ... so he gets to visit the Chateaux, Domaines and Estates quite often to barrel and advance taste. I was shocked when he told me that they were routinely using blenders together with the winemakers/cellar masters to quickly decant the wine as there's no way they could wait hours if not even days by simply using a carafe. While I'm far from being in such a position, I would never use a blender to decant a wine as it just sounds way too gross and disrespectful. Now while playing with glasses is quite fine and can be even somewhat classy in a way, it's by far not as efficient as my method.

GG