An End / WeeksEnd wine

[Harry J]

b"sd
An end to the darkness.Of war and disease.
An end to the suffering,persecution and pain.
May the flickering flames lift our souls within us.
Have a good one; h

[YoelA]

Thanks fir the thought, Harry.

2005 Renwood old vine zin.

[Gabriel Geller]

Shavua Tov Harry,

Friday night:

Ben Zimra, Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2010: While the color is a beautiful bright and youthful purple, the nose features an overoaked nose covering notes of cassis and blackberries. Full-bodied the oak is overwhelming with the fruit struggling to make itself felt. The following day it was as bad if not even worse. Either a total failure IMHO or a wine being in a serious dumb period. Sadly it was too dark to go get another bottle from the cellar.

Elvi, Matí, Rioja 2009: 100% Tempranillo. Red cherry garnet, with on the nose raspberries, pepper, smoked roasted meat. Medium to full-bodied with on the palate a similar profile as the nose together with spicy roasted meat on the long finish with nice tannins. A lovely Rioja, a nice though not so exciting change from my usual Israeli wines.

Wishing everyone a good and peaceful week, a happy last day of Chanuka and bessorot tovot (hope to hear only good news),

GG

[Isaac Chavel]

Hi, Harry, shau'a tov and Chanukah same'ach,

2010 Psagot Cabernet Franc. Oh, is that nice. Lovely drinking.
2009 Dalton Petite Sirah. Also lovely. At first, the nose was completely off, even though the taste showed through. I could not tell if it was the wine or something from the glass. Ultimately it smoothed out and all was well on all accounts.

Elvi, Matí, Rioja 2009: 100% Tempranillo. .... A lovely Rioja, a nice though not so exciting change from my usual Israeli wines.

We enjoy the Rioja immensely. No great need for excitement here, just looking for pleasure --- the straight-ahead kind.

A good week to all,

Isaac

[Shlomo R]

Had a 2007 Galil Mountain Yiron for shabbos - very good, with none of the cork taint I found in the bottle I had last week.

[Andrew Breskin]

2009 Ella Valley Cab Franc, as good as ever!

[Pinchas L]

Hi Harry,

Hagafen Brut Cuvee 2007 - Its nose offers a fusion of citrus and apple; its mouthfeel proffers toasty bread to the mix. This sparkling wine doesn't quite sparkle, but offers enough basic enjoyment in a mostly straightforward manner, though lacking depth and complexity, to make it serviceable. 12% AbV and $36 directly from the winery. C+/*

Shiloh Secret Reserve Petite Sirah 2007 - I had hoped this wine would improve with time, but to my disappointment not much of that has happened. My greatest enjoyment came from smelling the empty glass, inhaling the intoxicating aromas of dark chocolate left behind. Unfortunately, the wine doesn't offer nearly as much while actually sipping it. The wine lacks acidity, and its fruit is muted behind layers of tannin. Its high alcohol content, 14.8%, is not handled very well, adding to the wine's somewhat disjointed demeanor. At the time I thought this wine would turn out to be better than the Dalton, but I no longer think so. The Dalton is sheer enjoyment, albeit without any pretense, and this wine pales in comparison even though its creators were aiming high. About $33 at Tops several years ago. C+/*

Best Regards,
-> Pinchas

Grading for quality: A - marvellous, B - good/intriguing, C - mediocre/uninspiring, D - subjectively flawed, F - objectively flawed
Grading for value: *** - it's a steal, ** - it's a reasonable deal, * - you've been robbed

[gaston k]

Fri Night - Binyamina Ruby Syrah 2009 - enjoyed with spare ribs, finished bottle so I liked it, but a little thinness in the finish preventing it from entering Yarden SV territory. Purchased from duty free at Ben Gurion and worth the thirty bucks.
Sat Lunch - No wine, just a bottle of Duvel and Sam Adams winter lager respectively

Bonus Chanukah wines enjoyed were the Terrenal Malbec with its crazy flavors, and on the beer end a Belgian Tripel whose name escapes me.

[Yossie Horwitz]

Greatly enjoyed the Brobdingnagian 2010 Grenache, the Yarden Blanc de Blanc 2005, Dalton Petit Sirah 2010 and Ella Valley Syrah 2007

[Isaac C]

Yarden Merlot 2001 Magnum - really enjoyable, needed some strong swirling in the glass to open up properly and was extremely tasty after that.

[Gabriel Geller]

Yarden Merlot 2001 Magnum - really enjoyable, needed some strong swirling in the glass to open up properly and was extremely tasty after that.

Wondering, given the crazy low pricing on most the wines of Yarden's regular series in the states with a price for the regular 750 ml bottle of the Merlot going for $15-20, sometimes even less, how much cost the magnums there approximately?

[Andrew Breskin]

There was some backstock of 2001 and 2002 Merlot mags that were recently released in the $50 range

[Harry J]

Gabrielle-as far as I know cabs and merlots from yarden haven't been 20 or less in these parts for a couple of years now. Maybe an occasional 08. Friday night enjoyed thr dalton syrah reserve 07. For a contrast the next day had the tishbi shiraz 2011.this wine was not aged in barrels and thus its profile is all fruit.Not bad but once is enough. H

[Elie Poltorak]

For kiddush, I opened my very last bottle of my beloved 2011 Flam Rose, but I certainly wasn't left wishing I had more (after the dozens of bottles I've consumed ), as this wine has faded fast and is not a pale shadow of its former self. Now I see why others (Raccah comes to mind) were complaining about the 2010 (which I missed altogether) earlier this year. Can't wait for the 2012!

More bad luck with the 2009 Dalton Reserve Wild Yeast Viognier--another wine I fell in love with--which I've been drinking weekly to get through my remaining stock. This wine peaked quite a while ago but it's still usually very enjoyable, having turned sweet and honeyed. Unfortunately, it won't last forever, and the bottle I had this Shabbos was very oxidized. I'm going to drink up the few bottles I have left before it's too late (I hope the rest are still good!). Now we need to mount a lobbying effort to get Dalton to stop wasting this wine on the Alma.

I had better luck with my next 2 bottles:

2009 Recanati Kerem Ba'al Wild Carignan: A-/** Very interesting. Heady nose with loads of fresh-picked berries. On first attack, it feels like you chomped down on a mouthful of tart blueberries. Crazy blue with bracing but pleasant acidity. After that you get loads of berry flavors, including raspberry, blackberry, and others... Not too long on the finish. A very exciting wine, totally different than anything else out there. Much better than the 2010.

2007 Yarden Pinot Noir B++/*** Another wine that's past its peak, so I'm trying to get through my remaining stock as quickly as possible. The last bottle I had was completely gone, so I was very pleasantly surprised to find this wine alive and kicking!

[Isaac Chavel]

2007 Yarden Pinot Noir. Another wine that's past its peak

Uh, oh. I recently found an '06 Yarden Pinot. I guess I better drink it post haste.

[Yehoshua Werth]

BS"D

Shabbos Channukah

2010 Carmel Ridge Red... Better than table wine with some good earthiness and mild spice... good fruit and at the price... well; some Rhone wines have a Challenge on the entry.

all the best and to a year of living light and harmony