This took about an hour to open and then was drinking great. It is a blend of 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 4.5% Petit Verdot and 3.5% Cabernet Franc. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. The nose has cassis, cigar box and cherries. On the palate, this is full bodied. Ripe fruit. Lighter tannins. Flavors of Cherries with some cassis, chocolate and clean(er) barnyard. Good finish. This is about at peak now but should be here for at least another five to seven years. It will go well with roasted meats or fowl.
This is a blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 21% Cabernet France, 9% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. This is a gorgeous wine but it will need some time to reach maturity. Purple in color, ruby at the rim. Cassis, black cherries, dark chocolate, char and baking spice on the nose. Full bodied. On the palate, the cassis and black cherries carry thru though concentrated. Firm tannins. An underlying char. Long finish. This needs about five to ten years until peak and will be good for ten to twenty years after that. It drinks well on its own and will work with bigger foods especially roasts
This is the top wine that Duckhorn makes. It is 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. Deep ruby in color. The nose has black cherries, cassis, spice and slight chocolate. On the palate, this has a lovely texture. It is not a monster wine, but has a nice elegance to it. It is younger-ish with firm tannins. Lots of black cherry fruit with some underlying sandalwood and slight forest floor. Good finish. This will work well on its own but also with a wide variety of meats and fowl. It should be close to peak but should be here for at least another
This is a blend of 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and 29% Cabernet Franc. Another project made by Thomas Rivers Brown. This is a gorgeous Bordeaux blend. I know that many critics have worried about the 2017 vintage and while the fires are a legitimate concern, I have been loving them and especially the Cab Franc and Merlot. I loved this even more than the 2015 which I scored 97 (reviews are on this site).
This is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Inky purple in color. The nose has cassis, cherries, slight chocolate, char and spice. On the palate, this is soft, accessible and easy drinking. Layers of black cherries, cassis and char. Light tannins. Medium finish. This probably should be consumed over the next five years. It will go great with burgers, ribs or pasta.
This is the best Israeli wine I have had. It is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petite Verdot. Purple in color with a thin ruby line at the rim. The nose is very nice with spice, black raspberries and tobacco. With air, some milk chocolate comes out. On the palate this has a lovely texture. Medium tannins. Black raspberry fruits, cherries with a forest floor base. Great balance. Long finish. This seems just a touch young but is drinking very well. Probably about five to seven years from peak and should be good for another ten to twenty a
Castel is probably the consistently best top winery in Israel. Although modern Israel wine is a very young industry, so this is always changing. Castel has a proven track record. The Grand Vin is the best wine that they make. This is quite young and just not giving up much right now. After a couple of hours of air, it had improved but its best days are at least five years in the future. Inky purple in color. The nose has nice baking spices along with some cherries. On the palate, firm tannins. Black cherries. Monolithic at present. It is tasty but needs time develop a complexity
This is another Cab tasted at the winery. It is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon with 12% Cabernet Franc. Inky purple in color. The nose is tight but with air shows some cassis, a bit of pencil lead and char. On the palate, this is concentrated and tannic. Quite young of course. It has a wonderful texture. With air, the cassis fruit comes out and a bit of black cherry. Very deep but monolithic right now. Give it seven to ten years to develop and unwind. In the meanwhile, it is quite delicious, but needs about eight hours of air. This should last another fifteen to twenty years or more. It
Tasted on a visit to the winery. This is 5% Cabernet Franc and the rest is Cabernet Sauvignon. It has an intense purple color, almost neon bright. The nose is primary but quite good with cassis, slight black cherry and lumber. On the palate, this has strong tannins. It also has a very lively texture which I attribute to great balance, acidity and purity of fruit. Lots of cassis with a nice underlying minerality. This winery had been highly recommended to me but this was my first time trying the wines so it is a bit hard to evaluate growth and maturity. Still, I would estimate that i
