Israel

• Judean Hills
• Galilee

This is a really good bottle of wine and for $20, it is a great value.  We opened a few of these for our Passover Seder, but I would happily drink this Bordeaux blend any time.  Purple in color.  The nose has black raspberries, cherries, slight coffee and spice.  On the palate, this is medium bodied.  Light tannins.  The black raspberries and cherries carry thru.  Some underlying spice as well.  Good balance.  Nice finish.  This works with a wide variety of food.  Tasty.  Seems like it should easily do five more years.  It probably won't get better though.  

This is a 75/25 blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  It is quite lively and enjoyable. Light golden in color with some silvery/green swirls.  On the nose, this has some peach and some citrus with a slight minerality and herbal note.  On the palate, this is slightly crisp with good fruit.  It seems like it probably needs to be consumed quickly.  Right now it has nice peaches but they dissipate in the glass.  Good finish.  This worked well with an Israeli Chapped Salad and also with Matzoh Ball Soup (Veg broth).  Get the most current vintage you can.  

This is much better than the 2009 (tried two years ago).  The 2010 should, however, be consumed now.  It is not really showing oxidation, but the fruit is fading.  That said, this is a solid wine that made for a fun start to our Passover Seder.  We consumed it before actually sitting down to the Seder.  It went well with dried fruits and nuts and "mock" liver.  Light golden in color with a fair amount of medium-ish bubbles.  The nose has some green apples and minerals with slight ginger and slighter oxidation.  On the palate, the apples carry thru along with some minerality.  Not a lot of a

This was a quite a nice surprise.  No idea as to how old the vines are but the first vintage this wine was made is 2002.  Deep ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose has red berries; cherries, elderberries and red currants.  There is a slight, slight celery note as well which is there but hardly a distraction.  On the palate, this is delicious.  Deep with a nice complexity.  Soft texture but firm tannins.  Enough acidity.  Good cherry fruit with a slight red currant note.  Nice finish.  This seems like it is young and has some upside.  It should be good for five to ten more years.  Very

Salmon pink in color.  The nose is very nice with watermelon, slight celery note and with air, a bit or rhubarb.  Not under ripe though.  On the palate, there are some slight cherry notes on the attack.  Watermelon on the mid-palate and finishing with some strawberry notes.  Not a ton of acidity but some.  Works fine with lighter foods but make a great refreshing drink on the patio.  There is some complexity here as well.  This is an equal blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Shiraz and Mourvedre.  It is dry.  Retails for under $20 making this well priced.  Probably should be drunk by 2020.  

Israel now has a vibrant wine culture.  Despite a history going back for centuries, wine production is really rather recent as little wine was made during the period of Arab control.  Tulip is one of the better wineries making a wide range of international varietals.  A blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Gewurztraminer, this is green/gold in color.  The nose has some initial lemon notes followed with some canned white grapefruit juice qualities.  On the palate, this is round but retains a nice acidity.  Grapefruit.  Slight sour lemon candy notes.  A bit clipped and warming on the finish.