Judean Hills

This is a blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot, and 4% Syrah.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose has big black cherry fruit with some raspberries and spice.  Full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, this drinks easy.  Black cherry fruit with some depth.  Also some spice notes.  Good finish.  This is nice on its own and would work nicely at the Seder table.  Drink over the next three to five years. 

This is the third label in the Castel red wine offerings.  It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Syrah aged in stainless steel.  Purple in color, shimmering bright.  The nose is complex with a nice earthiness.  Notes of cassis, black cherries, plums and slight chocolate.  On the palate, this is ripe/slightly sweet.  Flavors of cassis, cherries and black cherries.  Nice finish.  This drinks easy and should work well with food.  Drink over the next five years.  Nice value.

This is a proprietary blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Verdot and Merlot from Israel.  Inky purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose is deep and complex with cassis, black raspberries, char, moist earthiness, and spice.  Full bodied.  Firm tannins.  Nice balance.  On the palate, this has ripe black cherry fruit along with plums, spice, slight chocolate and char.  Long finish.  This is tasty and drinks easily on its own and will work well with many foods.  It should be a natural with Brisket (the Jewish kind).  It is Kosher.  Drink over the next three to five years.  

This is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Shiraz, 12% Tanat, 11% Malbec, 7% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc from Israel.  It is certified Kosher.  Purple in color with a thin ruby rim.  The nose is nice with cassis, black cherries, plums, spice and slight chocolate.  Medium to full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, nice black cherry fruit with some cassis and spice.  Long finish.  This is drinking well now and should continue for the next few years.  It is nice on its own but will work well with food.  A good wine to serve with Roasted Chicken.  

This is 100% Chardonnay grown in the Judean Hills just west of Jerusalem.  Deeper golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with lemons, roasted almonds and a touch of buttered popcorn.  Medium to full bodied.  Good balance.  On the palate, lemons and spice with a touch of melon.  Good finish.  It seems like this went thru partial (or maybe full) malolactic fermentation.  The resulting wine is approachable but will likely mature over the next three to five years.  Drink over the next ten.  This is nice on its own but will work well with Matzoh Ball soup.  

 This is a blend of 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot, and 4% Syrah from Israel.  Purple in color with a ruby rim, mostly opaque and bright.  The nose is nice with black raspberries, black cherries, plums, spice, slight chocolate and char.  Medium to full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, there is some complexity and depth.  This is tasty and easy to drink.  Flavors of black raspberries, black cherries, spice and char.  Good finish.  This drinks well on its own and will work well with many (non seafood) dishes.  A nice wine to serve with the main

This is my favorite Israeli wine.  It is Kosher and it can hold its own among the best Bordeaux  blends anywhere.  It is a blend of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petite Verdot.  Ruby in color, purple at the core.  The nose has cassis, dust, black cherries and slight chocolate.  Medium to full bodied.  Medium tannins.  On the palate, cassis, black cherries, spice and slight char.  Slight heat on the finish.  This is young and needs some air or cellaring to sort out.  Hold for as couple and then drink for ten after that.  It would pair nicely with brisket at a

This bottle was left from our Seder in 2021 so we added it to this year's.  It is a Bordeaux blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc, 16% Merlot, 13% Petit Verdot and 7% Syrah.  While still drinking well, it is showing a bit of age and has dropped some of its fresh fruit notes (the prior note is on this site).  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has cassis, black cherries, tobacco, and dust.  On the palate, this has nice cherry fruit with some cassis over dry roasted earth.  Easy drinking.  Food friendly.  It is not a big wine, but worked great with our meal dur

Domaine du Castel is one of the best wineries in Israel.  This is their value wine made in both red and white.  Of course, this is the red and it truly is a very good value.  This was originally purchased for Passover 2020, but due to Covid, opened in 2021.  Deep ruby in color, mostly clear and bright.  The  nose has black cherries and some cassis with a bit of dust and earthiness.  Medium bodied.  This drinks easily with light tannins and fresh black cherry fruit.  Good balance.  This probably should be consumed in the next few years, but for around $20, this is a nice Cab.  It graced our

This a red blend of 45% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 13% Petit Verdot grown at high elevation in the Edom Mountains.  It is Kosher.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  A very nice Bordeaux-like nose.  Cassis, black cherries, cherries, slight cigar box, gravel and slighter bell pepper.  On the palate, this is medium bodied with lighter but present tannins.  Moderate acidity.  A nice depth and complexity.  Notes of cassis and cherry fruit over gravel.  Ripe but not overtly.  Drinks easily right now.  I don't think this will get better but should drink well for five to seven more years.