Premium Australian wines tasting - Mersch

Among the new small boutique importers that emerged at the last year or two, Mersch is Certainly one of the most interesting. Mersch imports mainly small Australian wineries, some of them among the top names in quality terms.
Although my personal taste leans more towards old world wines (but usually those with a bit new world style) , I never say no to an oppurtunity to taste good Aussie wines , and the Penfolds Grange 1998 is one of the greatest wines I had the pleasure to taste.
Yesterday I participated in a special tasting of Mersch that included some of their top wines :

The wines :
1. Tscharke - The Curse 2006 - this is a 100% Zinfandel from the Barossa valley. Dark ruby. Aromas of black fruts with some blue-berries , it is full bodied and rich but the mid-palate is not very prominent. a nice bitterness is felt all the way to the medium finish. Nice but not great. Score : 91-92
2. Kallesle - Greenock Shiarz 2006 - Again dark ruby (actually most of the wines were so). Nose of blackberries and some raspberries that became more deliniated and purer as the the time went on. Full bodied, smooth , with low acidity and medium-long aftertaste. Well made wine , but again nothing spectacular . Score 92-93
3. Kaesler - The Bogan shiraz , 2005 - Black coloured. Lots of black fruits combined with earthy notes, spices and black pepper. Full bodied , chewy, nice bitterness and long aftertaste. very good . The tasting has began. Score - 95-96
4. Noon - Eclipse 2005 - A bled of Shiraz(35%) & Grenache(65%) , this one, is one of my favourites. I had the 2004 and liked it very much. The colour is medium Ruby. Bursting aromas of black cheries, raspberries , later some notes of tea emerged . Full bodied, rich but at the same time quite elegant, very well balance of sweetness and acidity, and long and sweet aftertaste. Love it. Score : 95-96
5. Colonial Estate - Emigre 2005 - A special blend of 30% Shiraz, 30% Grenache, 20% Cabarnet Sauvignon, 15% Mourvedre and some Carignian and Muscadel. Deep ruby, Nose of black fruits and pepper, it is Full bodied and chewy with black pepper and well integrated bitternes, quite old world . The aftertaste is medium to long and quite nice. Score : 94-95
6. Colonial Estate - The Exile Shiraz 2005 - A blend of 85% Shiraz, 10% Mourvedre & 5% Grenache , from old vines. In the begining the nose had a lot of black fruits but heavy & unfocused. With time in the glass the fruit became more deliniated and riper and also more elegant. In the mouth very rich with black fruits, licorice, bitterness and long aftertaste. A very impressive mouth.
Score : 95-96
7. Greenock Creek - Alices Shiraz , 2005 - 100% Shiraz. Inky black colour. High toned nose of very ripe blackberries and cassis. In the mouth it is simply unbelieveble. huge concentration and richness , but extremely balanced with super long aftertaste. score : 97-98
8. Standish - The Standish Shiraz, 2003 - What a mistake it was , to put this wine , right after the Alices. The nose is old world and very sophisticated with Wet stones, Dump earth, and a bit red and black fruit in the background. Then the Fruit became more pronounced and was accompanied by a notes of Earl Grey Tea. Later on some blueberries appeared. Simply stunning. In the mouth however it suffered compared to the Alices Shiraz. Only medium body, a bit tannic, less rich, and shorter aftertaste compared to the former wine. Score : 97-98 for the nose, 91-92 for the palate. Overall : 94-95
9. Kalleske - Johann Georg Shiraz , 2005 - very dark ruby, almost inky. Aromas of blackberries, combined with coffee and some candies. Full bodied , rich , a bit tannic, some well integrated bitterness and quite long aftertaste. Score - 95-96.

Overall:
Very good tasting with great wines. The wines that stood out for me were the Noon Eclipse, both Colonial estate, the Greenock Creek and the Standish (mainly the nose).
I think the Noon Eclipse, Kaesler - The Bogan & Greenock Creek - Alices Shiraz , represent a terrific value, and are a must buy , for any Australian wines lover.
The Standish , suffered from its proximity to the Alices, but I think it will be very interesting to follow it in the future. For the nose guys it is also a very interesting option.
The Colonial estate wines are very good , and less new worldish (The proprietor is actually scotish, who also has estates in Bordeaux). Irrespective of their price, they are very good.
For those who seek the rich, blockbuster shiraz with lots of fruit and concentration, the Kaesler, Greenock Creek and the Kalleskies (especially the Johann Georg) are the answer.

Some of the foods were made by a small Catering based in Nes-Ziona , called Aya & mother Cooks. The name is a bit uninspired but their food was very promising.

Donnhoff - Riesling Spatlese, Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg 2004

Few years ago, Wine route started to import the wines of Dr.Loosen. I liked them immediately, but unfortunately , due to tax laws , Wine route stopped bringing their wines besides the Dr.L entry wine (Only lately I've seen some new bottles of Dr loosen again). Into this vacuum entered Giaconda (Anat Sela & Refaella Ronen) who started to import some of the greatest names of Germany. Few month ago I tried to arrange a special tasting for my friends but it didn't work out so a few weeks ago I bought some bottles for my self.
Last saturday we decided to go to Idi in Ashdod , one of our favourite restaurants so I had a good chance to taste one of the bottles :
Donnhoff - Riesling Spatlese, Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg 2004 - In the nose it had a sweet citrus aromas combined with some buttery notes (pretty strange since Riesling are not supposed to meet much wood if any) and some tropical fruits. In the mouth it was very fruity with superb balance between sweetness and acidity and lovely refreshing finish. I had it with my wife and parents , none of them casual wine drinker. We all fell in love with it , and the wine had only one problem , there wasn't enough from it. Sometimes when you come back to something you liked , years later, you end up dissapointed. this time I wasn't dissappointed a bit. Score : 94-95

Something about the restaurant and the food :
Its popular now days to criticize Idi a bit, but I go there quite a lot (My parents live in Ashdod) and never ends up dissapointed, the food is usually very good (I prefer dishes with rich flavours than subtle ones) , but what makes it special is the superb service and the generousity - the plates are big and full (Its hard to go out hungry) and many times we get special bonuses "On the house". Their wine menu (unfortunately mostly Israeli) is relatively fairly priced , with nice selection and glasses more than acceptable. (You don't get lousy small glasses and need to beg for normal ones). For starters we had mixed plates of fresh salads and smoked fish, For main course I asked for grealed Lebrak (hope this is also the word in english) that was very juicy and tasty. Most of their appetizers are not at the same league, but the Creme Brulee was nice.

Wine Route's - The Big 10 tasting

After a 1 year break, Wine Route returned their traditional Big 10 tasting. This tasting is held each year (besides last year) and presents great wines (at least supposed so) from various wine areas. In former years there were some great wines such as Massetto 2001, Penfold's Grange 1998, Vigna d'Alceo 1999, Termanthia 2000, Guigal - La Turque 2001 and many more.
The tasting this year didn't dissapoint and was in my opinion very good.

The wines:
1. Billecart Salmon - Brut Rose NV- This Champagne house is well known for it's Rose Champagnes and this NV was very nice. It has a very fruity aroma of red fruits , mostly strawberries, with some yeasts in the background. In the mouth medium bodied , very fruity, nise acidity with very gentle bubles almost seamless. Score : 92-93
2. Bouchard Pere & Fils - Corton Charlemagne 2004 (Grand Cru) - Straw coloured. Oily flavours with citrus and even some petrol in the background (I thought only mature Rieslings has that). Later on came also some flowers. medium+ body, very gentle and balanced with good acidiy and nice aftertaste. score : 92-93
3. Cheval des Andes 2001 - A Collaboration between Cheval Blanc and Argentinian winery, this had medium Ruby Colour. In the nose - red fruits mainly rasperries and plums with some earthy notes. In the mouth it was medium bodied with a bit dry tannins , some green feel, and medium aftertaste. Nice and well made but not very impressive. Score - 90-91
4. Dominus 2002 - Dark ruby. Bursting aromas of red and black fruits and later some cigar box. Full bodied with smooth tannins, wonderfull balance and very enjoyable bitterness, the aftertaste was long and sweet. For me most probably the best American wine I've ever had. Score - 95
5. Clos Mogador 2004 - Very dark ruby. Intense nose of black fruits , spice and some lcorice. Full bodied , rich and chewable , with good acidity , some bitterness and long long aftertaste. Really great . Score - 96
6. Domaine Arlaud - Bonnes Mares 2004 - Anyone who knows me, Know that red burgundies aren't exactly my cup of tea, but I really enjoyed this one. bright ruby, sweet aromas of red fruits , mostly strawberries and some grass in the background. In th mouth - medium- bodied , very elegant, with nice acidity, good fruit and long aftertaste. Score - 94
7. Roger Sabon- Le Secrets de Sabon 2003 - One of the best CdP, and also one of the rarest ones (about 130 cases a year), this was very closed in the nose with only hints of some black fruits, some licorice and some olives. In the mouth is was very impressive. Full bodies, rich, chewy, with great balance, good acidity, some nice bitterness and superbly long aftertaste. Score : 96 (But can be even more when mature).
8. Ornellaia 2004 - black ruby colour. In the beginning nose of wet stones, minerals and black fruits (mostly cassis) that became more and more ripe and dominant with great purity. Full bodied, tannic, very rich, great balance and long long aftertaste. Simply gorgeous, and IMO Wine on the night . Score - 97
9. Chateau Margaux 1999- At the beginning the nose was mostly mineral with some red and black fruits, then I did something really stupid, by mistake I added some of the next wine to the Margaux. The blend wasn't very succesful (to say the least). Luckily , my neighbour Joshua , kindly let me taste his wine, that was very nice with medium to full bodied , smooth , fruity with medium aftertaste. very nice . Score : 93-94
10. Penfolds BIN 60A - Blended with the Margaux it wasn't very exciting , but alone it was very good. Dark purple colour. Bursting with very sweet flavours of blueberries and cassis , spices and licorice , that became better and better. Full bodied very rich, low acidity , quite long aftertaste, very nice , but not quite at the same level as the Grange 1998. Score : 95-96

The tasting was conducted by Hila that was very knowledgeable and did a very nice job.

Summary :
Wine of the night - Ornellaia 2004
Followers - Clos Mogador 2004, Secrets de Sabon 2003, Penfold'S BIN 60A 2004, Dominus 2002
Best Value - Clos Mogador 2004 (339NIS)

Some spanish wines

Last week in a group tasting we've had a few spanish wines.
First was the Pesquera Reserva 2002. So far I've had a few spanish from this vintage and was dissapointed . most of them were too watery/diluted for me. This Pesquera wasn't much different. It was pretty medium bodied (compared to the full bodied versions I've had before) and lacked mid palate persistence but it had a very nice nose of red fruits and earthy notes and was very elegant in the mouth with good acidity and nice aftertaste. Score : 90
The next was Alion 2001, which was the best Alion I've had so far. Great sweet nose of red fruits especially cherries and plum , with spices was followed by medium to full body, richly textured , mouth filling with lots of glycerine and long sweet finish. very very nice. Score : 94
Last was Numanthia 1999. I've had my last bottle about 3 years ago and it was superb, and seemed ats its peak. This evening it was totally closed. even about 20-30 minutes in a decanter didn't open it. the nose had a liitle black fruits and licorice but was otherwise very closed and so was the palate. I didn't expect for that, and unfortunately this was my last bottle from this vintage. NR

Also tested was a very nice Viognier from Rhone that was very nice but reminded me Chardonay with its buttery nose that accompanied citrus and some tropical fruits. In the mouth it was also smooth and buttery with good balance between acidity and sweetness . nice . Score : 91-92
I'll try to find out again the name of the wine.

Wine prices in Israel restaurants

During my latest trip to piedmont , my wife and I went on our second evening in Alba, to a very nice restaurant (I think the name was Del Arco but I'm not sure). With the menu we got the wine menu. Looking at the wine menu , one of the wines captured my eyes. It was Barolo Per-Cristina 2000 from Clerico, a wine that earned a 100 score from wine spectator and was very hard to find. the price was about 70 Euros, the release price of the wine (which of course went up dramatically after the WS published its 100 points score). Unfortunately , it was the end of a long day that included visits in 3 great wineries: Sandrone, Scavino & Altare. I couldn't drink anymore and so was wife, and the owner of the restaurant refused to sell it. We planned to go back some other day but it didn't work out.
The reason I mentioned this story is because almost every time I go to Israeli restaurants and ask for the wine menu, I get mad. I love wine (as you can see) and I love good food (as my belly tells) but having them both in Israeli restaurants is a bit expensive and very frustrating. the prices of wines in most of the Israeli wines are about twice their price in the shops or even more. Now, since I guess , most wine shops doesn't really lose money when they sell wines, probably they even take some profit, at least 20-30% of the price , then asking for twice that price is kind of a robbery. Since the wines that interest me, cost in the wine shops at least 200-240NIS (50-60$) then paying twice the price is a bit high. Now you can say - you can bring your own wine and pay corkage fee, but not always I come to a restaurant directly from my home. Sometimes I go there from work or after a trip, and even if I go there directly from home, the Israeli roads (and my style of driving) doesn't do good for the wine. Many times , wines I brought from home tasted less than optimally. I would really prefer to pay a reasonable price and buy the wine in the restaurant, than bringing it with me.
Besides the public that suffers from this pricing policy, I think the wine industry and shops also suffers, because most people would either ask for a cheap wine that won't give them any pleasure and reason to become wine lovers or ask for mineral water or soft drink (and believe me, I prefer them to a bad wine). If people could enjoy good wines at fair prices in the restaurants , they would later on, come to the wine shop and buy more.
I think that wine producers and importers should try to put some pressure on restaurants , so they will lower their prices to resonable ones.

Chateau de Beaucastel - Vertical (1998-2004)

Last Thrsday I hosted a vertical tasting of Chateau de Beaucastel.
Chateau de Beaucastel is one of the biggest estates in Chateauneuf du pape (CdP) and maybe the most famous. It's wines are some of the longest lived wines in the region and one of the greatest and most consistent.
The vineyards are planted with all 13 grape varietals permitted for CdP , with Grenache and Mourvedre consists 30% each, Sirah and Counoise 10% each , Cinsault 5% and the other varietals have smaller percentages. Of course in each vintage the percentage of the varietals in the blend is changed depends on which varietals were better in a particular vintage. Although Beaucastel is maybe the best known CdP, its actually a bit atypical wine for the appelation in that the percentage of the Mourvedre is very high compared to other CdP estates while the Grenache percentage is one of the lowest. This combination results in a wine that is darker, more structured and tannic, needs more time to reach maturity and is longer lived compared to other CdP. Each year there are about 20,000-24,000 cases made.
The 1989 vintage was Wine Spectator wine of the Year in 1991 , and scored 97 by both WS and Robert Parker. I had it about 4 years ago and it was spectacular. (I had it again in a vertical tasting at Wine Route and while very good it wasn't as spectacular).
Beaucastel makes another special cuvee - The Hommage a Jacques Perrin which consists (on avarage) 70% Mourvedre. they make only about 400 cases from it each year. They also make some white wines which considered by many to be the best White CdP.
Beaucastel wines are imported to Israel by Shaked and can be found on Wine Route stores.

The Tasting:
2004 : Obviously yound and drank way before its time, it has a dark colour. a closed nose of red and black fruits, turned to a bretty nose after 20 minutes , and then the brett largely dissapeares and the fruit, mostly black came back, with some black pepper . In the mouth is was medium bodied , and also quiet closed. For now I would score it about 91-92 but I guess it will become better with time.
2003 : This was a very hot vintage , with higher percentage of grenache in the blend and it shows. The colour is brighter , and the nose has red fruits especially red cherries and Raspberries combined with black pepper. In the mouth its full bodied, vibrant with good acidity , great persistance and nice aftertaste. My score : 93-94
2001 : Maybe my favourite vintage. Dark coloured, Nose of black fruits, licorice , cigar box, spices and black pepper. In the mouth its full bodied , tannic with long aftertaste.
my score :95-96
2000 : This was the favourite wine of most of the participants. Dark coloured it has a burgundian nose of Leather, dump earth , fungi with the fruit on the back. In the moth it was very rich and long with special acidity combined with sweetness. Very impressive .
score : 94-95.
1999 : Fell between such great years as 1998, 2000 & 2001 , the 1999 was forgotten a bit, but it still a very nice vintage and the Beaucastel made a lovely wine. Dark coloured , nose of black and red fruits with some spices , medium bodied, elegant with smooth tannins and medium length. really nice wine to go with food. My score : 92-93
1998 : This one was supposed to be the star of the tasting but when we arrived to it, my palate was a bit tired and closed so I Couldn't evaluate it properly. Still a great nose of red fruits , mainly cherries with licorice and some leather on the background, full bodied , rich with considerable mid palate and long finish. my score : 95-96.

For desert I opened a bootle of Chateau Guiraud 1999. Golden coloured it has a nose of tropical fruits, some honey and citrus on the back. without much botrytis. In the mouth is sweet and thick with good vibrant acidity to make it balanced and long aftertaste. A wine I like a lot (It was the last bottle out of 3 or 4 bottles I bought, and I would buy more if I could as the price was about 200 NIS for a 750 ml bottle). My score : 94-95.

Something I've learned again - The greatest wine on earth can be just a good one when tasted alone. Its the company of other friends that makes it perfect. There is the old story (most probably not true) of one of the Rothschild family who was asked what was his best bottle ever and answered he don't remember exactly but it was drank one night with a beautiful young girl on a beach (or river I don't really remember). It's a kitchy story but its so right. Wine is a social bevarage , and sharing a wine with good friends who appreciate it, makes it so much better. So I thank all my friends who came (and paid a bit) and drank the wines with me and made the evening wonderfull.

BTW -- The wines I serves some cheeses bought from a wonderful cheese shop held by Ran Buck (hope I wrote it right) on Sokolov 81 St in Ramat Ha-Sharon . Ran is one of the biggest specialists in this area in Israel (He also wrote a nice book about it) and he has great selection and nice service.
Have a nice week.

Wines I buy regularly

I guess that most wine lovers have a list (smaller or bigger) of wines they buy on a regular basis, vintage after vintage, wines they know will satisfy them most of the time, wines they don't need to taste first or to read a critic tasting note (WA, WS and so on) before they buy it.

At least I have such a list of wines that so far , rarely dissapointed me , most of them are not terribly expensive and performs well in weaker years , while excelling at great years.

Here are some of the wines I buy almost each year :

Beaucastel - CdP , red - One of the first major Cdp that was available in Israel (since 1998 vintage). untill the last 2 vintages it was priced very attractively , but even now I keep buyng it. What makes Beaucastel is special in that it has many varietals (I think about 13) , and the percentage of each one changes every year according to the vintage , so no two vintage are a like. Favorite vintages - 1989, 1998 & 2001.

Numanthia - toro - I've had almost all vintages since the debut vintage of 1998. A very impressive wine, with huge body , usually a true blockbuster. very tasty. The variation between vintages is not very wide, and usually you know what you get. sometimes too heavy but overall a lot of wine for your money. Favourite vintages - 1999 & 2001

Pichon lalande - The 1982 was one the most amazing wines I've ever had but I also loved more recent vintages , including the 1999 , that didn't receive such a high scores. The high percentage of merlot makes it more hedonistic and seductive. Favourite vintages - 1982, 2000 & 2003.

Cos d'Estournel - like Pichon Lalande (and Palmer) this wine usually has high percentage of merlot. In recent years it made superb wines each year. Cos is one of those wineries that performs well not only in great vintages but also in avarage ones. Favourite vintages 1996, 2000 & 2001 (Haven't had the 2003 yet, I have 2 bottles from it)

Paolo Scavino - Bric del Fiasc - most Barolo lovers will put this one among their favorites , the fact that piedmont had a series of great vintages from 1996 to 2001 didn't hurt. Even though Scavino is considered a modernist, this wine can not be mistaken for anything but barolo, and a great one. The release price in Italy is about 50-60 euros that makes it an excellent value. Favorite vintage - 1997

D'arenberg - The dead arm shiraz - The first time I've had this wine was on the yearly "top 10 wines " tasting at Wine Route, It was the 1999 vintage , and I was quite impressed by it, compared to other australian wines. I've had prior to that. During the last few years my taste became more "old world oriented" but the Dead arm remained a reliable shiraz that always deliever the goods at a reasonable price. My favourite vintages so far - 1998 & 2001.

Yarden - Heights wine - I love sweet wines. Everyone who will go down to the cellar of the Wine route store can easily recognize my cell. Its the one full with sauternes. Israel wine industry is mostly red oriented, there are also some whites and very few deserts, but in my opinion (and it looks like the wine advocate agrees with me) this is the best Israeli wine. Its always very sweet, thick, fragrant (mostly dried apricots, and tropical fruits) and so yummy. At an avarage price of less than 20$ for 375cc bottle , I think its a great value. So far I've bought every vintage since its debut in 1998.

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More reccomendations : (wines that impressed me on more than one vintage and are relatively fairly priced)

Rhone - Vieux Telegraph - CdP Le Crau, Pegau - Cuvee Reserve

Bordeaux - Malescot St-Exupery, Lagrange (St Julien) , Smith Haut lafitte (red). Guiraud

Alsace - Zind Humbrecht - Pinot Gris , Clos Windsbuhl (including the great VT)

Tuscany - Tua Rita - Giusto di Notri , Guado al Taso

Piedmont - Clerico - Barolo Ciabot mentin Ginestra , Aldo Conterno - Barolo Cicala

Australia - D'Arenberg - The Laughing magpie , Noon - Eclipse

Israel - Castel - Grand vin & Chardonnay "C".

Friday noon's wine group - 4/1/2008

On 2001, I goined a group of wine lover who meet (almost) every friday noon, at the Tel-Aviv branch of Wine-Route , which is by far, the best wine shop in Israel , with the largest selection of premium wines.
Last friday , I've seen for the first time , a few cases of Domaine de la Mordoree, Chateauneuf du pape (Reine de Bois) from 2005 vintage. This wine is considered one of the top CdP , and receives high scores from both Parker and WS. The price seemed like a mistake, about 300NIS before member discount (less than 70US$) so we opened a bottle.
It was of course, pure infanticide. The wine is dark coloured , very close on the nose, (and we didn't let it breath enough either) , but the mouth is huge and very promising, full bodied with lots of fruit and herbs, great mouth persistance , some vibrant acidity and long aftertaste. Very impressive wine , that will merit a high score when mature, IMO at least 95-96. I grabbed immediately 4 bottles (and would take more if I haven't spend a fortune lately on wines).
Later on , when I found I have more time to spend , I opened a bottle of Les Cailloux , CdP (the regular one) 2004. I've had one half a year ago , in a big tasting and I didn't like it much. It was too funky and unbalanced. This time it was much better , with nice aromas of red fruits (strawberry, red cherries) , black pepper and herbs , and medium bodied with aftertaste that had a special combination of spicy feeling with sweetness and some acidity. Very nice wine and again at about 160 NIS (40$) a great value.