Bulgarian Wine – Is it so?

Today I received as a gift from my mother & father in low 2 bottles of Bulgarian wine. “I never knew they had a wine industry over there”, told me a friend, frankly neither did I. This is going to be an interesting experience.

Chateau Karnobat Cabernet Sauvignon 2008 & Terra Antika Mavrud 2008. The tour guide told them that the second wine (Mavrud) is a local Bulgarian verity, which is considered to be better then Cabernet Sauvignon, an amusing idea on its own. I plan on tasting these wines 2 weeks from now, so you can expect a followup post.

Weekly Wine Meal – 30.7

This week we decided to try a rose, which fits wonderfully to the Israeli worm summer days. I got to know Clos de Gat winery real good at a vertical tasting held at Michael Rab’s, I can defiantly say that this winery make some excellent wine.

Color: Refreshing bright red with orange tint.

Nose: Blossom with a bit of strawberry.

Pallet: Dominated by red grapefruit with saddle bitterness. Some marmalade can be noticed from time to time.

Overall a fun and light wine that vanished of the bottle quickly.

Rimon – Black Tag

I do believe that this wine requires a post on its own, mainly because it’s not that every day we get to drink a wine made purely on pomegranate. Rimon Winery (Rimon – pomegranate in Hebrew) produces several wines that are not made using grapes, a fact that is rather unusual in the world of wine, if we should even consider such a drink as a wine.Its been a few months now that one of their wines was sitting in my wine cabinet waiting to be opened.

This wine is interesting mainly because it is different in its levels of intensity. As I pooped the cork the room was immediately swept by a sweet intoxicating scent reminding of cherry liquor. In the glass the wine displayed a beautiful deep purple with brown shades. A wild nose revealing a mixture of sweet chocolate and tequila, a few more minutes and the scent saddled down showing a more delicate cherry and even some liquorice. Throughout the whole time I could file the alcohol sting in my nose. On the pallet intense cherry and acidity of a pomegranate and generous amount of chocolate. Firm tannin which goes stronger as time goes by.

Undoubtedly an interesting wine, different then what we, wine lovers, are accustomed to.

July’s Wine

FRITZ HAAG – Riesling 2006

The full name is – FRITZ HAAG – Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese.

This one is for the sweet wine lovers, not the most exciting white I had, mainly because it lacks the crispness other white varietals have, but it’s definitely a fun wine to drink, especially during the hot Israeli summer evenings.

Pale straw in color, the nose reveals pineapple, lychee and some citrus peel. On the pallet distinctive honey and melon are present. Another flavor revealing itself only as an aftertaste is red grapefruit, which is an interesting taste for a white wine.

Tulip Black 2005

For a while now I have been wanting to taste this wine. In most wine tasting events this wine is referred to as “Premium”, something that arouse my curiosity. This Thursday, at NG, I finally had a chance to taste it.

The wine has beautiful Bordeaux color with ruby sidelines, on the nose cherry and some roasted wood are noticed and towards the ending some spices (pepper) as well. On the pallet plum with generous acidity, and strong barrel flavors end firm tannin.

After some 30 minutes the wine transforms to something entirely different. The nose is mostly of chocolate and the pallet shows cherry chocolate and some spices towards the end.

I would not yet give this wine the credit of a “premium”, however I have a feeling the 3-5 years from now this wine will develop a very interesting character. Those with patience will enjoy an excellent, old world style wine.