While Carmel Mizrahi Winery is definitely not my favorite, it is the old man on the block. Founded by Baron Rothschild, who is also the founder of many top French chateaus, in the late 19th century, the history of Carmel is the history of modern Israel. However, for many years that also means that it was the history of bad Israeli wine. To this day, they are still the prime producers of the sickly sweet Kiddush wine that has more in common with cough syrup than fine wine.
Nevertheless, perhaps in response to their rapidly falling stature, they have begun to invest in top fine wines. This weekend I attended a tasting in Jerusalem at Wine Hall, which is one of Jerusalem’s best wine shops.
At the tasting, there was the Carmel Limited Edition 2003 and 2004 – this is the top of the line from Carmel, wines that sell for $50-$100 when young, and the best series of the new Carmel Single Vineyard series from several different vineyards in the reds (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Carignon [surprisingly, not a usual varietal in this series but it was an excellent, rich and tasty wine]) and the Carmel Appelation blend from Zichron Ya’akov. Rogov gives these wines scores in the 90s. I can’t say it was the best wine I’ve ever had, but if Carmel continues to invest in these wines and begins to focus on quality wine – including their niche of large kosher events, even – than I can see very good things in Carmel’s future.
