It’s a few days until New Years – or Sylvester as we call it in Israel – and with that comes bubbly. Yup, sparkling wine (or champagne, but champagne really only refers to sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France).
Well, Israel isn’t known for being a world-class leader in this category but there are several worthwhile (and a few lacking, I admit) Israeli sparkling wines worth opening this December 31.
The always-excellent Golan Heights Winery makes two different styles of sparkling wines. The Brut N.V. and the Blanc de Blancs. Rogov gives them between 89-92 (with the 2001 Blanc de Blanc receiving a 92).
A Blanc de Blanc is a wine made exclusively from white, usually chardonnay, grapes according to the Israeli Answers.com site. A Brut is an extremely dry sparkling wine, again from the same site. The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted the Yarden Blanc de Blancs 2000 as one of the great international wines!
Both are truly excellent wines and great sparkling wines to open this New Year’s Eve (K).
The Pelter winery, a smaller and family-owned winery which produces an excellent array of wines – producing about 30,000 bottles of a variety of different varietals and making some of Israel’s best – also has a Blanc de Blanc. While I haven’t had this wine, Rogov rated it highly and gave the Blanc de Blanc Brut N.V. (apparently from 2003 harvest) a 90. Winemaker Tal Pelter studied at the Israeli Weizmann Institute and in Australia. It’s a young, fresh place.
The old stalwart Carmel also makes a sparkling wine, which I believe is the only mevushal Israeli wine and thus the sparkling wine I served at my wedding. This lower-end wine isn’t reviewed as favorably by Rogov but I didn’t hear any complaints about it at my wedding or my sister’s, which also served the Carmel President’s Wine. I’ve seen this at the Israeli supermarket for under 45NIS (about $12), and is a much cheaper choice, but it’s an acceptable entry-level sparkling. (K) According to this 1992 New York Times article both the Carmel and Yarden sparkling wines have only been available since that year.
Tishbi used to produces a sparkling wine, which is kosher but I’m not sure if it’s mevushal or not. I can’t seem to find the latest tasting notes for this one and have never had it, so I admit I don’t have much to say about it, although I saw that an old article of Rogov says it’s “of great charm.” It’s not on the website, so I wonder if it’s still being made.
The Yarden and Carmel wines are available in the US, although I don’t think the Tishbi or Pelter are.
For those in Jerusalem, Wine Hall will be holding a tasting of sparkling wines (both Israeli and non-Israeli) on December 31.
