Posted at 15:12h in Wine industry, Wineries by 1 Comment
Bazelet HaGolan is a winery that I recently “discovered” on my trip up north. Bazelet means “basalt,” and refers to the volcanic terroir of the Golan Heights. The winery was founded in 1998 and released only Cabernet Sauvignon until 2005, and is releasing its first Merlot from the 2006 vintage. The wines are kosher as of the 2004 vintage, which shows that there is no difference in quality between kosher and non-kosher, except that the cellar is now locked and only the mashgiach has the key. But, as is the case with all Israeli wines that happen to be kosher, this has nothing to do with the winemaking process and so these wines are of interest to all who like small, terroir-driven wines.
I had several of the wines, including from pre-2004 vintage, and found them to be excellent, complex, and tasty. If anything, they have only gotten better. They are available in the United States in select locations (unfortunately probably mostly places that specialize in “kosher” wine, meaning those who don’t look for this are going to miss out on an excellent wine, but including New York’s Gotham Wines – which seems to be a great place to get Israeli wines) and throughout Israeli restaurants and shops. I look forward to drinking more from the Bazelet HaGolan winery.
