Not too long ago you may recall some rave reviews by me about some Recanati wines. Generally speaking I think they are consistently one of the best commercial wineries in Israel so when I heard they were releasing a new wine I was excited for the opportunity to taste what they crafted and when I found out it was a new single varietal to the Israeli wine portfolio, the red Marselan, to Israel and a varietal I wasn’t too familiar with as a wine geek I was easily persuaded to visit the winery in the Emeq Hefer industrial park adjacent to route 4 in Israel.
The French commune of Marselan where the wine grape of the same name was developed in 1961
The Marselan wine I tasted was from a barrel tasting of 2012 so its too young to score fairly (for both the winery and consumer’s sake) since its not in its final blend of what will be released from how all the barrels will be combined yet the wine now shows great potential especially when I tasted it along with barrel tastings of their 2012 Carignan and 2012 Syrah/Viognier. The 2010 are the current releases of those two stalwarts in their portfolio. When tasted soon after the Syrah blend it too reminded me of Rhone wine blends with reds more aromatic and savory than Bordeaux or Burgundy varietals. In contrast to the 2012 Carignan which is way too young and still marrying with its oak the Marselan’s fruity and floral bouquet was apparent even at this stage and I think it will be a hit once it released as one of their Reserve series wines. 4000 bottles are expected from their 20 dunams of planted vines.
Marselan had only been previously and currently used by the Barkan Winery in their Assemblage series Tzafit wines (only 53%) but since no one had tasted Israeli single varietal Marselan wines outside of their winery it was impossible to know what role it was playing in contrast to their other supporting grapes of Caladoc, Pinotage and Carignan and did little to advance the brand of Marselan in Israel.
Head winemaker Gil Shatsberg stands behind his new 2012 Recanati Marselan Reserve
Winemakers Gil Shatsberg and Ido Lewinsohn talked briefly with me about it and I hope to revisit the discussion sooner rather than later. I give them credit for keeping it under their hat for the last 5 years as the grapes were maturing in the vineyards (it takes at least 4 years before grapes from new vines are allowed for kosher wines…not that a non-kosher winemaker might want to try to make a quality wine earlier anyways from less mature vines) so Gil and Ido were eager and curious themselves to see what kind of wines these grapes would deliver. They seem proud of the results so far (enough so they expect it to be released as a Reserve wine and I think their confidence is justified Marselan is traditionally planted in Southern Rhone and Languedoc regions of France and Recanati wines have been veering towards more elegant and aromatic and less bombastic wines and this varietal seems well suited to complement the winery’s new style evolving since 2008 when Gil took the lead winemaking role at the winery.
David Rhodes tasting 2012 Recanati Marselan Reserve (barrel tasting) photo courtesy of David Silverman
Marselan is not only new to Israel, it’s new to the world. It’s a cross of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache and is named after the French town it was developed in 1961. It’s fairly rare compared other red French grapes (which I was relieved to find out when even I had never heard about it) and it was only 2007 that it was recognized in the United States as a grape varietal that could appear on bottle labels.
If the tasting I had was an indication, Marselan is a varietal that Israel could gain some recognition with internationally and if not Israel the already well recognized Recanati Winery.
David Rhodes can be reached at [email protected] or 052-702-WINE (9463) in Israel
