HaKerem: The Israeli Wine Blog

Posted at 18:00h in Events, Reviews by Avi 1 Comment The following is from wines-israel.com and reprinted with permission. A rare and unique brandy tasting was recently held by Carmel Winery. It was held in the ‘Baron Edmond de Rothschild Tasting Room’ at ZichronYa’acov Wine Cellars. It was appropriately held at Purim and on St. Patrick’s Day – traditional days for Jews & the Irish to enjoy their liquor. The maximum 22 people crowded in to the tasting room to be met by eight brandy glasses laid out by numbers. The following brandies were tasted: 1. Carmel Extra Fine Brandy A two year old brandy. Light, fruity, slightly spirity. Mainly made by continuous still.This is ideal for bars, for adding mixers, making cocktails or for cooking. Extra Fine is the Israel’s oldest wine & spirits brand, and the label has barely changed. It is estimated the Carmel has produced Extra Fine brandy for 110 years! A three year old brandy, which was very fruity, and reasonably light.Considered to be the perfect aperitif brandy – to be enjoyed before ameal. 777 Brandy is one of the oldest brands in Israel, being at least 55 years old. The numbers were chosen because of the importance of the number 7 in Judaism. It was a winner of gold medals at the IWSC in the 1990’s. Underrated – thought to represent good value. 3. Muscat Brandy – cask sample A brandy withdrawn from cask for the tasting. The brandy was a distillation of Muscat of Alexandria wine, aged for 7 years in barrels previously used for fermenting & aging chardonnay. The strength was 65%, but it was reduced for the tasting to 40%. It was fascinating to taste. Very aromatic but not immediately apparent from the nose that it was made from muscat. Some of the tasters recommended it should be bottled as it is. 4. Carmel Brandy 100, 9 year old This brandy was first produced in 1982 to celebrate 100 years from the founding of Carmel. This particular expression was bottled in the 1990’s in a traditional frosted brandy bottle, after 9 years aging in limousin oak barrels . In 1998 it won the Trophy of ‘Best Brandy Worldwide’ at the International Wine & Spirits Competition in London. Only four bottles remain at the winery – one of which was opened for the tasting. The brandy was elegant, fruity, with a touch of rich sweetness. 5. Carmel XO Brandy, 15 year old This fifteen year old brandy also in its time won a gold medal at the IWSC in London. Bottled in a special glass decanter, there are only five bottles remaining at the winery, so it is extremely rare. The brandy held up well in the tasting, but some felt it did not match up to expectations. 6. Carmel 100 Brandy (the new expression) This new expression of Carmel 100 Brandy is bottled in a simple, clear brandy bottle. It is made from Colombard, Chenin Blanc & Emerald Riesling, distilled 75% in pot stills and 25% in a continuous still. The minimum age statement is 8 years, but 20% of the blend was aged for 13 years and 6% for between 23 to 25 years. The brandy was aged in used wine barrels, so can be said to be a ‘wine finish’ brandy. The brandy was actually very fruity, with a backdrop of oak flavors and a warm & complex finish. The tasters were of the opinion this was the best value brandy in the tasting. A rare brandy made to celebrate Carmel’s 120^th harvest. Only 2000 numbered bottles were produced. This brandy was produced from Colombard& Muscat grapes distilled in pot stills. The minimum age statement is 10 years, but 40% of the brandy was 15 years old and 35% between 25 to 27 years old. The older components were aged in limousinoak barrels, as is the tradition in Cognac. The younger components were aged in used wine barrels and the muscat brandy was aged in used chardonnay barrels. The brandy itself had a beautifully rich dried fruits character, a warm middle palate and a long finish. It actually improved when put in the brandy balloon glass. Israel’s leading wine critic, Daniel Rogov, awardedthis brandy 95 points and wrote this was the finest Israeli brandy he had ever tasted. This particular Armagnac was fiery, spirity. It was in the tasting to illustrate the difference between Cognac, Armagnac and Israeli brandies. It was explained that Armagnacs are usually more earthy & characterful than the smoother, more aristocratic Cognac. This was agood example of a basic cognac: smooth and round. However the majority of those present thought the Israeli brandies did not suffer by comparison. Far from it. The tasting was conducted in a series of mini tastings: Extra Fine was tasted alongside 777 Carmel 100 Brandy, 9 year old was tasted with Carmel Brandy XO, 15 year old The new Carmel 100 Brandy & Carmel 120 Brandy were tasted togethor And finally the Sempe Armagnac & Courvoisier Cognac. Then the participants were encouraged to go back & taste them all again. The older brandies, including the major award winner, were distilled & blended by Freddie Stiller, who was winemaker at Carmel until the mid 1990’s. Though he was the winemaker, he was always considered a brandy specialist.The younger brandies were made by master distiller Mendel Gil, a winemaker at Rishon Le Zion, who studied the art of distillation and blending brandy in the Ukraine and Moldova. The current chief winemaker LiorLacser blended the new Carmel 100 and 120 Brandies. Afterwards the tasters left the room to enjoy some food prepared by the Bistro de Carmel Restaurant. During the break they were taken to see the current brandy cellar (the ‘Baron Jacob de Rothschild Cellar’) and were shown a model of Carmel’s Rishon Le Zion Cellars. It was explained that until now Carmel’s brandies were made in four copper pot stills, installed in the early 1950’s at Rishon. They were shown the spirits tower built in 1938 which houses the continuous still. It was also pointed out where the cellar was with its original wooden slatted roof, where all the brandies in the tasting were slowly matured in cask. They then returned for a blind tasting. This tasting explored the difference of tasting brandy in the traditional brandy balloon glass against the more professionally used ‘thistle’ glass. Views were mixed, but a conclusion was that the younger brandies showed better in the thistle glass, and the richer brandies were better in the brandy glass. Afterwards the tasters converged on the Carmel Wine & Culture shop, where they received Carmel Vintage 2007. It was explained that this was a port style wine, relevant to the tasting because it had been fortified by brandy. It was served with dry fruits and hamantaschen (being Purim.) The finale was a glass of Private Collection Brut NV. This was a very clean, refreshing way to end the occasion. The English traditionally end a large banquet with a brut champagne as the digestif for the same reason. The event was hosted by Ruti Ben Israel and conducted by Mira Eitan who is not only Carmel’s Media & Communications Manager, but she is also an integral part of the Wine Development Department. She is one of Israel’s foremost experts on spirits, and was previously a drinks journalist for both Globes and Maariv newspapers. She then became editor of the Wine & Gourmet magazine for five years, before joining Carmel in 2010. She explained the history of brandy, Cognac, Armagnac and other fruit brandies. Carmel’s Adam Montefiore, more familiar with the brandies being shown, conducted the tasting. He explained the history of brandy in Israel, also mentioning Stock 84 and Tishbi along the way, and led the participants step by step through the tasting. It was a rare and thrilling tasting for brandy lovers. This event is part of an ongoing program of events organized by Carmel Wine & Culture (Carmel’s Center for Wine Culture). Wine events have included tutored vertical tastings of Yatir Forest, Carmel Limited Edition, Kayoumi Vineyard Shiraz and KayoumiVineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Cultural events include an opera singer’s concert and the Moran Choir performing in Carmel’s 120 year old cellars.