Posted at 18:47h in Wines by Avi 0 Comments
At the awards ceremony for the 2014 Eshkol Ha’Zahav wine tasting competition, there were a number of surprises. This year it was the smaller, newish, lesser known wineries that drew attention by winning some of the main prizes. Wineries such as Jezreel Valley, Kishor, Kerem Montefiore and Vortman took on and beat some of the more established and more famous wineries.
The Jezreel Valley Carignan 2012, Kishor Savant 2012, Montefiore Red 2013 and Vortman Shfeya Valley 2012 were the gold medal winning wines in categories usually won by better known wines. Furthermore each of these wineries also garnered other silver & bronze medals to show the gold medal win was not a flash in the pan.
The region that gained most focus was Judea and Samaria (aka the West Bank), a comparatively new, but very historic wine region. Wineries situated there were awarded no less than four golds. The Psagot Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, ‘1848 Winery’ Second Generation Merlot 2012, Gvaot Herodian Merlot 2011, and Gush Etzion Ha’Alon Ha’Boded Cabernet Franc 2008 were the gold medal winning wines.
The best performance of all was by Binyamina Winery which won three gold medals. Recanati & the Golan Heights Winery were each awarded two golds.
Eshkol Hazahav is Israel’s leading wine competition. The slogan of this year’s event was ‘Drink Blue & White’, ie. Israeli wines. The competition judged 233 wines from 52 wineries and the wines were tasted blind by 30 judges. The prizes were announced and presented by Chaim Spiegel of Dan Hotels and Advocate Nachman Cohen-Tzedek. The ceremony took place at auditorium of the Peres Center for Peace in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, overlooking the sea. The competition was organized by Studio Ben Ami, which also organizes the annual Sommelier Exhibition.
The influx of new wineries and new regions shows the Israeli wine industry is as dynamic as ever. The wines awarded gold medals are listed below.
CHARDONNAY CATEGORY: Chardonnay Odem Vineyard, Yarden 2012
GEWURZTRAMINER/ VIOGNIER: Gewurztraminer Reserve Binyamina 2012
WHITE VARIETIES: Riesling Kayoumi Vineyard Carmel 2012
WHITE BLENDS: Shfeya Valley Vortman 2012
CABERNET SAUVIGNON UP TO 100 ILS: Cabernet Sauvignon Gamla Shmura Golan Heights 2011
CABERNET SAUVIGNON MORE THAN 100 ILS: Cabernet Sauvignon Psagot 2011
MERLOT UP TO 100 ILS:
Merlot 2nd Generation 1848, 2012
Merlot Herodian Gvaot 2011
MERLOT MORE THAN 100 ILS: Merlot Reserve Recanati 2011
SYRAH UP TO 100 ILS: Shiraz Reserve Binyamina 2011
SYRAH MORE THAN 100 ILS: Syrah Mount Odem 2012
RED BLEND UP TO 100 ILS: Montefiore Red 2013
Arnon Geva of Kerem Montefiore receives the trophy for the Montefiore Red 2013 from Chaim Spiegel and Nachman Cohen-Tzedek
RED BLEND FROM 90-100 ILS: Savant Red Kishor 2012
RED BLEND MORE THAN 120 ILS: Special Reserve Recanati 2011
CABERNET FRANC: Cabernet Franc Lonely Oak Gush Etzion 2008
PETITE SIRAH / CARIGNAN: Carignan Jezreel Valley 2012
OTHER RED VARIETIES: Petit Verdot Ramat Naftaly 2011
AGED REDS: Cabernet Sauvignon Yarden 2005
DESSERT WINES: Gewurztraminer Late Harvest Binyamina 2012
