Posted at 10:08h in Wine industry by David Rhodes 0 Comments
Previously, I had tasted Tabor wines on several occasions at festivals and a few times at the winery and each time I was politely presented their wines by an assistant winemaker or someone from their marketing department yet on my latest opportunity I finally got to sit a bit with the senior winemaker, which to me speaks to the DNA of a wine, knowing the winemakers intentions when I’m tasting the finished results. We shared some common roots having worked at the same Israeli winery (not at the same time) in our past which helped our conversation get past small talk to get to some meaty topics from the start.
Like many Israeli winemakers who’ve risen to lead one of the largest commercial wineries, Arieh Nesher has worked at some of Israel’s other commercial giants (by Israeli standards: Carmel 1990-93 & Tishbi 1993-97) as well as the now defunct boutique Caeseria winery after coming to Israel after making wines in the former Soviet Union from 1972 until moving to Israel in 1990. In fact, Arieh says “his small wine village” along the Black Sea grows about 120,000 tons of wine grapes each year or twice the 60,000 tons of all of Israel and 80% of his village’s grapes went towards making sparkling wines (which might explain why today 200,000 of Tabor’s 1.5 million bottles are sparkling wines from both red and white base wines like back in his USSR days). A lot of Tabor’s new growth from under a million to a million and a half bottle/year is due to vineyards that came online in 2007 & 2009 (since 2008 was a “sabbatical year” for kosher vineyards in Israel no new vineyards/wines came online). Besides, the rapid growth of Tabor, the winery is starting to show signs of being quite innovative due in large to these new 2007 & 2009 vineyards. In Jaffa, the winery showcased these wines for writers with Jaffa’s marina (as the oldest port in the world) provided a calming view of the Mediterranean. It was a nice opportunity to sit down with a Arieh for several minutes before the event to get to know each other and more importantly get an inside scoop on his wines.
Over the course of the evening I would get to taste their new whites: a 2012 Tabor Sauvignon Blanc, a 2012 Tabor Viognier, a 2012 Tabor Roussanne (the first Israeli all Rousanne wine I ever tasted) and a 2012 Tabor Gewurztraminer (which just won a gold medal at the Best Value Wines 2013 in Tel Aviv) leading up to the one red of the evening their 2009 Tabor Cabernet Sauvignon “1/11,000.” Some notes about my favorite wines from the evening at the Yona restaurant, which served fantastic fare and a beautiful backdrop to accompany the Tabor tasting.
We first tasted the 2012 Tabor Sauvignon Blanc (89 points) 65 NIS as we arrived which some wine writers told me was their favorite wine of the night. It wasn’t mine but it was my second favorite white with nice citric (white grapefruit and lime) and grassy undertones typical of an unoaked Sauvignon Blanc. It matched well with the grouper served and a pear and garlic treat on toast as we walked in. It would also be be ideal with salads, pasta with a red sauce, asparagus, artichokes or sushi.
The 2012 Tabor Viognier (87 points) IS 65 was a bit of a New World fruit bomb with 15.4% alcohol (high for even a red wine). I sensed apricot, canned peaches, honeysuckle, banana, cantaloupe with a crispy tart finish. Roast chicken or pasta with a cream sauce comes to mind while paring this wine or chicken marsala.
The star of the whites that evening for me was the 2012 Tabor Roussanne (91 points) NIS 65. Roussanne is a grape I have limited experience with on its own as its often part of blends in its native northern & southern Rhone valley wines in France. Rhone reds (Syrah/Shiraz, Mourvedre , Grenache for example) are doing exceptionally well in Israel beating Rhone wines made elsewhere in international competitions so why not embrace Rhone whites (Viognier, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc etc) or at least try. With this wine I picked up what seemed like green apples, grapefruit, wild flowers, green hay, fresh herbs and almonds. This is a wine that I think will do quite well for Tabor in the seemingly countless sushi restaurants in Tel Aviv as it matched great with the lightly seasoned delicate grouper and salmon we were served. Of all their whites this one seemed to be the one I’d drink on its own but would even be better with the right cheese: a regional halumi salad or feta cheese might seem ideal but also chicken with herbs.
The star of the evening for me was their 2009 Tabor Cabernet Sauvignon “1/11,000” (91 points) NIS 159 which was one of the first Tabor reds to wow me maybe because I have mostly tasted many of their better wines with distractions at festivals instead of a more serene setting. Creme de Cassis, dark plums, black & red raspberry and vanilla came up front with a tart black cherry finish. I told the winemakers that this wine would most likely never score high in competitions since it was tart from start to finish and most wines are rated without fatty food to balance that acidity or tannins but that when matched with the prime rib we were dining on it was amazing and will be more popular perhaps with sommeliers (like myself) than with many critics or judges who seek out a wine’s faults instead of its advantages on a wine list. It’s not the type of wine I’d suggest for drinking on its own but for those of us who studied wine we know in Europe wine is designed to be 1/2 of a dining equation so why fault a songbird for singing better in harmony than how it sings alone. I hope to revisit this wine as it ages and taste it over the course of an evening with a wider selection of meats.
