Yarden 2001 Cabernet Suavignon

89 points

Golan Heights Winery is considered to be the first high quality winery in modern Israel, ca 1983. THe now crush about 5,000 tons of grapes from 14 vineyards located in what was previously Syrian territory in the Golan area of northern Israel. The vineyards are owned by local cooperative (kibbutz) farms, but managed by Golan Heights; the range from 400 meters to over 1000 meters in elevation (with snow in winter). The top wines like this one come from deep volcanidc soils, which are more like porous gravel than soil. THe wine is very intense with cool capsicum and red currant type fruits. The oak is well handled, not too prominant. Their better vintages form the mid to late 80s are still drinking well. Price is about $30 US