Eldad Levi was rather harsh on this wine on his (Hebrew) site and the question was, would I (should I) be any harsher? Well, he's a professional and, when he wants to, quite adept at walking a (sometimes thin) line between sarcasm and diplomacy. Sadly, however, this wine did not inspire me to attempt a similar feat of acrobacy.
Simply put, this is a well made bad wine. I tasted it four years ago but I was in a different place then and much less experienced. Therefore, I won't discuss its past. And since I don't have the skills right now to make an edcuated guess about its future, I can only talk about the present.
And its present is miserable. A rich nose with chocolate, burnt wood and meat over a nice currant background would be a nice place to start if I didn't have to actually drink the stuff but while I can usually live peacefully with the oak in Margalit's wines, this time it was way too much. It's not even even a young wine's "look, I'll be outta here in a few years" oaky, it's a middle aged wine's oak that's here to stay. Alright, I realize I am trying to predict this wine's future and I just admitted I don't have the skills for that, but I just can't sense any fruit just biding it's time in there.
For fans of the style only!
Simply put, this is a well made bad wine. I tasted it four years ago but I was in a different place then and much less experienced. Therefore, I won't discuss its past. And since I don't have the skills right now to make an edcuated guess about its future, I can only talk about the present.
And its present is miserable. A rich nose with chocolate, burnt wood and meat over a nice currant background would be a nice place to start if I didn't have to actually drink the stuff but while I can usually live peacefully with the oak in Margalit's wines, this time it was way too much. It's not even even a young wine's "look, I'll be outta here in a few years" oaky, it's a middle aged wine's oak that's here to stay. Alright, I realize I am trying to predict this wine's future and I just admitted I don't have the skills for that, but I just can't sense any fruit just biding it's time in there.
For fans of the style only!
Comments
I haven't tried the Special Reserve, but liked the standard 2001 Cab. This was a while back but i do recall dark supple fruit coming through. Perhaps the Std benefits from less time in oak?
Arieh