Which wine?

[Jenise]

I would love to buy a top Israeli wine for a Jewish friend. One retailer available to me has these four wines at the over-$50 price level I'd be looking at. Tell me, dear readers, which of them you'd recommend.

2012 Carmel Limited Edition $75
2014 Tulip Winery Black Tulip $59
2014 Binyamina The Cave $75
2016 Domaine du Castel Grand Vin $80

Thanks!

Hi Jenise,

Personally I'd go with the Castel Grand Vin because they consistently produce some of the best wines in Israel. Stylistically elegant, it is typically approachable even in its youth. My second choice would be the Carmel Limited.

Best Regards and nice to see you visiting these pages
Pinchas

[Jenise]

Pinchas, thanks for the response, very helpful. The Castel is very tempting, but even though it's your second choice the Carmel, now that I think about it, might be the best option due to the extra four years of bottle age. The person I'm gifting this to tends to drink rather than hold her wines.

Jenise,

The Carmel will be more approachable now, assuming that it has been cellared under appropriate conditions. According to the winery data online (http://carmelwines.co.il/en/vin/carmel-limited-edition/) the 2012 vintage is 13.5% alcohol, so relatively restrained for an Israeli Bordeaux-style blend. The Castel on the other hand will be closed for a while yet, and likely pushes 15% alcohol levels, so might not be as enjoyable as it should be if opened too young. The Black Tulip is also worth considering, and in terms of alcohol level will be slightly below the Castel at about 14.5%.

I would have recommended completely different wines and wineries, but if those are the only choices available to you, the Carmel might be the safest bet for early drinking.

best,

Mike

[Jenise]

Mike and Pinchas, just heard from my source (and yes those were the only over-$50 wines they had) and the Carmel isn't the '12, it's the 16. The website info was wrong. So maybe I should just go with the Castel?

Jenise,

In that case, I'd go with the Castel. Sure, the Grand Vin will improve with age, but I've found it to be approachable even when young.

Best,
Pinchas

In that case I would go with whichever one has the nicer label in your opinion!

cheers,

Mike

[Jenise]

In that case I would go with whichever one has the nicer label in your opinion!

cheers,

Mike

All signs point to the Castel!