Look, I'm just not usually this patriotic, but I'm posting on this side of the forum because these two wines would interest any wine geek and they really excited me. I'm not sure how easy it would be to find them, though, if you don't usually shop the more kosher-minded venues.
The context was a vertical tasting of the flagship wine, the Recanati Special Reserve. The first few wines, made by the previous winemaker, Lewis Pasco, were fairly dying out, the 2007 and especially the 2008 were good stuff. But then Gil Schatzberg and Ido lewinsohn unleashed two wines supposedly from the lower rungs, and they turned out, to me, to be the real stars. They're priced a bit lower but that's just out good luck. Whereas the SR weighed in at 14% ABV (according to Ido, that's a product of the SR being heavy on the Bordeaux grapes and they turn out too green if they're harvested at lower brix in Israel's climate), these two were very fresh at 13%.
The notes are an excerpt from my full notes of the tasting.
Syrah/Viognier Reserve, 2009
Ooh, I like this even more than the SRs! So much so that I actually found it hard to return to the SR 2008. Focused meat and pepper stink on the nose. Meaty, savory tannins. Pays hommage to the North Rhone (think Cornas with the immediacy of Saint Joseph) while bringing a lot of Israel to the table (sun drenched fruit). It's a tough call between this and the Carignan: I think this has better focus and versatility, yet the Carignan lays out a course that is more interesting and, well, wilder. Both are true gems and worth a look even if you're non-Israeli.
Wild Carignan Reserve, 2009
Obviously Carignan, with characteristic (AFAIK) sweetness of the grape, yet with a meaty edge on both nose and palate. It has this sweaty tint on the nose, with underlying minerals. Lovely saline finish. If all Israeli wines were like this and the Syrah/Viognier, I'd be drinking more of them. And both wines sport lovely labels.
