On Wednesday, I started my morning quite early on the Golan Heights with tastings of the wines of the Bazelet Hagolan winery. Because I quite recently (28 November 2005) had a tasting of many of these wines at an event hosted at the Tiv Ta'am supermarket in Rishon le Tzion, this visit was an exceptionally interesting one for me – offering the opportunity for two vertical tastings of nearly every wine ever produced by the winery in a relatively short period of time, such tandem tastings posting challenges both for the winery and my own palate.

Founded in 1998 by Yo’av Levy on Moshav Kidmat Tsvi in the Golan Heights, the first facility of this winery was located in a cow shed and initial production from that vintage year was 1,800 bottles. Today, working with Australian trained winemaker Tal Pelter, the winery produces 25,000-30,000 bottles annually, all from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes grown in their own vineyards on the Golan Heights and target production is 50,000. The wines are in two series: Reserve and Bazelet Hagolan, the first aged in oak for about 20 months, the third for 8 months. The winery, which released its first Chardonnay wine in 2005, has recently completed construction of a new underground barrel room. The wines have been kosher since the 2004 vintage.

As a point of possible interest, the winery is in the planning stages for opening what will be a kosher restaurant and several tzimmers. That makes good sense to me because if there are two truly developing routes de vin within Israel the first, for single day will most assuredly be the Yo'av Yehuda route (in the Jerusalem Hills) and the second, for those caring to devote more than a day to their travels will be the Golan and Upper Galilee.

As a point of more oenological interest, what these tastings demonstrated once again is that the winery continues to show an high level of consistency and style. Following my visit to Bazelet, I followed up by visiting the nearby winery of Tal Pelter but that is the subject for another thread, that soon to be posted.

Best

Rogov

Bazelet Hagolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, 2005 (Barrel Tasting): Rich, ripe, smooth and generous, with currant, berry and plum flavors coming together with near-sweet and tempting oak. Soft tannins and fine balance bode well for the future. Best 2008-2012. Tentative Score 89-91. K (Tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazelet HaGolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2005 (Barrel Tasting): Soft, round and even in this embryonic state delicious, showing a sold core of currants, wild berries, toasty oak, vanilla and minerals. Fleshy and long. Best from release-2010. Tentative Score 88-90. K (Tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazeket Hagolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve 2004 (Barrel Tasting): Made entirely from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes and destined for aging in French and American oak barrels for 20 months this dark garnet, medium- to full-bodied red shows excellent balance between acidity, still firm tannins, wood and fruits. On the nose and palate ripe blackcurrants, wild berries and cassis, those matched nicely by hints of lightly bitter herbs and licorice. Long and generous. Best 2007-2011. Tentative Score 89-91. K (Re-tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazelet Hagolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004: Dark ruby towards garnet, medium-bodied and reflecting its 10 months in French and American barriques with soft tannins. Good balance and an appealing array of cherry, raspberry and currant fruits, those with a light spicy overlay that lingers nicely. Drink now-2008. Score 88. K (Re-tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazelet Hagolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve 2003: Full-bodied, with soft tannins well balanced by a rich array of aromas and flavors, those including currants,berries, black cherries, orange peel, star anise and white pepper. Round and generous, with a long near-sweet finish. Drink now-2008. Score 89. (Re-tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazelet Hagolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003: Deep garnet in color, medium to full-bodied with aromas and flavors of spicy cherries, currants, Mediterranean herbs, and chocolate leading to a medium-long lightly spicy finish. Long and generous. Drink now–2010. Score 89. (Re-tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazelet Hagolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, 2002: Inky dark purple, with firm tannins and generous wood but those integrating nicely to reveal complex aromas and flavors of blackcurrant and black cherry fruits and Mediterranean herbs. The once light earthiness on the finish seems to be on ascendant. Drink now. Score 87. (Re-tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazelet Hagolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2002: Deep cherry-red towards garnet in color, medium to full-bodied, with concentrated red currant, berry, spice and peppery notes. Good balance between wood and soft tannins and a moderately long finish. Drink now–2007. Score 87. (Re-tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazelet ha Golan Reserve 2001: Medium- to full-bodied, with tannins now fully integrated, this rich and concentrated wine offers up a generous mouthful of currants and wild berries on a background of spices. Overall good balance between intense tannins, wood and fruit and now showing a tempting hint of bitter chocolate on the finish. . Drink now–2007. Score 87. (Re-tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazelet Hagolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2001: Dark garnet toward ink-black in color, this full-bodied still firmly tannic wine shows rich Cabernet aromas and flavors of blackcurrants and blackberries, generous spiciness and nice earthy-olive hints, all on a broad background and with a long finish. Drink now. Score 90. (Re-tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazelet Hagolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, Millennium Reserve, 2000: Medium to full-bodied, this now dark garnet towards purple wine shows good balance between still firm tannins, oak, and fruits, those including generous and concentrated layers of currants and berries. Look for mint, minerals and earthy flavors on the long near-sweet finish. At its peak now and not for further cellaring. Drink up. Score 89. (Re-tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Bazelet Hagolan, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2000: Dark purple but starting to brown a bit. Medium-bodied and with moderate levels of smooth tannins, the wine still has tempting currant, plum, mint and earthy aromas and flavors. Somewhat past its peak so drink up. Score 88. (Re-tasted 25 Jan 2006)

Scoring System

95 - 100  Trully great wines
90 - 94    Exceptional in every way
86 - 89    Very good to Excellent and highly recommended
81 - 85    Recommended but witout enthusiasm
70 - 79    Average but at least somewhat faulted
under 70 Not recommended