Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/7240
march 2010 / the tasting panel / 49 Barkan Between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is Kabbutz Hulda, the home of Barkan wines, featuring the largest contigu- ous vineyard in Israel. "We experiment here at Barkan," Irit Boxer-Shank tells THE TAST- ING PANEL. The young woman winemaker, who earned a Master of Enology degree from the University of Adelaide in Australia, works with yeasts, soils, barrels and blends for the varying tiers under the Barkan (and sister company Segal's) label. Barkan's reserve line of varietals includes a Pinotage, the only one of its kind in Israel. "Our climate is similar to that of South Africa," she explains, referring to the warmth of the Jerusalem sun. "I really wanted to fi nd that special red that shows itself well from our terroir, apart from the Bordeaux varietals." Playing around with varietals led Boxer-Shank to work with Tempranillo in 2005 and a soon-to-be released Carignane from the 2007 vintage. Barkan's Altitude Series reaches new heights in our esteem, a clue to the elevation of the mountain- ous terroir in the Upper Galilee. "Again, an experiment," notes Boxer-Shank, who was curious to taste the infl uence that vineyards as high as 412, 624 and 720 meters might have on the wines. "These three Cabs [named after the heights of their respective vineyards] are made in similar winemaking styles," she attests. We tasted all three, and miracle of miracles, the wines ranged from medium-bodied lush to dense and aromatic to big and dusty. Height matters. Binyamina Named after Benjamin Rothschild, the French wine magnate, Binyamina lies on the northern coastal plain of Israel. The winery's vineyards are spread throughout the coun- try—from the Golan Heights in the north, through the fi nest Upper Galilee and Lower Galilee vine- yards, down to the Jerusalem Hills and Karmei Yosef, a communal settlement in central Israel. "Rothschild helped Jewish farmers establish a new line of work: grape growing," points out Asaf Paz, the associate winemaker who works in tandem with head winemaker Sasson Ben Aharon. Paz was the fi rst Is- raeli to receive the Diplôme National d'Oenologie from Bordeaux Univer- sity's Faculty of Enology. Paz talks about the philosophy be- hind Binyamina. "Binyamina Winery strives to promote a wine culture in Israel and is regarded as a daring pioneer in the wide range of varieties it offers." Binyamina's tiers range from the high-end "Chosen" series, each of Domaine du Castel Second-generation winemaker Eytan Ben Zaken and Domaine du Castel was catapulted onto the Israeli wine scene because of a unique fi rst-vintage review. "My father had a tiny vineyard in his backyard and fi rst planted grapes in 1988," he tells us. "By 1992, when the vines were ready, my father had four years behind him, enough to educate himself on how to harvest and make wines. Our fi rst vintage, 1995, refl ected 600 bottles of wines that were aged in new oak barrels. We invited the media to taste. One Israeli journalist was so impressed, she sent some of our wine to a well-respected wine authority. The British wine pro, who worked for Sotheby's, faxed her friend back saying it was the best Israeli wine she ever tasted. My father carried that fax around for years." The 2006 Domaine du Castel Grand Vin is aged 24 months in new French oak and hails from the Judean Hills in Israel. This Bordeaux-style blend starts with dry, dusty tannins and builds to a softer fi nish, with raspberries and strawberries taking shape in a generous mouth-coating fi nish. Eytan Ben Zaken and his father began Domaine du Castel. Irit Boxer-Shank is the winemaker for Barkan. The 2007 Barkan Altitude Series "720" Cabernet Sauvignon is as bold as the steep climb up to the 720-meter-high vineyards in the mountains of the Galilee. Asaf Paz is the associate winemaker at Israel's Binyamina Winery.