Islington Conservative Future recently hosted a Middle Eastern wine tasting event at which InterWined was the guest speaker.
Of the wines supplied by World Wine Exchange the most striking was the 2000 Petit Castel from winemaker Eli Ben-Zaken and his Domaine du Castel in the Judean Hills. A Bordeaux-style blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon that’s aged for 16 months in French oak barrels, the Petit Castel is rapidly becoming one of the most sought-after and praised of Israeli wines — in part, perhaps, because it seems to buck expectations.
Take this anecdote as evidence: An attendant at the wine tasting was impressed enough with the sample she tasted that she bought a bottle of the wine from Illi Adato of World Wine Exchange. After later being convinced that the wine she had sampled was Palestinian and not Israeli, by someone not related to the tasting, she returned the Petit Castel to Illi and received a full refund. Why did she return it? Because she didn’t believe the wine was Israeli and thought she good get a better deal on a much worse Lebanese wine at Waitrose supermarket.
It is Israeli; in fact, in 2002, InterWined enjoyed an ‘unexpected’ visit to Domaine du Castel vineyard — made so by a pack of wild jackals roaming the Judean Hills surrounding the city of Jerusalem. And since then, Israeli wines such as the Petit Castil have continued to exceed hopes.
The 2000 Petit Castel is soft and medium bodied with little after-taste and low tannin, due to its climate and age-ability (it’s getting on in age now, isn’t it?). It’s nose is a mix of green pepper and — excitingly — jalapeño. Harmonious. A perfect wine to see in the Jewish New Year next week. Because InterWined.com places the price of the wine at £12.50 (a bargain, but outside of the Interwined price ceiling), there is no rating.
Israeli wines can sometimes prove hard to find, but both the World Wine Exchange and Judaica Web Store in the United States offer a large supply of Kosher and Mevushal wines.
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