2017 Yarden Golan Height Pinot Noir

Is Israel a wine country? Certainly, and for a long time. Thousands of ancient wine presses have been found. The oldest is estimated to be over 6500 years old. So yes, Israel is actually a very old wine country. But on the other hand, it has only been since 1880 that investment has been made again in viticulture, thanks to Baron Edmond de Rothschild (Lafite). So if you look at it that way, Israel might just be one of the New Winelands. Although Israel originally has a warm climate, the vineyards of this winery are still classified as 'cool climate' due to the high location. This, in combination with the volcanic subsoil, makes their wines among the best in the world. The most famous wine guide on Israeli wines, Rogov, gives Golan Heights Winery 5 stars and writes: “From the moment they produced their first wines in 1984, there is no doubt that Golan Heights Winery has placed Israel on the world wine list. They are the quality leader in the country. The chief winemaker, Victor Schoenfeld, knows well what he is doing. He was educated in California, France and Australia and combines old and new world style”. The Yarden wines are the figurehead of the winery. Here the most beautiful grapes from the best vineyards come together. The name refers to the Jordan River (Yarden in Hebrew), which separates the Golan Heights from Galilee.

The Yarden Pinot Noir is made exclusively from Pinot Noir fruit that comes from cool high-altitude vineyards in the northern Golan Heights. The wine matures for 16 months in mainly new oak barrels. The Yarden Pinot Noir has a beautiful bright red color. On the nose it has tobnn of fresh raspberry, cherry and strawberry fruit, mixed with notes of white flowers, spices and hints of smoke and a touch of oak. This Pinot is medium bodied and very elegant and tasteful. The Yarden Pinot Noir is an excellent accompaniment to fillet steak, duck jam, or roasted salmon with a shiitake mushroom sauce.