Yatir Winery is a boutique winery situated at Tel Arad, in the north east Negev. Founded in 2000, it is owned by Carmel Winery but is managed independently. The vineyards lie within Yatir Forest, Israel’s largest forest, which was first planted in 1964. Yatir Forest, part of the southern Judean Hills, has an elevation of up to 900 meters above sea level.
The deluxe, prestige first label is called ‘Yatir Forest’. The second label is called ‘Yatir’.

YATIR FOREST, Judean Hills
Yatir Forest is the premier label of Yatir Winery. It is a blended wine and though the assemblage changes every year, it is always based on Cabernet Sauvignon. The winemaker changes the supporting cast of varieties to achieve the finest wine possible result from each vintage.
The wine is aged in small French oak barrels for 14-18 months (1/3rd of them new) and then is bottle aged for 18 months before release. Yatir Forest has a very deep red, purple color, and is almost opaque. The multi-layered, concentrated aroma is complex. There are ripe forest fruits and blackcurrants on the nose, with a hint of Mediterranean herbs. This builds to a mouth filling flavor, with a very long lingering finish.

The varieties that have been part of Yatir Forest from 2001-2005 are as follows:
2001 85% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot
2002 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
2003 82% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot
2004 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, 6% Shiraz
2005 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petit Verdot, 10% Merlot

YATIR MERLOT SHIRAZ CABERNET, Judean Hills
The Yatir blend changes slightly every year according to the quality of the vineyards and the performance of the particular varieties. All the varieties in the blend come exclusively from vineyards in Yatir Forest. The wine is aged for 12 months in small French oak barrels. It has a deep red color and a bouquet of ripe plumbs, cherries and blackberries, with a backdrop of cinnamon and hints of chocolate. It is full bodied with a well balanced finish.

Between 2001-2005, the Yatir blend has been made up of the following varieties:
2001 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot
2002 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 10% Shiraz
2003 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 11% Shiraz
2004 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Shiraz, 20% Merlot
2005 37% Merlot, 36% Shiraz, 15% Cabernet Franc, 12% Petit Verdot

YATIR CABERNET SAUVIGNON, Judean Hills
This wine is made up of 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Shiraz, which both come from vineyards in the high altitude Yatir Forest. The wine is aged for 12 months in small French oak barrels. It is dark red in color with an aroma of cassis, blackcurrant and hints of vanilla in the background. It is full bodied, complex, with excellent length.

YATIR SAUVIGNON BLANC, Negev
This is a 100% Sauvignon Blanc. It the only Yatir wine that is not from the forest. The fruit comes from the Ramat Arad vineyard, next to the winery, in the north east Negev. A portion of the wine is aged for 3-4 months in oak barrels. The wine is pale straw, with a greenish tinge. The aroma combines pineapple, grapefruit and cut grass, with a minerally backdrop.

WINEMAKER
Eran Goldwasser is the winemaker. A graduate of Adelaide University in Australia, he worked at a winery belonging to Southcorp, owners of Penfolds and Lindemans, before returning to Israel to open Yatir Winery. His stated objective is always to find and reproduce the special ‘Yatir character’, so that the finished wine represents the unique terroir of the forest vineyards.

Print Version

Send to a friend