Rechasim from Segal
 21.08.2010
 
By: Yonatan Sternberg

Segal Winery officially launched three new wines from the winery's Rechasim (ridges in Hebrew) series. The event took place at The Place for Meat (“Makom Shel Basar”) restaurant in Tel Aviv, and each wine was paired with a different cut of beef. 

Segal's Rechasim label consists of three single vineyard varietal red wines, a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and one of the only varietal Argaman (crimson) based wines in Israel. For years, Argaman, a hybrid between the Caringan and Souzao grape varieties, has been considered a low-grade grape variety, used for blending, the addition of color to "pale" wines and for the production of sacramental wines. Winemaker Avi Feldstein has proven everybody wrong producing a very enjoyable, concentrated and interesting red wine. Both the Segal Rechasim, Dovev, Argaman, 2006 and the Rechasim, Dovev, Argaman, 2007 are also receiving international recognition, winning impressive awards at the prestigious Les Citadelles Du Vin wine competition held annually in Bordeaux.

After introducing the wines and the winemaker, Mr. Shmuel Boxer, CEO of the Barkan and Segal wineries (both are owned by the Tempo beverage consortium) described the progress made in recent years stating that “the wineries are constantly investing resources, purchasing state of the art equipment and planting additional vineyards, aiming to produce a variety of high quality wines."

Segal's winemaker Avi Feldstein is very proud of the Rechasim series, and in my opinion rightfully so. "In the Rechasim wines, my intention is to allow the characteristics of the grapes and the character of the specific vineyard shine through. We use different types of oak barrels (American, French and Eastern/Central European) to add seasoning but the emphasis is on the grape", says Feldstein. When asked how he explains the fact that Segal is one of, if not the only winery producing a quality Argaman wine, Feldstein replied that in his opinion "he was the only winemaker to really treat the Argaman the same way one would treat a noble grape variety. We planted the Argaman vines in prime high altitude vineyards, reduced yields and aged the wine properly".

In addition to the Argaman, Segal also launched the Rechasim, Dishon, Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 and the Rechasim, Dovev, Merlot 2006, both aged for 18 months in oak barrels. While I personally preferred the Cabernet Sauvignon, I found both wines quite enjoyable pairing very well with grilled cuts of meat.

It will be interesting to see if other winemakers will follow in Feldstein's footsteps and attempt to produce quality Argaman based vinos. In the meantime if you are looking for a unique Israeli wine, I would highly recommend picking up a bottle.

L'chaim!