The Story of A Legendary Wine
27.11.2009
 

The Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon 1984 was the first Israeli wine to win a major gold medal & trophy at a serious wine tasting competition. Castel Grand Vin 1992 was praised by Serena Sutcliffe MW, head of Sotheby’s Wine Department, as ‘the best Israeli wine she’d ever tasted’. Castel Grand Vin 1997 was the first Decanter Wine of the Month, from Israe. Yatir Forest 2003 was the wine to receive the leading score in the first ever Robert Parker/ Wine Advocate tasting of Israeli wine. Yatir Forest 2004 was selected by Tom Stevenson’s Wine Report as one of the 100 Most Exciting Wines and mentioned as the best Israeli wine he’d ever tasted. Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 was the first Israeli wine to be included in the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of the Year. Each success represented another significant milestone for Israeli wines.

However there was one wine that was released before these, that should not be forgotten. It was in essence the first quality wine of Israel: The Carmel Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve 1976. This was a historic wine that marked the coming of age of the Israeli wine industry. Obviously the major quality jump was to come later with the new technology of the Golan Heights Winery. The subsequent major successes by Yarden, Castel and Yatir have since been recognized by the likes of Robert Parker and Hugh Johnson; the Wine Spectator and Decanter. This positive publicity has contributed to further advancing the image of Israel as a quality wine producing country. Also Carmel itself, has undergone quality revolution and is now producing better wine than any time in its 120 year old history. However, in the context of its time, Carmel’s Special Reserve was a watershed in the history of Israeli wine, and it gained legendary status as the years went by. Before time blurs the details of this unique wine, it is worthwhile to go back in time to tell the story.

The first varietal wines produced in Israel, had been launched by Carmel in the early 1970’s. However the Special Reserve was the first de-luxe, quality wine, aged in small oak barrels and bottle aged before release. It was not so appreciated when it was launched, but it gained a lasting respect as it developed over the years. Astonishingly, and unusually for an Israeli wine, even with all the technological advances today, the wine was still alive and surprising connoisseurs over twenty years after it was produced.

The wine was produced by Carmel at their Rishon Le Zion Winery. (Then the quality wines were produced at Rishon Le Zion and the lesser wines at Zichron Ya’acov. Today, it is the opposite.) They had decided to produce a new premium label, primarily for the export market. A quality label was designed, which was written totally in English. For the first time a photo of Baron Edmond de Rothschild featured on the label. He was the founder of both Carmel and the modern Israeli wine industry.

The winemaker was Freddie Stiller, who worked for Carmel from 1957 until his retirement in 1995. In 1973 he was appointed chief winemaker of the Rishon Le Zion Winery and in 1976 he was appointed Technical Director of the parent company SCV des Grandes Caves and chief winemaker of Carmel Wineries. These included the two largest and most historic wineries in Israel at Rishon Le Zion, south of Tel Aviv and Zichron Ya’acov, south of Haifa. Stiller has recently been awarded a lifetime award for his services to Israeli wine.

The wine was made from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Cabernet Sauvignon had originally been brought to Israel in the 19th century by Rothschild, using cuttings from Chateau Lafite in Bordeaux. Though ever present in Israel, it was only a very marginal player. Carignan and Alicante took the center stage. However in the 1960’s, some vineyards, particularly in the Shimshon and Gedera regions, began to replant Cabernet Sauvignon. It was an unpopular variety though, with the grape growers of the time. Payment for Cabernet grapes was only three times that of Carignan, but yields of Carignan were more than three times that of Cabernet, so for economic reasons the growers preferred to work with Carignan. The use of Cabernet Sauvignon in the 1976 Special Reserve was therefore a quality statement, which represented an important advance in the development of Israeli wines.

The Cabernet Sauvignon used in the 1976 wine, came from three vineyards, then grown in the traditional bush vine style. One was in the Samson Region, known in Hebrew as the Shefela, but better described as the Judean Foothills. The other two were the last vineyards in Rishon Le Zion, on the central coastal plain. Once, the Rishon Le Zion Winery was surrounded by vineyards, like a French Chateau. Unfortunately the vines were later grubbed up when it was realized that Real Estate was more profitable. An interesting footnote is that one of the Rishon vineyards was a mixture of roughly 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Malbec and 10% Petit Verdot, all in the same vineyard. All was harvested and fermented together. In those days harvesting was entirely manual.

The wine was then aged for three years in 75 gallon Limousin oak barrels. Why limousin, which is traditionally used to mature cognac? This was because the barrels had been bought by the winery with the intention to age brandy, which in those days was a far bigger seller in Israel than today. Freddie Stiller, responsible also for the brandy, was able to craftily divert some of these precious barrels for his new red wine project. Only 20% of the blend was put into new oak, and this not for the full maturation period, and the rest was aged in older oak barrels that had been used previously. The wine then had six months bottle age, before being exported, primarily to America.

Approximately 45,000 bottles were produced, which was a large amount of a relatively expensive wine in those days. For this reason the wine took time to sell and collectors were able to find wines to buy as the reputation of the wine grew. They were then able periodically produce bottles at tastings for a newly discerning public, who were gradually beginning to appreciate wine.

Only veteran wine industry personnel will be able to divulge how good the wine was. Even today collectors may still be heard boasting that they have a few bottles of the 1976 remaining in their cellar. Unfortunately they are undrinkable. The long lived wine is finally dead.

The next vintage of the Carmel Special Reserve was the 1979, which turned out to be nearly as good as the 1976. It was next produced in 1981 and eventually the Rothschild label and Private Collection label (from 1988) supplanted it. The next great wines were on their way, with another great leap in quality: the Yarden Cabernet Sauvignons of 1984 and 1985, and the Yarden Katzrin 1990. Each is worth a story of their own. However the Carmel Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve 1976 became part of the folklore of Israeli wine and a wonderful memory for those who were fortunate enough to taste it.