Yarden Allone Habashan Syrah

750ml

Producer:

Golan Heights Winery

Region:

Galilee

Vintage:

2017

$140.00

Ideal With

Ideal With

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Reviews

The 2017 Yarden Allone Habashan Vineyard displays complex aromatics of ripe red and black fruits, spice, earth and chocolate, along with nuances of herbs and orange peel. This impressive single-vineyard blend exhibits full body and concentrated flavor.

Although enjoyable to drink now, the 2017 Yarden Allone Habashan Vineyard will improve in the bottle over the coming years, and should remain in outstanding drinking condition for over ten years from harvest. Try serving this festive wine with

beef Wellington, garlic and herb lamb chops, or roasted vegetable moussaka.

The Vintage

While the winter leading up to the 2017 season started promisingly, with an unusually cold and wet December, total seasonal precipitation finished at only 82% of normal. The lack of late winter rain resulted in restrained vine growth and canopies nicely open to light and air penetration. After an average spring, July saw daily highs 2oC (3.6oF) warmer than usual. Happily, typical weather returned in August, and the absence of weather extremes led to beautiful, and faster than normal, ripening. Ending up as a relatively short eleven-week harvest, 2017 was yet another vintage of excellent quality.

This single vineyard wine is 100% Syrah. All grapes were harvested from the Allone Habashan Vineyard, which is located at an elevation of 600 meters (2,000 feet) in the central Golan Heights. The vineyard’s basalt soils have high clay content (~40%), resulting in high water-holding capacity. The percentage of stones increases with depth, aiding in vine root penetration and water drainage. Known historically for quality Merlot, the vineyard became infected with leafroll virus over time, with its redevelopment beginning in 2011. Its second-ever release, this single vineyard wine symbolizes the return to outstanding quality for the Allone Habashan vineyard, which is now certified sustainable. The wine aged in French oak barrels for 18 months.

The Appellation

The Galilee (or Galil) is the most northern, and generally considered the best, appellation in Israel. The highest quality area within the appellation is the Golan Heights (or simply the Golan), the coldest region in Israel. The vineyards on this volcanic plateau rise from 400 meters (1,300 feet) above sea level to 1,200 meters (3,900 feet) and receive snowfall in the winter. Golan Heights Winery is located in the town of Katzrin in the central Golan.