Carmel Winery Limited Edition, Galilee, Israel

卡梅爾限量版干紅葡萄酒

點擊次數：10458

The 2008 Limited Edition is 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Petit Verdot, 5% each Merlot and Malbec and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon – awfully similar to the Carmel’s Yatir Forest blend reviewed this issue. The degree to which these wines seem to be becoming fraternal twins is a little odd, but it has certainly been to Carmel’s advantage to compare well to its prestigious boutique. This year, the stylistic difference seems greater, though, both being nicely structured, but the Carmel having more complexity, the Yatir a bit more freshness, finesse and sweeter fruit. It is once again hard to pick. This year’s iteration is intense and quite bright, with moderate but obvious tannins on the finish, which has lingering grip and succulence. As with last year’s bottling, there is a bit of a gamey nuance here and some herbaceous notes (the Petit Verdot?), which some will like and some won’t, but that I thought was both interesting and well integrated into the whole. There are touches of forest floor as well. This has a very, very Bordeaux feel to it, both in its elegant presentation and its complexity. Its main selling points are balance and structure, together with that complex medley of flavors. It grew on me steadily as I tasted it and began to appreciate all it had to offer. It wasn’t an obvious wine, but it was a very classy and persistent one. If I had a quibble, it did seem as if the fruit was a little older than the vintage date would suggest, showing a little more maturity than I might expect. It was entrancing, though, probably the best Limited Edition yet from Carmel – although it will be fun to have a shoot-out with the comparably fine ‘07. There were approximately 20,000 bottles produced. Drink now-2019. As with many of the wines in this report, note again that 2008 is a shmitta year. The wines are available in Israel. However, Carmel’s USA importer is a Kosher specialist and will not be importing them. Prices given are approximates as a result, just to give the reader an idea of what they generally sell for. Perhaps the sample size is too small to merit the opinion, but it seems to me that as time goes on Carmel is becoming more and more French-styled (yes, yes, I know the history of its French origins). The wines this year are often ringers for French wines and the style seems to give increasing attention to structure, acidity, complexity and elegance. They are nicely done.Importer: Royal Wine Corp, Bayonne, N.J.; tel: (718) 534-0118.