Hevron Heights – Special Reserve 2009 – Judean Hills

Red wine, doubtlessly with a lot of colour here, but the rim is slightly starting to rust a little bit; the core is still very dark ruby purple. The nose is quite warm, ripe; I get a lot of really ripe fruit here like figs, dates, prune, with some spicy notes of licorice. Quite full-bodied on the palate here, so good density of fruit, rather high ripeness. It certainly feels like a hot climate here, the fruit is towards the dark cherry, dark plum; however it’s balanced here, because we have a well-integrated acidity. It feels like the wine has a few years of evolution as well so the tannins have really dissolved into the wine; I get some of those finely powdery cocoa powder notes. So certainly a wine I would call with a good drinkability right now, in an interesting really Southern Mediterranean style. Good weight, dense, and pretty long. On the finish I get more that sensation of cassis, reminding me of Cabernet Sauvignon; I felt it started out more like a Grenache or Southern French blend in terms of style, but now the more I taste the more the Cabernet notes emerge on the palate, on the aftertaste. Nonetheless, well-made wine, well-balanced in that quite warm and ripe style; a certain evolution, will continue to develop but I think the drinkability is pretty fine today.

Tasted by the Best Sommelier of the World, Andreas Larsson.