1/99. Bought locally, June-98 for $17.
Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon is usually the best widely available Israeli wine. There are some boutique wineries that occasionally make better wines, but year in and year out this is Israel flagship wine.
I have tasted (many bottles of) this wine from every vintage since its inception in 1983. This is my first bottle of the 1995.
We had half a bottle yesterday, VacuVined the rest for 24 hours and finished it today.
COLOR: Very dark red as usual for Israeli Cabs. No clearing whatsoever.
NOSE: Quite fruity and pleasant but with no particular complexity or depth. On the second evening it did gain some secondary aromas, but not much even then.
TASTE: Young and very drinkable but quite simple and coarse upon opening. Plain sweetish fruit, aggressive acidity, harsh tannins and lack of any finesse or individuality. One the next day the wine improved immensely! Not that it became multi-dimensional or complex, but at least the rough edges of the acidity and tannins subsided to leave a smooth, really enjoyable wine.
LENGTH: Very short aftertaste.
TEXTURE & BALANCE: Feels less big than this wine usually is. Good fruit, medium concentration, a bit over acidified(?), does not seem to be well structured.
OVERALL: Very good but not more. Will probably improve in time but not to the heights of the '93, '90, '89, '88 or '85.
MARK: 16/20.aaaaaaaaBUY MORE? Maybe.

Reach Me? yak@yakshaya.com

Copyright 1996-2003.
Jacob "Yak" Shaya.