The 2004 Yarden Merlot Ortal Vineyard combines strong blackberry, cherry and raspberry fruit notes with nuances of fresh herbs, dried flowers and orange zest. A background of rich oak helps frame the sensory picture. The wine is quite concentrated in flavor with good body and a long, complex finish. While enjoyable now, Yarden Merlot Ortal Vineyard will continue to improve in the bottle for years to come and should stay in great drinking condition for a decade or more from the vintage. The wine’s rich character pairs well with something served with a red wine reduction sauce, such as a rib eye roast, or a stew cooked long with roasted stock bones.

Rating

A rich, ripe red, with focused flavors of blackberry, dark plum and dark chocolate. Very supple on the finish,with plenty of grip and notes of espresso and mineral. Drink now through 2011. –KM  Wine Spectator 89 points (Jan 1 2008)

Wine maker notes

Colder-than-average temperatures and heavy rainfall typified the winter preceding the 2004 vintage. March and April brought unusually warm and dry weather causing early budbreak in our warmer vineyards. Relatively cool temperatures returned in May putting the season back on track for a hectic, relatively short harvest. Average yields and very promising across-the-board quality characterized the vintage. The 2004 Yarden Merlot Ortal Vineyard is made from two contiguous blocks of Merlot in Ortal Vineyard. Most of the fruit comes from a block planted in 1990 and the remainder from a block planted in 1993. The rows run down a gentle slope facing southwest. The southern side of the rows sees sunlight most of the day while the other side of the row gets just a bit of direct sun only late in the day. This represents a challenge in getting the sides of the row ripe at the same time. To achieve this, the clusters on the north side of the row are almost completely exposed, while the clusters on the south side enjoy the protection of a layer of leaves. This combination has proven very effective for this site. The Ortal vineyard is located on the border between the central and northern Golan Heights at an altitude of 800 meters (2,600 feet) above sea level. This vineyard tends to be just above the line of winter snows, thus receiving a few snowfalls a year. Yarden Merlot Ortal Vineyard ages for fourteen months in small French oak barrels, approximately two-thirds new.

Other text

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. The Golan Heights Winery is located in the town of Katzrin, in the central Golan.