Is the wine worth the money?

When I search for a wine to write about I try and find something that most people have never heard of, or are too concerned about spending the money to find out if it’s worth the shelf price. This time I admit my curiosity got the best of me. I saw a Carmel product from a vineyard that I am a fan of, so I just had to try it.

The Kayoumi Vineyards are located in the lower Galilee and are generating grapes for some great wines. Carmel has been harvesting these grapes in assorted varietals and has been making great wines from them.

Since I knew this, I figured “what the heck,” and gave it a shot. So here are the results on the Kayoumi Vineyards  Shiraz 2005 from Carmel.

With Shiraz, even more than with Cabernet, I find there is a lot of variation, so I really didn’t know what to expect from this. After letting the wine sit for half an hour, I found the aroma was dominated by earthy, vegetal hints, slightly reminiscent of something I had tasted from California. However, it had a pleasant addition of subtle wood and anis undertones, with only a touch of berry-type fruit. There was some heat (detection of alcohol) on the nose, but that seemed to fade away rather quickly. By the time I got around to sipping the wine, the heat was gone. What did remain however, were some very friendly yet full tannins that are balanced out with soft fruit and oak (15 months in French oak). The fruit displays itself in the form of subtle cherry, currant and blackberry meshed together. What I did not get is the “spice” that one would normally associate with a Shiraz, though that is not necessarily a bad thing. As I mentioned earlier, I find this grape comes in very different styles, which are influenced by everything around the grapes, totaling its terroir (the environment in which the grape grows that will affect its taste). All this, even before the winemakers get to spin their magic.

One of the pleasant surprises about the wine was its finish. I found the finish to be looooong and pleasant. Surprising for a Shiraz, frankly. But, not surprising coming from Kayoumi.

So, back to the ever nagging question. Is it worth the money? From what I’ve seen, this wine goes for about $35. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Obviously less is better, but even for a little more, this ones a keeper. My congratulations to Carmel for keeping up the quality. It makes my job...funner.

Moral of the story: Don’t be afraid to try something new, even if it’s not.