Domaine du Castel, Grand Vin, Judean Hills

Top Israeli CS tasting : good but below expectations for a Castel Grand Vin of 10 years...

2007 vintage

Yekev tasting. Aged gracefully. Mushroom nose. Still balanced. Grippy tannins.Impressive!

2002 vintage

Top mature Israeli wines (my home) : excellent wine

2007 vintage

This wine is a blend of blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. What a nose, intoxicatingly insane with rich layers of mushroom and truffle, followed by lovely graphite, dirt, earth, and depth with dark fruit, cherry, and herb. Wow what a body with deep structure, searing tannin and acid, showing perfect balance with layers of concentrated rich blackberry and cassis, showing still nice extraction and power, with leather, spice and mouth draping velvety and insane …

2007 vintage

Opened during last Passover day. Full body, deep ruby red color. Intense black and red fruits, spicy and peppery aroma complements by cedar wood. Black cherry, dewberry, black olives and dark chocolate on the palate, extra-long spicy finish. Powerful, rich and bold structure, velvety texture, still juicy, complex, well balanced, gentle acidity, tannic. Food friendly, best match is meat or hard cheeses – tasted with Reypenaer VSOP. Serve 18º - 24º. Open half hour in advance. Drink now.

2007 vintage

Domaine du Castel, Grand Vin 2002 (magnum): This was enjoyed over two days on Passover, from a bottle that was stored in a professional, temperature-controlled cellar since release. A blend of mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, completed with Merlot (approximately 70-30% respectively) and aged for about 20 months in new French oak barrels. Deep garnet in color with a ruby hue, the nose features notes of wet forest floor, ripe black berries, black currants, with a touch of sweet oak and chocolate. …

2002 vintage

Still going strong, no sign of getting old. Cedar, red fruit and a juicy, chewy texture that makes it both balanced and food-friendly. Excellent pairing with slow cooked leg of lamb.

2007 vintage

Domaine du Castel, Grand Vin 2007: A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Very dark garnet in color, with on the nose crushed black fruit, wet forest floor, saddle leather and bakers chocolate. Full-bodied, with on the palate blackberries, cherries and cassis followed by notes of earth, graphite and smoked meat, medium-plus acidity and still powdery tannins that wrap the mouth while highlighting tobacco and dark chocolate on the long and generous finish. This wine …

2007 vintage

This is just wonderful now. Popped and poured. Lovely cedar notes with a core of red berries, velvety texture. Fine persistent tannins and a medium to long finish. Drink now or over the next 3 years.

2007 vintage

Top Israeli wine tasting from Enomatic (Wine Depot) : surprisingly, very ripe fruits, (already at this a young age) mainly plums, aroma full bodied, soft tannins, good acidity level, very good balance, rich flavours, with pleasant long aftertaste. lacking the Bordelaise secondary & tertiary aromas that are typical to other vintages of this wine.

2007 vintage

Still young, very interesting

2007 vintage

In the glass, this wine is dark garnet in color. The nose consists of a layer of smoky oak that partially veils notes of plum, blackberry and black licorice. The palate offers a similar experience: a fair amount of smokiness parts way for ripe blackberries and black currants galore. This wine is medium-to-full bodied with an extraordinary lush mouthfeel, soft tannins and somewhat dull acidity. The finish is long with a note of dark chocolate and a hint of lemon …

2007 vintage

Elegant but extracted. Was a tad green at first, notes of cedar and blackcurrant, but red fruit moved to the foreground with a bit of air. I think I will wait with the next bottle at least a year - this will improve.

2007 vintage

oak vanilla aroma, balanced fruitiness, still quite young

2007 vintage

fruity, pyrazines medium palate, herbs

2007 vintage

Richly extracted and elegant wine, it began with strong cedar overtones and the high acidity that seems to characterize Castel reds, but smoothed out nicely in a decanter. Drank with Rosh Hashanna dinner 2010, and felt the depth was spot on, but the complexity has not really set in yet. If it indeed does become more complex it may be worth a higher score, but based on my limited experience, I have to assume that it won't become more interesting, …

2007 vintage

elegant & qualitative aroma, strong in taste, still crispy, young & tannic. High potential.

2007 vintage

Domaine du Castel Grand Vin 2000-2007 vertical tasting (Raab at Burgatta) : high potential wine by the aroma, still very closed in taste. needs further aging of 5-8 years.

2007 vintage

Domaine du Castel Grand Vin 2000-2007 vertical tasting (Raab at Burgatta) : The worst of Castel Grand Vin in recent years. Over the peak, unbalanced and not of the level of this winery.

2002 vintage

My last bottle of this groundbreaking wine. The first kosher castel and one of the first top kosher boutique wines in Israel. If GHW is credited with starting the kosher wine revolution, Castel should get a good share of the credit for starting the kosher boutique revolution, which brought us Yatir, Ella Valley, Bravdo, etc. Just past it's peak, but still drinking well - some of the body is gone, drink it if you got it.

2002 vintage

In the nose - a lot of alcohol, ripe fruit and chocolate. Round and well balanced. Very good (64$).

2007 vintage

Tasted at the domaine with Eli Ben Zaken the proprietor. This is the finest Castel I've tasted to date. Highly structured, with ample acidity, bright red fruit, pencil lead and a hint of toasted oak. Still needs time to fully integrate, but the tannins are perfect - firm, tongue-coating and fine, but never austere. I expect this to start its drinking window in 2012, and continue to 2020. 93+

2007 vintage

Well aged and fully mature. Exciting for the novelty of enjoying the first kosher vintage of Castel Grand Vin. Clearly at its peak or just past, still excellent flavors, but lacking the depth of more recent vintages.

2002 vintage

I have to say that the result was somewhat disappointing. This is clearly a well-crafted bottle, but I felt it had too much tannins at the beginning, and when the tannins setteld down, it was replaced by an almost bitter note. Don't know if it makes me uncouth, but I enjoyed the 2003 Carmel Limited, 2002 Segal's Unfiltered, and the 2003 Recananti RSR much more. 3.5/5 stars.

2002 vintage

great

2002 vintage

Are you sure?

Domaine du Castel, Grand Vin, Judean Hills

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews