Winemaker Notes
Deep purple in color, this wine offers intense aromas of black cherry and plum. On the palate, it is rich and full-bodied with excellent acidity. Flavors of blackberries mingle with a touch of Mediterranean herbs.
Delicious with grilled red meats and hearty stews. Serve slightly cooler than room temperature.
This wine is Kosher for Passover
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This violet-red wine proffers a bouquet of cassis and roasted fennel bulb. Flavors of dark plum, black currant, vanilla bean and anise are wrapped in a web of velvety tannins that recede into a soft, violet-scented finish.
Editors' Choice -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Wild Carignan Reserve was aged for ten months in 50% new French oak and comes in at 14% alcohol. In a theoretical sense—not every year—this is my personal favorite of Recanati's lineup, for the combination of style and quality. This seems like a pretty fine year for it. As surprisingly lush as the Marselan was this issue, this adds a layer of depth and goes one step further. The texture runs from silk to velvet and makes this very sensual at the outset. There is plenty of flavor, some raspberries supported by acidity, all finishing very dry. The fine structure supports the fruit beautifully. You can drink this right now, but give it a year or so in the cellar to pull in the wood better if you can.
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Wine Spectator
Wild raspberry and currant fruit are concentrated in this full-bodied red, with savory accents of white pepper and herb adding depth to the graphite-infused finish. Full tannins. Kosher. Drink now through 2025.
Recanati has been at the forefront of Israel’s modern wine revolution since their founding in 2000. Driven by fearless innovation, they marry international grapes with ancient, indigenous varieties in a relentless pursuit of their core philosophy: produce the finest, artisanal expressions of Israel’s phenomenal, high-altitude terroir.
Lenny Recanati spent his childhood in Israel alongside his parents, tending their backyard vines and making wine, honoring an ancestral tradition that began for the family centuries ago in Italy. As an adult, Lenny’s fascination with wine grew as he visited wineries around the world and began building an incredible personal collection. But merely collecting was not enough — Lenny dreamed of creating the wine, as he had done with his parents. In 2000, his vision became reality when he established the cutting-edge winery that would bear his family name. Today, Recanati is recognized as a leader on the Israeli fine wine scene, known for translating ancient wine culture into thoroughly modern expressions of the country’s unique terroir.
A winery that’s leading a country.
Wines that are surpassing their category.
Winemakers who are defining a style.
This is Recanati ...
Responsible for some of the most stunning old vine red wine on the planet, Carignan has an amazing capacity to survive dry, arid climates and still produce lovely, mouthwatering wine. In Spain it goes by the name of Mazuelo or Cariñena and while it may have originated there in the province of Aragón, its popularity lies elsewhere, particularly in Languedoc-Roussillon. Somm Secret—Historically Carignan did not enjoy the respect that it does today. In the mid 20th century, Carignan covered nearly 140,000 ha in Algeria, where it was made into low quality bulk and blending wine to supply mass-market demand.
With a rich history of wine production dating back to biblical times, Israel is a part of the cradle of wine civilization. Here, wine was commonly used for religious ceremonies as well as for general consumption. During Roman times, it was a popular export, but during Islamic rule around 1300, production was virtually extinguished. The modern era of Israeli winemaking began in the late 19th century with help from Bordeaux’s Rothschild family. Accordingly, most grapes grown in Israel today are made from native French varieties. Indigenous varieties are all but extinct, though oenologists have made recent attempts to rediscover ancient varieties such as Marawi for commercial wine production.
In Israel’s Mediterranean climate, humidity and drought can be problematic, concentrating much of the country’s grape growing in the north near Galilee, Samaria near the coast and at higher elevations in the east. The most successful red varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah, while the best whites are made from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Many, though by no means all, Israeli wines are certified Kosher.