Winemaker Notes
The grapes for the Secret Reserve Petit Verdot are night-harvested from the finest vineyards in the Holy Land, and then aged in French oak barrels for 18 months, which contribute to its complexity and balance. Dark purple in color, with powerful fruit, aromas of spice, as well as intense multilayered flavors, this is a wine for those seeking excellence. Aging will further enhance this outstanding wine. Unfiltered.
This wine is Kosher for Passover
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Heady and inviting hints of smoke, chocolate and dark fruit lead on to tart plum and fine grained tannins on the palate.
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Tasting Panel
Deep garnet color. Spicy, with bright varietal flavors and smooth, dense texture; stylish and long
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Wine Enthusiast
Violet-red in the glass, this wine offers aromas of cherry pie and lavender. It is pleasant on the palate, with forceful tannins and expansive flavors of cherry preserves, raspberry, vanilla custard, violet and thyme that contract on the savory finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Secret Reserve Petit Verdot Mevushal was aged for 18 months in 30% new French oak. It comes in at 15% alcohol. Rather elegant in its overall demeanor—although hardly a "finesse" wine—this has a surprisingly bright feel, seeming somewhat fresh and easygoing, considering how powerful some of its siblings are. Underneath the wood, it is identifiable as Petit Verdot without a problem. The structure here is very good—as tends to be the case with this winery—but the tannins seem a bit better integrated. I found it hard to pick as between the Merlot Secret Reserve, the Petite Syrah Secret Reserve and this—they all have their pros and cons, and personal taste might eventually be the answer. This is probably the most graceful. The Merlot probably has the surest upside for those with a cellar.
One of the original Bordeaux varieties, Petit Verdot has a bold structure, color and aromas, which allow it to make a significant difference in Bordeaux Blends—even in modest amounts. While it isn’t planted in Bordeaux in great quantities anymore, its virtues are increasingly identified elsewhere. Somm Secret—Producing phenomenal single-varietal wines in hot and dry locations in the New World, Petit Verdot also finds a happy home in parts of Spain as well as in in Portugal’s Alentejo where it gracefully blends with the regions' indigenous varieties.
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.