"For the lighter and younger wines my friend decided to serve both the "Masa Israeli" (Hebrew for 'Israeli Journey') red and white wines which are produced by the Vitkin Winery. Light and refreshing, they went very well with our starters." Yonatan Sternberg is invited to dinner and impressed with his host's Israel wine selections.
As a person who appreciates quality wine, it's always a pleasure to arrive at a dinner party where as much careful attention has been paid to the wine selection as to the preparation of the food.
Recently I was invited to such a dinner at a close friend's house. Of course I called to see if he would prefer that I bring a bottle of red or a bottle of white wine. When he told me to not to worry about it, I offered to bring a bottle of Cava (a sparkling Spanish wine produced using the same methods which are used in the production of Champagne) to get the evening started, again he insisted I needn't bring a thing and informed me that everything was taken care of. But growing up my mother taught me that one should always bring a small gift as a token of appreciation when invited for dinner, hence I decided to pick up some flowers on the way over. Now back to the wines.
We were greeted with a platter of grilled vegetables, an assortment of fantastic finger food and one of my favorites: a chilled flute of kir royal. This classic French cocktail is prepared by adding a dash of crème de cassis to a glass of Champagne and in my opinion is always an excellent way to start off a meal.
As mentioned above, the wine selection was quite impressive and offered both red and white wines which were both very approachable and not the wines that you see every day. For the lighter and younger wines my friend decided to serve both the Masa Israeli (Hebrew for 'Israeli Journey') red and white wines which are produced by the Vitkin Winery. Light and refreshing, they went very well with our starters. Personally, I prefer the white wine from this label, a refreshing and well balanced wine suggesting tempting white floral aromas along with various fruits and offering a pleasant finish.
Little did we know that the best was yet to come, my friend decided to go all out and took a couple of bottles of Barkan, Superior, Merlot, 2004 out of the cellar. This red is considered Barkan's top red and in my opinion rightfully so. Full bodied, the wine offers rich concentrated aromas of dark fruits including: black cherries, plums and hints of spice all leading to a long and well balanced finish.
After an evening like this all that is left to say is: BRAVO!!!
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