2008 Yarden Galillee Rom

The 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon El Rom (Yarden) was oak aged for 18 months. The youngest Cabernet vines in this vineyard date to 2004, the oldest to 1983, roughly the founding of the winery. This seems potentially quite impressive, although it is still a baby and rather unevolved. Laced with an oaky overlay at the moment, it is tightly wound, with an elegant mid-palate and fine focus. As it airs out, it shows both depth and a nice, gripping finish. I don't yet see much complexity. That may be acquired with age, but at the moment it has a very modern feel. It is quite fine overall, however, probably my favorite El Rom. Decant this to give it a chance to acquire more character. It has some potential to improve with further cellaring. There were 14,700 bottles produced. Drink now-2022. These latest offerings vary between solid middle of the road wines and excellence, but one nice thing is that Golan Heights and its Galil Mountain sibling provide some pretty nice drinking at reasonable prices. If you ignore the upper level specialty wines like the El Rom, there is value to be had here. The wines also have the virtue of generally being imported and available. Importer: Yarden, Inc., New York, NY; tel. (212) 997-9463