My new favorite wine

When Joshua and I were in Israel, we visited the Carmel Winery in Zichron Yaakov. Carmel has recently developed a new line of regional wines (Appellation Wines), of which we purchased two bottles. We waited quite a while before opening our precious stash. The first bottle we opened was the Carmel Appellation Merlot, 2003. It is awesome. I am not a red drinker... but I fell in love. The Merlot is juicy and I don't even know how else to describe it. It was awesome with beef kabobs, but we devoured the second half of the bottle (carefully stored with a Vacu-Vin) with a Robusto cheese during a recent memorable picnic (more on that later), and I think that might be an even better matching.

At this time, during which Israel needs our economic support (as well as other types), maybe you should seek out and purchase a bottle?

The best price I've found is at KosherWine.com. If you have some bizarre desire to pay more... there are a number of places selling it in the $30 range.

Carmel is also wowing reviewers with other new wines. The ones I still want to taste are the ecstatically reviewed Carmel Sha'al Late Harvest Gewurztraminer and the well-reviewed Carmel Limited Edition 2003, a red blend.