Courtesy Yarden Rom

A graduate of UC Davis, Victor Schoenfeld has been the winemaker for Golan Heights Winery in Israel since 1992. Zelma Long, who needs no introduction in certain circles, began her career at Robert Mondavi Winery and later moved to Simi Winery before pursuing her own interests. In 2002, the two well-regarded winemakers first came together with the goal of better understanding what limited and promoted quality among nine high quality blocks of vines at Golan Heights.

Describing the Golan Heights as a Mediterranean climate in an historical landscape, for Long, her visit “…felt like [she] was in this mythical land.” She saw its unique personality – wines that reflect the area with an extremely unusual diversity of climates within a small area (50 miles x 40 miles). Calling the wines fruit expressive with soft tannins, Zelma likens the wines to a cross between California fruitiness and Bordeaux restraint. She added that they are wines of complex character and concentration.

After working on the initial project together for several years, the two decided that a natural progression was to collaborate on the creation of a new wine. They recognized that blending wine was a very personal and intimate process, one that is not always easy to share with someone, but, their experience has been positive. Their vision for the wine, ROM, was power/intensity, which comes from the grapes and gives the wine potential for longevity; finesse/balance, which reflects winemaking and is also important for ageing; and flavor/complexity, which is enhanced in the winery through blending and ageing. Overall, they sought a wine of both access and ageing.

Ultimately, they sought out a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, with each variety bringing a distinctive set of aromas and flavor profiles to the final blend. The Cabernet Sauvignon from cooler vineyards brings black cherry and ripe plum, while grapes from the warmer vineyards result in olive and dried herb aromas. Together, these grapes provide solid, consistent foundation to the wine, which is enhanced by Syrah’s darker fruit, savory qualities and roundness, depth and richness. The Merlot adds fresher notes of raspberry, fresh herbs and orange zest and is responsible for lift and fleshing out the mid-palate. From the Hebrew word for a high place, the name Rom symbolizes Victor and Zelma’s pursuit in creating a wine of the highest quality.  [See the graphs below.]

Members of the press had the opportunity to taste through barrel samples of the component wines from the 2008 vintage: Merlot from Odem, Syrah from Tel Phares and Cabernet Sauvignon from El Rom. This exercise provided a glimpse of how the individual grapes came together to create a gestalt, especially when compared with the Rom 2008 barrel sample.

The first wine to be launched, the Yarden Rom 2006, showed beautifully with aromas of plum, blueberry and blackberry. The well-balanced palate offered very concentrated, rich fruit flavors with a hint of herbal notes and firm tannins. The 2007 had brighter red fruit on the nose and was a bit more structured, while the 2008 (barrel sample) was not as integrated, with the wood notes more obvious on the palate, indicating that this is a wine that will improve with time. A limited edition of 6,000 bottles was produced for the 2006 vintage, with an SRP of $160.00.

Courtesy - Yarden Rom

Courtesy - Yarden Rom