David Saleh tastes Flam's 2022 Camellia, a rare Shmita-year Chardonnay from Israel that Kedem won't export. It's pale lemon with peach, brioche, and cream notes, full-bodied with an exceptionally long finish.
Welcome to one of the Kosher Terroirs short segments that we fondly call Tasting Notes. I had the pleasure of one of my good friends from the UK visiting, David Sala. He was here to assist in recording an episode with Josh Reinderman from South Africa. And after, after being on the air, we sat and shared some wine and tasted it and described it. So, here to give you a little bit of a vicarious tasting is David Salla and myself. Enjoy. I'm having a discussion with David Sala at the moment, who came, who happened to be in Israel. And I said, hey, why don't you come over into Jerusalem?
Pleasure to listen in. Why don't we do a little review of—
I would love to—
of what we have here. Your, your, your very exciting wine you have here.
We're tasting a wine called Camellia, which is from Flam. This happens to be the 2022 edition. Which means that because it's a Shmita wine, very few people are going to get a taste of this because they're not going to export it. Kedem won't touch it, um, won't bring it out.
And we've already drunk 3/4 of it.
Yes, so that's part of the reason for the slurring in the interviews, right? Um, but it's a lot of fun.
It's a lot of fun. Do you want to talk about this one? I think I had the first vintage. I loved it. I love the first vintage, which I think was a blend, but this seems to be a 100% Chardonnay. Is that correct?
Yeah, it says but it, it doesn't always mean that.
Ah, okay.
It, it doesn't always— they don't really have to put everything on it. Uh, I'm looking— 13.5% alcohol, 100%. Yeah, so I, I think it is 100% Chartreux.
Um, but it's— it We have to describe this to the listeners.
Go ahead, please. You're the sommelier. I'm the sommelier.
You're— we have to describe this. It's— how do we describe it? It's pale lemon. It's got a medium aromatic intensity. Um, I'm gonna call some aromas out.
Peach, certainly.
It's got lemon, green apple. It's got a bit of florality to it as well, some flowers in that. That's very, very nice. Before then, you get to— you can definitely get the, um, the brioche and cream. I think, um, this has been allowed to rest on the leaves. And, uh, also getting a bit of, bit of oak. Is a full body— is a full body white wine. This is a food wine, really.
This is a full-bodied wine that really goes— it surrounds the palate. It, it fills it.
Well, let's have a go. L'chaim!
L'chaim!
L'chaim!
An incredibly long finish. I mean, it's I'm still tasting it even though I tasted it a few moments ago and what have you. It's still going on and on and on in the back of my palate. Um, it always has been a full, uh, a very long finish on this wine. It's one of the things that I always appreciated with it. Um, I love, I love the winemakers. I love the winemaker. Um, uh, they're, they're super family, the Floms, and, um They've been making some incredible new wines that are just really special.
I don't think we have enough of this style of wine, not sort of higher-end, full-bodied. It's really— I think Castel C, maybe comes into that. You've got others?
Yes, yes.
Go on, let's have a list.
I'm gonna make you— I'm gonna make you—
give me a list.
No, I'm gonna make you think.
Go on.
Um, and the only reason I'm bringing it up is because you just recently visited Um, and that Maccabeo.
Ah, I haven't had it yet. You haven't had it? No, I just got the bottle.
You didn't taste it there with him?
I, I literally tasted it on the way out because he says I had a special wine that's under the table. Tell— you have to tell us about this wine. It's in my fridge at the moment.
The Maccabeo is just— okay, awesome.
He told me it's only in 4 hotels. Kempinski. It's like in the high end. It's not easily available, right?
It isn't. He sells it to some customers right. Um, he doesn't make a lot of it. He brought it back from Spain and planted it and what have you. But the reason they call it Macabeo, I mean, is it's an interesting thing that nothing to do with the Maccabees. Yeah, it could actually be. It could actually be that it's like Chardonnay. It's like the Chardonnay. Yeah, I had this discussion with Jay Booksmom a few days, a few months ago, a few weeks ago on an earlier podcast. But, um, there is a there is a certain sense that that Macabeo actually— its origin was from here, and it was brought to, uh, it was brought to Spain, and, and now we're bringing it back. So it's, it, it's really a very full-bodied white. And what's cool is, I mean, we I was involved with a production of a wine called ASAP with Avi Davidovitz and myself and, um, and we made a white. And the kicker in the white that made it like over the top, just made it really special, was the macabre. We put some macabre into it. That was part of the blend.
Okay.
And it made it— wow. It just, just wowed the wine and it made it really special. It takes a lot of work to make a Chardonnay taste as full as this. Um, this is really fine winemaking.
You know, you drink this, this is nice and juicy. I mean, also in warm climate like this, hot now, what are we, 32 degrees, 33 degrees outside? You won't really want a white wine. I mean, you need white wine.
Yeah, no, I agree.
In England where it's cold.
Yeah.
You know, you tend to want to drink red wines, right? But, but here, uh, this is, this is, this, this, you want to drink white wine in this weather.
It's a pleasure. I, I really love it.
Thank you very much for inviting me all the way down here to participate in your, in your podcast. It's a fantastic, uh, fantastic endeavor. It's very interesting listening to. It's a pleasure what you were saying.
You know, it's a pleasure. There's, there's so many incredible, incredibly creative winemakers. Josh is just this young machine. He's like unbelievable. Um, but there's so many really incredible winemakers out there that, uh, I just feel like it's unending. There's so many subjects between the winemakers and even some of the winery owners and some of the Um, the varietals, the new varietals that are coming out that are just, uh, really interesting. Um, I'm, I'm looking forward. It should be a lot of fun.
As we are.
Pleasure.
Okay, thank you.
Enjoy Israel and have an easy trip back to England. Thank you.
Thank you.
