A ringer for a good Puligny Montrachet, the 2014 Blanc de Castel is a rather solidly built chardonnay. Assertive flavors, and while the oak isn't really heavy, it is quite evident, a nearly Californian style (one person felt it was buttery, although to me it stopped short of that point). Would be a very good match for fish served with a creamy sauce. Honestly, I am torn between 88 and a slightly higher score; I'll go with 88 but for my own taste, this was maybe worth a hair more. (I notched it down because several others felt that the wine was just a bit overdone, and this was a group of very sophisticated wine drinkers, so I sort of trust the consensus.)

Very dark, although I noticed that the rim was just slightly tawny. Waxy aromas of dried cranberries on a base of ripe black cherry, musk, garrigue. The musky aroma is beguiling and I kept coming back, as did others (many called it "spicy" but this is not how I use that term). Lovely balance, rich long flavors, mineral lift in the drawn-out finish. Quite a successful wine, nearly mature.

A genuinely great bottle, best from Castel in my experience to date. Medium brick red, with a nose dominated by cassis but showing a distinctive eucalyptus note. Some slight reductive hints bring an enjoyable complexity. On the palate, very young and sweet, full bodied and surprising tannic grip: the wine has a significant evolution ahead of it. Improved steadily with air over the course of the dinner. Outstanding Israeli red from a top producer.

This wine was very slightly corked; I feel that I can review the bottle, but it would be even better from a bottle with no TCA. Very drinkable now, nose has a hint of mint, but then is dominated by ripe currents and spicy toffee. Flavorful and rich, with a mushroom/forest loam character on the tail of the finish. This bottle probably merits 93 or 94, if it weren't for the corking.

I loved this wine. Dark purple, with a lovely nose that just leaps from the glass. Sweet cassis (I'm reminded of the sorbet they make in Paris), brioche, hints of fennel seed. Palate is fresh and powerful but shows great grip. The flavors are intense: ripe cabernet, but also sweet roasted ripe tomato. Early maturity, but will continue to develop nuances for another 6-8 years. Got better and better in the glass, clearly WOTN for me.

This is a wine that I initially rated higher, maybe 95, but then notched down (and if I could enter 93.5 as a score, I probably would). At any rate, the ROM does something I find a little questionable: the wine is a blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Since CS is an assertive and powerful grape, especially in the Israeli highlands, the Syrah needed to be powerful too. But CS shows its fruit late on the palate and Syrah early, so for me the ROM has a strange profile, where you first encounter the Syrah, then it fades back, and then the CS sort of surges into prominence. I've encountered such blends before, but have never found them completely balanced, for that reason, and as the wine opened, that impression of a two wines in one glass became steadily more evident. And yet the wine was delicious and impressive, hence the high score.

The wine has a blackish purple hue, absolutely impenetrable. The nose has two themes: that pure core of blackberry liqueur and then a sort of crème de cassis from the cabernet. Some surmaturity on the syrah, some menthol from the CS or merlot (it has a touch of merlot). Flavorful, really very flavorful, lifted acidty, long finish. Can age longer. As noted, my score was sort of headed downward through the evening: 95 at first, then 94 after two hours, perhaps moving towards 93 had the wine been open even longer, all because of this issue of whether the two cepages knit together to give a properly balanced wine.

A lovely dessert wine, pale yellow in the glass. Recently bottled, and as sometimes happens, the nose is currently rather shut down, and shows as muted and dusty peaches or perhaps yellow gooseberries, but the flavors of orange muscat simply coat the palate, really delicious to sip. Quite sweet, long finish. They describe this as Gewurtzraminer but I find absolutely none of the characteristic Gewurtz spice and oil (I would have guessed that this was a sweet Semillon). A great pairing with chocolate cake. If you own this, hold for a year to let the nose reopen.