New for Passover 2009

First White Wine
from Layla Vineyards
Makes Passover Debut

New Layla White is a crisp semi-dry blend of half Chardonnay and half Pinot Noir – a most original white blend. The grapes were grown on mature vines in the Maipu Valley surrounding the winemaking town of Mendoza in Argentina at an elevation of 900 meters (2,953 feet) and were hand harvested. Estate bottled. Mevushal. O-K supervised.

Efron's Cave Returns
with New Reserve Series

Israel's Efron's Cave makes a comeback by taking its wines up to the next level. Two reds will premiere for Passover, new Jerusalem Hills, a Rhone-style blend of Grenache, Syrah and Merlot, aged 18 months in French Oak Barrels, Non-Mevushal and packed in 6's. O-K supervision on all new Efron's wines. The grapes for the two new Efrons reds come from mature vineyards near both Castel and Katlav. Jerusalem Gold is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

New Efron's Jerusalem White, is a Bergerac style triple white blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Semillion also aged in French Oak Barrels and new Efron's Jerusalem Rosé is a fruity but dry Rosé comprised primarily of Syrah. Great notes of raspberries, strawberries and pomegranates.

Katlav Introduces Their
First-Ever White Wine

Israel's boutique Katlav Winery located in the middle of the Jerusalem Forest is bringing out their first-ever white wine, a 2007 Chardonnay blended with 10 percent Viognier and aged in French Oak Barrels for 13 months. Daniel Rogov scores this with an 87 and says "Good balance...tropical fruits and citrus...matched by floral notes." As elegant as the Katlav reds. Non-Mevushal.

Israel's Shemesh Wines Return with Two Reserve Reds Shemesh Wines make their return for Passover 2009 with two Reserve Series wines, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Merlot both aged for 10 months in American Oak Barrels for a big, ripe, lush Napa/Sonoma "New World" style but hailing from Israel's Western Negev Desert -- grapes grown right from the sand! 2007 vintage, Non-Mevushal.

Two New Italian Wines
From the Rome Region

From Italy’s Lazio/Latium Region near Rome come two smooth old-world style wines from Castello di Cesare (Kas-tello dee Chesare) meaning “Caesar’s Castle.” The Red (Rosso Lazio) is a 50/50 blend of Cabernet and Merlot made from hand-harvested grapes and produced in stainless steel. Fruity, medium-bodied with notes of light cherries and berries. Low tannins. Grapes come from the Castelli Romani appellation. The white (Bianco Lazio) is a blend of 70 percent Malvasia and 30 percent Trebbiano and is delightfully crisp and fruity with pronounced tropical fruits, apple and pear notes. Both are 2007 (MMVII) vintage. Non-Mevushal. Under the Strict Orthodox supervision of Rav Umberto Avraham Piperno in accordance with the Chief Rabbinate of Rome and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. Available mid-August.
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New for Chanukah 2008

Abarbanel Introduces Two New
Sparkling Wines from Argentina

Just in time for Chanukah and New Year’s, Abarbanel is proud to introduce two new sparkling wines. New Layla Vineyards Sparkling is a semi-dry (demi-sec) made from half Chardonnay and half Pinot Noir with extra ripe fruit blended together to enhance the natural sweetness of the grapes. The grapes were grown on mature vines in the Maipu Valley surrounding the winemaking town of Mendoza at an elevation of 900 meters (2,953 feet) and were hand harvested and placed in small 18 kg. boxes. Grapes were harvested in late February. The climate is perennially sunny with semi-arid conditions necessitating feeding the vines with drip irrigation. Mevushal and under O-K supervision, Layla Sparkling is wonderful with desserts, sweet kugels, barbeque chicken or standing alone for cocktails and celebrations.

New Byblos Brut is a dry sparkling wine comprised of 70 percent Chardonnay and 30 percent Pinot Noir hand-harvested in February from mature vines; fermented 25 days in stainless steel with another 65 days of Prise de Mousse, (effervescence) also in tanks. The grapes were grown at a high elevation of 1,100 meters (3,609 feet) in the Tupungato sub-appellation of Argentina’s Mendoza Valley right at the base of the Andes Mountains. Excellent with finger foods, tapas dishes, appetizers or as an accompaniment to delicate white fish such as sole, halibut, snapper, striped bass and the like. Also a good match with sushi or white meat poultry. Perfect for celebrations or everyday. Mevushal and O-K certified. Produced at Argentina’s first 100-percent kosher winery.

Abarbanel Portfolio Wines garnered five medals and extremely high ratings from the World Wine Championships/Beverage Testing Institute this May. Receiving an unprecedented 95 Rating and Gold Medal was Kadesh Barnea 2006 Merlot from Israel’s Negev Region. Their 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon was close behind with a 94 Rating with a Gold Medal as well. Katlav’s 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from the Jerusalem Forest garnered a 93 Rating and Gold Medal. From Argentina, our new Layla Malbec 2006 was awarded an 88 Rating, Silver Medal and “Best Buy” designation (value for the money) and new Layla Pinot Noir received an 84 Rating and Bronze Medal. These five new medals bring the total medal count for Abarbanel Portfolio Wines up to 269 from 1996.