Origin: Central and North Golan, Galilee, Israel

Varietal: Gewurtztraminer

Winemakers Notes: The 2017 Yarden HeightsWine is a richly aromatic dessert wine showing off characters of litchi, apricot, peach and spice, along with notes of fresh flowers and orange zest. With good acidity, this sweet and intensely flavored wine exhibits delicious and lingering flavor.

Yarden HeightsWine will continue developing in the bottle, taking on alluring marmalade notes, and should stay in excellent drinking condition for a decade or more from vintage. Serve the wine alone as an aperitif, or pair it with fresh fruit and cheese or a sweet fruit-based dessert such as peach tarte Tatin.

The Vintage: While the winter leading up to the 2017 season started promisingly, with an unusually cold and wet December, total seasonal precipitation finished at only 82% of normal. The lack of late winter rain resulted in restrained vine growth and canopies nicely open to light and air penetration. After an average spring, July saw daily highs 2^oC (3.6^oF) warmer than usual. Happily, typical weather returned in August, and the absence of weather extremes led to beautiful, and faster than normal, ripening. Ending up as a relatively short eleven-week harvest, 2017 was yet another vintage of excellent quality.

Yarden HeightsWine is produced exclusively from Gewurztraminer fruit harvested from vineyards located on the cool northern Golan Heights. Hand-picked whole clusters of very ripe grapes are brought to the winery and cooled to -12^oC (10^oF) over a one-month period. The clusters are gently pressed while still frozen to gradually yield rich and concentrated juice, which slowly ferments over a few months.

The Appellation: The Galilee (or Galil) is the most northern, and generally considered the best, appellation in Israel. The highest quality area within the appellation is the Golan Heights (or simply the Golan), the coldest region in Israel. The vineyards on this volcanic plateau rise from 400 meters (1,300 feet) above sea level to 1,200 meters (3,900 feet) and receive snowfall in the winter. Golan Heights Winery is located in the town of Katzrin in the central Golan.

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