The 2007 SHIRAZ “KAYOUMI VINEYARD” was aged for 15 months in French oak. It certainly seems very different than, say, the 2005. Quite funky, this nicely structured and otherwise elegant wine left me thinking that it was a long, long way from Barossa. It was hard to get past this wine’s aromatics, perhaps some reduction as well as other sources. If this was an attempt to mimic some Northern Rhone character for syrah, it seems to have gone a bit far. A second bottle was substantially identical. I liked the structure here, but it was hard to get past the nose. Carmel’s wholly owned boutique, Yatir, produced something not far off this, but perhaps a little more controlled. There were 13,000 bottles produced. Drink now-2016. Although these wines are imported by Royal, probably the best known Kosher Wine importer in the USA, I am advised by the winery that not all of them may be immediately placed in our marketplace. With both the Carmels and to a lesser extent the Yatirs (a boutique owned by Carmel), I seemed to smell a lot of funky notes this year, perhaps attributable to different issues, perhaps including some reductive issues, which might improve with time. It will be interesting to see where these wines go.Importer: Royal Wine Corp, Bayonne, N.J.; tel: (718) 534-0118.

An assertive cured game and sweet smoke streak permeates the bouquet of this single site Shiraz. It’s round but structured in the mouth, with fine yet firm tannins and lifting acidity. Fresh black-fruit flavors of plum and cherry abound in the mouth, while a fudgy flavor stays after swallow. ——L.B.(4/1/2012)—— 89