At the Kiddush following the brit milah (circumcision) of our friend’s grandson, there was a large assortment of Barkan wines. I brought a pair of bottles, a 2006 Hagafen Merlot, and a 2009 Harkham Shiraz. To be honest I was not impressed at all by the 2101 Barkan wines, they tasted badly cooked and prune like. In contrast, the Harkham, though mevushal, did NOT taste at all cooked. I had a few friends around me, and they all agreed.

The 2009 Harkham Shiraz was quite lovely, rich, spicy, and roasted. The wine’s mouth is rich and one that will not disappoint. I have tasted this wine before, at some tastings and I was not nearly as impressed. It may b bottle variation, or maybe it was in a funk. Either way, far better than many have made it out to be on the forum.

The 2006 Hagafen Merlot, tasted more Merlot like this time around, but still quite nice! The rich cedar, tobacco, black cherry, and cinnamon were lovely.

The 2010 Barkan Classic wines were very painful. They tasted cooked and off balance. There were four wines, a 2010 Barkan Classic Cabernet Sauvignon, which was black in flavor, along with crazy out of balance cherry flavors, nasty. The 2010 Barkan Classic Pinot Noir was a huge disappointment to me. I really like the 2009 vintage, but this one was undrinkable, again with crazy unbalanced cherry and mineral, and cooked flavors. The 2007 Barkan Classic Merlot, was downright undrinkable, a wine that can and should not be scored. The only drinkable Barkan Classic was the 2010 Barkan Classic Chardonnay; it displayed nice peach, green apple and pear flavors, along with citrus flavors and slight mineral notes. As an aside, these are all mevushal wines, and some that I would not taste again, unless forced to.

My notes follow below:

2010 Barkan Classic Pinot Noir – Score: B- to B This was a true disappointment to me, as I really like the 2009 vintage, but this one was off. The nose was fine, with cherry, mineral, plum, raspberry, slight stew notes, and chalk. The mouth was the problem, with serious cooked flavors, out of balance cherry flavors, and a bit of mineral notes. The rest is buried below the minuses.

2010 Barkan Classic Cabernet Sauvignon – Score: B- to B This too was unfortunate, but not one that I had much hope for, in the first place. Again the nose on this wine was fine, without a hint of cooked flavors, nice cherry, black currant, and plum. The mouth was all over the place with clear cooked and stewed fruit, along with out of whack cherry and plum flavors. A shame, as this is another mevushal wine that I cannot depend upon.