Barkan Reserve 14 Barrel Aged Merlot 2005

This is a first experience with wines from Israel, apart the overly sweet red wine that come in a square bottle. I feel privileged to have tasted sucha wine, as it is not available in Ontario or Quebec. It was bought in Israel and given to me as a gift and gifts always taste good.
This Merlot is far from the italian merlot i had the previous week. Those who say merlot is feminine would be proved wrong with this wine (and I'll come back to Merlot when I write a review of the 2006 Bordeaux Primeurs tasting).
The wine is of ruby colour with medium legs and a pleasant and aromatic nose. Hint of strawberries, tar and smoke come out at first, then comes the licorice, black olives and cedar wood. We could say there is a predominance of «black» in this wine as apart from the cedar, every scent comes from something black or dark. In the mouth, tannins and alcohol dominate the acid, but acidity is still there. The cedar will be more obvious in retronasal olfaction.
Final word, very good wine, but the casks could have been burnt a little less. I like the smell of heated wood, but it might not please everyone. It is not the kind of wine you sip during the summer.
The wine was served for Thanksgiving with the turkey. my dad asked if we could serve a red wine with poultry. Nowadays, everyone will say yes, as long as it is a light wine. But this Merlot is anything but light. What made the pairing possible was the sausage and wild mushroom stuffing. Dried mushrooms will impart a torrefied flavour to the turkey, thus pairing well with a heavily oaked Merlot.