Israeli wine critic Daniel Rogov rates the Teperberg 1870 Winery, Cabernet Sauvignon Terra 2007 an 88 ('highly recommended'), calling it a 'traditional Cabarnet.'
Rogov describes the wine, which is aged for 12 months in real oak barrels, as 'Super-dark garnet, with generous gripping tannins and spicy wood integrating nicely to show off black fruits, those with hints of mint and freshly roasted coffee.'
This boutique wine is ready for drinking now but can be cellared until 2012.
Teperberg Israel Wineries was founded in 1870 by the Teperberg family in the Jewish quarter of the old city of Jerusalem. The winery moved to Motza outside the city limits in 1964, and was known by the name of Efrat.
For most of the winery's history it produced mainly sacramental wines for the ultra-Orthodox community. But in 1990s it began producing table wines and starting in 2002, the winery began producing wines designed to appeal to a more sophisticated audience.
Under the supervision of California-trained winemaker Shiki Rauchberger, the family enterprise recently relocated to its freshly constructed winery on Kibbutz Tzora at foothills of the Jerusalem hills. The winery has also officially returned to its original name, Teperberg.
The new winery, while still partly under construction, now employs fully modern equipment, a modern and impressive barrel room and better control over its vineyards. About 4 million bottles are currently produced annually. Interesting wines are from the Reserve, Terra and Silver series.
All of the wines are mevushal, with the exception of the wines in the Terra and Reserve series. Teperberg wineries plans to produce about 7 million bottles annually.