Jascala Winery – Aida Galilee Highlands 2011

Aida Galilee Highlands 2011 — Jascala Winery

Named after Aida — the mother of Jascala Winery's founders Richard and Nasr — this is the winery's most personal and most precious wine. In Arabic, Aida means ‘returning’: a word that carries profound resonance for a Palestinian family making wine on their ancestral land.

Produced only in the finest vintages, in quantities of just 400 to 1,000 bottles, Aida is a genuinely rare find. The 2011 is now over a decade old, and drinking at a level of complexity that only time can build.

Each variety — 71% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc — is vinified separately and aged for 18 months in French oak before blending, followed by a further 6 months of oak ageing to fully integrate the assemblage. The result is a wine of extraordinary depth, precision, and soul.

Tasting Notes

• Lush black currant, sweet raspberry jam, cherries, and plums on the nose
• Cured black olives, cocoa nibs, and cedar wood adding savoury complexity
• Warm, delicate spices and wild herbs weaving through the palate
• Long, chewy tannins building to a very long and persistent finish

Winemaking

71% Cabernet Sauvignon • 17% Merlot • 12% Cabernet Franc • 18 months in French oak per variety • 6 months post-assemblage in oak • 400–1,000 bottles per vintage • Jabal Jarmaq, Galilee Highlands, Palestine • 2011