When you think of sparkling wine, what comes to mind? Champagne with its limestone soils? California sparklers with their bright sunny flavors?

How about sipping a sparkler from an ancient land, with vines grown on a site filled with concentric circles. Archeologists believe this area was used as an ancient calendar and that the alignments of rocks may have been used to determine the dates of the equinox and special ceremonies. 

This Israeli sparkling wine, Gilgal Brut, is made from a blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir grown in the cool climate of the Golan Heights. Produced in the classic Champagne method, it is aged for a minimum of one year in the bottle on the yeast.

Beyond the exotic story of its vines, the wine reveals bright lemon notes nuanced with characters of crisp green apples and pears, fresh flowers, and hints of wild strawberries from the pinot noir

Have you had Israeli wine before? A few years back, several producers came to the US and I was overwhelmed by how delicious all the wines were. I was happy to just make the tail end of Victor Schoenfeld's visit to NYC. He is cheif winemaker for the Golan Heights winery in the Golan Heights.

Now this is a relatively new region producing quality wines, among them Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Syrah,  Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and "Yarden Rom" which is a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot (percentages depending on the vintage), aged in French oak barrels for roughly 21 months and bottled without filtration. The 2006 is sold in a limkited edition of 6000 bottles and sells for $160 -- quality well worth it.

These were excellent wines ... very balanced, plus, and delicius.