Some wines make you notice the oak.
Some make you notice the tannins.
This one made me notice the fruit.
I tasted Yalkut HaRo’im 2024 from Ben Ami Winery at the wine festival, and almost immediately there was one thing I kept coming back to:
the fruit was everywhere.
Not sweet.
Not jammy.
Just ripe, bold and very present.
And I loved it.
The wine has a full body, so there’s definitely some weight to it, but what stayed with me wasn’t the heaviness.
It was how alive the fruit felt inside that structure.
There’s also a medium acidity that becomes noticeable as the wine moves across the palate. Enough to give it some tension and freshness, especially against all that ripe fruit.
And then, right toward the end, I got something else.
A small bitter edge.
Nothing aggressive, but enough to change the finish and stop the wine from becoming too soft or too obvious.
That little bitterness actually made me want another sip.
Syrah meets Merlot
After tasting it, I went back to see what was actually inside the bottle.
Yalkut HaRo’im 2024 is made from 72% Syrah and 28% Merlot, grown in selected vineyards around Shiloh and Kochav HaShahar.
And suddenly the combination made a lot of sense to me.
Syrah can bring plenty of character, spice and structure, while Merlot can give a blend a rounder, softer and more generous fruit profile.
Here, I think they work really well together.
You still feel that this is a wine with personality — it has body, acidity and a finish that doesn’t just disappear — but the fruit keeps pulling everything together.
The winery describes aromas of plum and black pepper, alongside ripe cherry and a rich, velvety texture.
I can definitely understand the ripe cherry and plum description.
I didn’t taste it thinking, “this is cherry, this is plum.”
That’s not really how I taste wine.
What I noticed was simply this very strong sense of ripe red and dark fruit, and only afterwards did I read how the winery describes it.
That’s always one of my favorite parts of this journey.
Taste first.
Read later.
And see where the two meet.
There’s another interesting detail
Ben Ami does something unusual with the Syrah in this wine.
During fermentation, some of the grape stems are returned to the tank. According to the winery, this adds a slightly green, herbal and spicy character and gives the wine another layer of depth.
And I wonder if that’s partly what I picked up in that slightly bitter finish.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
But that’s exactly what makes tasting wine interesting to me.
You don’t always have to identify every aroma correctly.
Sometimes you just notice that something happens at the end of the sip — and later you discover there may actually be a reason for it.
So, would I drink it again?
Definitely.
This is the kind of blend I enjoy because it doesn’t force me to choose between power and pleasure.
It has a full body.
It has noticeable acidity.
It has that little bitter touch at the end.
But through all of it, the fruit stays front and center.
And for me, that’s what makes Yalkut HaRo’im 2024 memorable.
Not because it’s trying to impress you with complexity.
But because it takes something very simple — a really enjoyable, fruit-driven glass of red wine — and does it very well.
Sometimes the fruit doesn’t need to hide behind the wine.
Sometimes it can be the whole reason you remember it.
JulVino Notes
Winery: Ben Ami Winery
Wine: Yalkut HaRo’im 2024
Blend: 72% Syrah · 28% Merlot
Style: Dry red
Body: Full
Acidity: Medium, noticeable
What stood out to me: The fruit
Finish: Slightly bitter, in a good way
Would I drink it again? Absolutely.