Have You Tried A Marawi Wine?

I love to get the opportunity to try grapes that are new to me. The Marawi grape is one that I had not even heard of before my introduction to it. The ancient white grape variety is indigenous to the area of the Middle East which roughly covers Israel, Palestine and Jordan. Marawi is also known by another name, Hamdani. It was likely a wine much like this which was used in sacred services in the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem a couple of millennia ago.

The Segal Winery has been around since the 1950s, when the Segal family gave up their distillery and moved into wine. Today it focuses on its Israeli heritage and produces a range of wines that are well respected in the region.

The 2019 Segal Native Marawi was made by winemaker Ido Lewinsohn, a Master of Wine. Alcohol is low, at only 11% abv, and the retail price is $25. The wine is labeled as kosher for Passover and non mevushal. 

I'm guessing that this wine was given some sort of oak treatment, as the color is quite golden and the nose shows some oaky notes. There is also a strong sense of mango and other tropical fruits on the nose, along with an almond nuttiness. The smell puts me in mind of a cross between an old-style California Chardonnay and a Roussanne. The palate shows a lot of savory salinity, a somewhat subdued acidity and a rather full, oily mouthfeel. It's a fairly complex wine, and a delicious one, too. 

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