Monthly Archives: August 2010
Elvi Wines Classico, Yatir Blend, and Eagles Landing Sauvignon Blanc
Last week I was invited by my friend to his house to taste a wine I do not have access to, as it is only available to Herzog Wine Club members. The wine is the 2008 Eagles Landing Sauvignon Blanc. Please DO NOT confuse Herzog’s Eagles Landing wines with the Iowan Eagle’s Landing Winery – that is NOT kosher!
Disclaimer – I do NOT work for Herzog, but this question keeps coming up on Daniel Rogov’s forum.
So start of tangent.
What are the Eagles Landing and Waterford Lismore Reserve wines that are popping up here and there? They are wines crafted by Herzog and Joe Hurliman to showcase the winery and give the wine club an air of exclusiveness, as these wines are not available in any other way, other than through the wine club. The wines are made in limited supply, and according to Jay Buchsbaum of Royal Wines/Herzog:
“Eagles landing is similar to Herzog reserve and Weinstocks cellar select (reserve) wines. Meaning same winemaking (and attention to grape selection) care with perhaps a slight difference and oak treatments etc than the Herzog reserve, without the ‘kosher’ recognizable brand labels. It was created as a direct request of one of our largest distributors, who recognized the, ‘Herzog reserve quality but wanted something that was not recognized as kosher, for non kosher restaurants’ (paraphrasing their words not ours). Voila, Eagles landing was born”.
In full disclosure, the Sauvignon Blanc bottle I tasted had a clear and present OU certification on the back label. I admit this is a bit different from all other Herzog bottles, which have the OU on the front and back. However, the Chardonnay bottle that my friend also received from the wine club, had ZERO kosher certification on the labels, but one was added to the bottle after the labeling was complete. A friend that I respect told me that the most recent Eagles Landing Cabernet Sauvignon was less than exciting, while the Chardonnay was nice. I tasted the Sauvignon Blanc and that was OK, but a bit funky. It is an interesting marketing idea and one that I hope gains some sea legs, as it is about time for Kosher to lose its stigma. The Waterford Lismore Reserve wines were received with a far more warm reception from my friends. I hope to taste these wines one day. Till then I will rely on my friends to keep you all up to date.
End of tangent
We were invited for Friday night to a different friend’s house, so no recipes or other designs. That said, we brought a fun bottle of ELVI Wines Classico from Spain to our friends and they shared an interesting bottle with us as well. Finally (one more), some friends of mine swung by the house and I cracked open a wonderful bottle of the 2004 Yatir Blend. We had this bottle for a fleeting moment at the Carlebach Shabbaton. This time I had more time with the wine. There is no change to report about the initial blush of this wine, but some more data about how it acts after a few more hours. So, it was a nice wine filled weekend and one that I am happy to share with you all.
The wine notes follow below in order they were tasted:
2008 Eagles Landing Sauvignon Blanc – Score: B++
The nose on this straw colored wine starts off with a nasty damp and almost petrol smelling “aroma” that dominates the nose and takes forever to blow off. Once the nose clears up, it has displays kiwi, tart lemon, slight oak, nice butterscotch (from the oak), and a balancing orange peel. The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts off tart and acidic but rounds out over time. This is not a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, and is not a bottle that will ever travel there. The mouth starts with lemon and kiwi. The mid palate flows into a round-like acidic core with orange peel peeking out from under the acid haze. The finish is long, spicy, and tart with orange peel and slight custard notes. As this wine opens, it shows far more oak extraction. The wine fleshes out with a nice bright, round, spicy, and butterscotch persona. This is not your classic Sauvignon Blanc, but then, this is not a wine that everyone gets to taste, so why not shake it up a bit. Cool.
2007 Elvi Wines Classico, Ribera del Jucar – Score: B+
The nose on this garnet colored wine, which is a blended wine of 87% Tempranillo and 13% Merlot, is ripe with plum, cherry, raspberry, and spice. The mouth of this medium bodied wine is soft with raspberry, cherry, and plum. The mid palate is bright with core acidity and a hint of coffee. The finish is medium long and spicy with more acid, soft tannins, coffee, and pepper/spice. This winery keeps delivering.
PLEASE NOTE – This is the ONLY Mevushal wine from the Elvi Wines group. All other wines from them are not Mevushal.
2003 Kiddush Hashem Syrah – Score: B to B+
This wine has a fair amount of lore, much of it not true. That said, it was a lovely wine some time ago. It is also a wine that the wine maker was still selling on his web site a few months ago. Recently he starting liquidating his stock, and it was a good idea. The bottles are hit and miss. I tasted this wine years ago and it was OK. Three weeks ago I tasted it again, while visiting a friend of mine, and it was felshy, black with ripe blackberry, nice tar, pepper, and licorice. This past week, it was not as good, though the fruit, tar and licorice were present. Still, the wine was unbalanced, off kilter, and trying too hard to make me like it.
2004 Yatir Blend (40% Cabernet, 40% Merlot, 20% Shiraz) – Score: A-
The nose on this dark purple to black colored wine is hopping with coffee to start, mint, dates, crushed herbs, rich oak, blackberry, ripe black plums, and tobacco. The mouth on this full bodied wine is concentrated with fruit that follows the nose, blackberry, ripe black plum, rich oak, along with nicely integrated tannins. The mid palate flows off the mouth with bracing acid, oak, tannin, rich tobacco, and licorice. The finish is long and spicy with ripe plum, oak, and a cloud of tobacco. This is a nice full bodied wine.
Lemon & Red Pepper Flakes Roasted Chicken, Red Quinoa, Fresh Salad, and Hagafen Ripken Vineyard Lodi Roussanne
This past week we just wanted to take it easy, so we made the wonderful lemon roasted chicken, whipped together a lovely fresh green salad, and my wife also made Red Quinoa. Red Quinoa, yep that is what I said. A few things:
1) The red version is a bit nuttier than its white sister
2) It cooks up as easily as its white sister
3) It has all the proteins and nutrients of its white sister as well
4) Finally, a mix of white and red in a single dish looks gorgeous, far lovelier than plain red or plain white. Also, since they cook at the same rate they taste as good together as they do apart.
I really love quinoa, plain old quinoa. No need to turn it into haute cuisine, simply cook it as the box states and enjoy as a replacement for mashed potatoes, brown rice, etc. It is a healthy, yummy, and lovely to look at, side dish.
The Jus De Poulet (Chicken juice) is fantastic with the quinoa. The nutty flavor of the quinoa melds perfectly with the bright and acidic lemon flavor in the jus, and the slight hint of heat (from the pepper flakes) wrap up the whole flavor profile. The fresh green salad played nicely with the overall flavor and is a great way to get your daily fill of vegetables while also filling you up with healthy stuff.
When wondering what white wine I wanted to pair with this meal, I really just went the classic arbitrator of most complicated decisions – Eeny meeny miny moe. I fell upon a bottle of 2007 Hagafen Ripken Vineyard Lodi Roussanne, a bottle I have not had in sometime, so I was quite happy. The funny thing about this bottle is that it tasted VERY different from the last time we tasted it, roughly a year ago. Last year it tasted a bit green with tea yet also fresh and lively with tropical fruit. This time, I think I liked it better with far more expressive oak, bright fruit, and no green notes to be found! The wine does seem to change a fair bit in the glass. After opening the bottle the nose has toasty oak, but as the wine opens more that oak turns into notes of fig, vanilla, Crème brûlée, and butterscotch. It may be on its way out, but it sure beats the green tea, which I am not a fan of in a heavy white wine.
The wine note follows below:
2007 Hagafen Ripken Vineyard Lodi Roussanne - Score: B+ to B++
The nose on this light gold colored wine starts off with a hit of fresh and almost plump peach, apricot, melon, zesty lemon, smoky/toasty oak, and crushed herbs. However, after time the nose becomes redolent with much of the same along with fig, vanilla, Crème brûlée, and butterscotch. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine starts off super spicy with bright fruit and toasty oak. The mouth is concentrated showing melon, apricot, and peach. The mid palate is nicely balanced with core acidity, toasty oak, and herbs. The finish is super long, spicy, and bright with toasty oak, summer fruit, and zesty lemon. As the wine opens the mouth’s toasty oak turns into butterscotch and Crème brûlée. The mid palate stays the same, while the finish adds on Crème brûlée, butterscotch, fig, vanilla, and a bit of saltiness at the very end. Funny, last time we tasted this wine, a year ago, the wine had green tea astringency at the end, this time it had a bit of saltiness at the end, but only after it had more air under its wings.
Carlebach Shabbaton at Four Gates Winery
This past week saw me hanging out with Benyo at his house for his yearly Carlebach Shabbaton. For some 15 or more years Benyamin Cantz has very kindly offered his home and space to some 40 or so souls who wish to spend time with each other and Rabbi Naftali Citron (who is currently the Rabbi of the Carlebach Shul in NY). Starting in the mid nineties, Benyamin kindly agreed to host a group of Rabbi Citron’s follower’s for a shabbaton – Carlebach Style.
This year many of the old timers were there, along with many new faces, like my own. This was a spiritual experience for me personally. Many of you who know me, know I am a religious person, but still this rustic setting, surrounded by 40 Jews who just want to get closer to God, friends, and the Rabbi, made it that much more special.
It all started on Friday day when I arrived at the winery to help prepare for the upcoming shabbos. Normally a shabbos meal is a breeze for me and /or my wife. However, 40 guests descending upon the hilltop in the middle of nowhere is not quite a normal shabbos. Along with the fact that the housing surrounding the winery and Benyamin’s house made Yosemite’s outback look like small. For as far as your eye could see around the winery there were tents upon tents. As we were preparing folks started showing up looking for a good place to drop their wares and tent. The old timers knew the best nooks, while the newbies, well they were left to fare with the second run spots. Still a hilltop surrounded by a winery, vineyard, friends, and an awesome Jewish experience is hard to call a second run spot. People would kill to be able to just park themselves down and relax among the picture perfect nature that surrounds you. The soaring Redwoods provide shade, the sounds of nature abound around you, the farm life walks about you, including horses (that show up like clockwork during the prayer service), goats, and chickens, along with the wild life as well. The feeling permeates you, no matter what you are doing. Whether I was chopping vegetables, slaving over my vegetarian lasagna, cleaning up whatever was not physically moving, implementing traffic control within the house, managing to catch a glimpse of the whitesox losing to the Orioles, it did not matter. No matter what – it was a ball and there was this palpable level of suspense and awe around the shabbos that was fast approaching. It held so much promise, mystery, and lore, that it was sure to be a grand time.
Of course Benyamin did not just wake up on Friday and start getting ready for the event. As usual, Benyamin is the cog that runs the event, but it was nice to see many step up and pitch in. As night fall quickly approached the window that overlooked the land around the winery was filled with the hustle and bustle of classic Jewish life on a Friday evening. Except here it held itself to an almost different rhythm and cadence, one filled with unbridled enthusiasm of what the wonderful shabbos held in store for them all. Ladies helped check and clean the vegetables of bugs, my most hated task in the entire world. Others made the fish or the myriads of salads that later graced the tables that evening and the following lunch and sholesh seudot.
Finally, shabbos arrived and everyone’s pulse calmed to a stillness that is reticent of a person lying on a beach in the evening watching a meteor shower. True calm and relaxation coupled with awe and excitement, waiting for the next starburst or streak of light in the sky. Things started a bit later as people arranged their lives outside. Soon we prayed the afternoon prayers and started the Kaballat Shabbat. It was at this time that I had my first real glimpse of Rabbi Citron. Until this moment I was either working, getting dressed, or leading the prayers. However, as the shabbos came into fold Rabbi Citron lit up the sky with his relaxed pace and delivery, glistening eyes, and calm and soothing voice laying out how the evening prayers would progress, culminating with a single file walk in the pitch black darkness to the overlook of the vineyard and Santa Cruz below from the peak of the hilltop, to shepherd in the Shabbos Queen, during the completion of Sholom Alechem.
The davening was led by Rabbi Citron using many Carlebach famous melodies, while also masterly weaving in some current ones as well. Once evening prayers were completed, the room transformed into what can only be explained as a version of musical chairs, except utilizing chairs, tables, partitions, and humans, all moving in a wonderful fluid dance, choreographed and masterfully managed by Benyamin and a few very nice old timers.
The meal was quickly laid out on the tables, a bounty of food, wine, and beverages. The meal started with Kiddush over a yet to be released Four Gates red wine blend. It was followed by blessing over challah. Soon, we were served an almond/carrot bisque, seasoned with a unique set of spices and flavors, including fennel/anise. This was paired with a never released 2002 Chardonnay, which is screaming with characteristics easily associated with the Meyrieux barrels the wine was aged in. The main course consisted of caper roasted salmon (awesome recipe), with the capers infusing the very flesh of the salmon, fantastic. This was accompanied by a myriad of salads and side dishes that I have honestly forgotten, there were so many! The main course was paired with a wine that I had not tasted up to that point called the 1-2 punch, a 50/50 GS mix of Grenache and Syrah. The wine was so fun, original in styling, flavor, and structure. I do not remember ever tasting a 50/50 kosher GS, so that was cool. The wine was made by Shimon & Gavriel Weiss, who started a garage winery in 2008, and have since moved a couple of times but have expanded their wines and bottle count. I hope to do a more complete write-up on them both very soon – God Willing.
The next day the day started late with a 10 AM start to prayers (give or take a bunch of minutes). The Rabbi started with a short but extremely powerful discussion of theology and the Torah portion from Rav Nachman of Breslov. The words were deep and hit home hard and often, truly wonderful. The prayers carried on for 3 plus hours, and throughout the entire service, there was a cacophony of chopping noise coming out of the kitchen, as the ladies chopped their way to the finish line, with the only proof left over being a compost bin full of vegetable carcasses and massive bowls of fresh green salad and a bunch of assorted salads, just crazy. Mega kudos go to the ladies who did all the checking and cleaning of the vegetables. However, once again it cannot be underestimated the huge round of applause that Benyamin deserves. If you can imagine a bunch of strangers showing up at our doorstep, chasing you out of your home, and setting up shop in your kitchen chopping, cutting, cooking, and cleaning, while you stood by helpless. Now I am not, God Forbid, calling the people who helped this past shabbos thugs, heaven forbid, but to Benyamin having that many people in his kitchen without being able to manage and overlook the work being done, it causes him to be uneasy and some anxiousness, both of which are not fun. Anyone in his shoes would feel the same, essentially giving over the keys to his kitchen, home, land, and sanity for an entire weekend, would drive any many batty. Yet Benyo was the consummate gentleman and host throughout the weekend, so many thanks to you my friend!
Once again the room did a quick change from prayer hall to lunch room! Once again the partitions removed, tables added, chair placements reset, and tables set with eating utensils and loaded high with food. My lasagna was served along with a lovely trout and mounds of salads and dips. The food was paired with more 2002 Chardonnay, the 2004 Yatir mix, a bottle of 2006 Four Gates Merlot, a bottle of the 2005 Red Fern Merlot, and a crazy bottle of Syraph made by the Weiss brothers. This may well have been the highlight of the day for me when everyone around the tables went around and all said a quick word on the Torah portion, or told us history of the event, or just introduced themselves. Either way it was clearly a situation where all the participants opened themselves to the group, making them openly vulnerable by allowing us to see them all in a different light. Once again Rabbi Citron orchestrated the turns, allowing us all to partake and make it a memorable part of the shabbaton.
There was even a clandestine meat cholent after lunch served outside on paper plates of course. The cholent was constructed by Gavriel before shabbos, and I helped a bit cutting the vegetables up. However, he brought the meat and stuffing – it was a killer cholent! The Weiss brothers kindly poured a bottle of 1-2 punch and it was awesome again.
After the meals and the cholent it was time for a pair of classes from Rabbi Citron and they were wonderful. The first parlayed off my daily Daf Yomi studies, while the second was more teachings from Rav Nachman of Breslov. That was followed by Mincha services and are you kidding me – more food!!!! Yep, sholesh seudot! I could barely eat. I ate my requisite slice or two of bread, so no wine consumed.
Finally, the evening came to an end with a lovely havdalah service, once again led by Rabbi Citron. My personal take aways from it all was the warmth, the openness, the nature and the slow pace, the lovely voice and davening of Ra bi Citron, his classes, and all the awesome food. It was a wonderful event and one that I hope will continue so that I can lend a hand again and partake of it powerful messages.
Normally I give notes for wine I taste, but this time, I can only state a few take aways and score for each of the wines. So with my disclaimers stated the wine notes follow below:
2008 One Two Punch (Grenache/Syrah 50%/50% Blend) – Score: A-
The nose on this blue to purple colored wine is screaming with either chocolate malt or espresso coffee (different nose between two bottles), sweet oak, crushed herbs, and lovely red fruit. A medium bodied wine that plays into a bigger wine in your mouth from its mouthfeel of integrating tannins, oak, and chocolate malt/espresso coffee. The fruit peeks out in the mid palate along with acidity that is slightly unbalanced. The finish is long with herbs, more malt/coffee, and oak. The tannins are nicely integrating creating a more plush mouthfeel.
2005 Red Fern Cabernet – Score: Drink up
This wine is in a world of hurt and needs to be drunk now. Not memorable in any way.
2005 Red Fern Merlot – Score: B to B+
After the Cabernet debacle I was not expecting anything from this wine. However, it was barely alive showing nice mouthfeel, along with oak, black plum, and raspberry. Not bad, drink up.
2004 Yatir Blend (40% Cab/40% merlot/20% Shiraz) – Score: A-
The nose on this purple to black colored wine is screaming with tobacco, oak, spice, blackberry, and plum. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is packed with blackberry and nicely integrating tannins. The mid palate is balanced with oak and acidity. The finish is super long with tobacco, spicy oak, blackberry, and plum.
2008 Syraph (85% Syrah and 15% Grenache) - Score A-
The nose on this screaming eagle of a wine is packed with tar, oak, blackberry, plum, pepper, malt chocolate, and spice. The mouth follows the nose with crazy concentration of tar, blackberry, and oak. The mid palate is balanced with oak, nice tannins, and chocolate malt. The finish is super long and elegant with more tar, blackberry, chocolate malt, and pepper. Quite a nice bottle.
For those interested in buying some of the Syraph wine or the 1-2 (One Two) Punch wine please post a comment to get Shimon Weiss email address. I do not want to post it here, as it would just mean more spam for Shimon. I receive ZERO from their business. I am not affiliated or in business with them in anyway. I will reply to your comment via email with Shimon’s email address.
Weekend off with friends, great food and wine, Elvi Wines Ribera del Júcar Adar, Tishbi Emerald Riesling, and Sol De Chile Cabernet Sauvignon
This past week saw us hanging with friends and so no recipes this week. Benyo from Four Gates Winery was there so we got to taste two wines that are very close to release, which I think will be nice wines. Our friends made some unbelievable food, including a lovely vegetable soup (no cans here), fantastic challah, tons of salads, along with a main course of Beef bourguignon, rice, and a few more side dishes that I lost track of! Absolutely awesome food and great company to boot! The following day for lunch we had fish, many more salads, roasted chicken, cholent, and gobs of side dishes.
The only thing we did was show up and bring a few bottles of wine, the wine notes are found below. I begged Benyo to bring another of those wonderful old 1996 non-sulfite Chardonnay. Once again it was a crowd pleaser with even more concentrated butterscotch!
Thanks so much to our friends for hosting us, feeding us, and allowing us to stay in their wonderful home, and making us feel at home as always!
2009 Tishbi Emerald Riesling Zichron Yaakov and Kfar Tavor – Score: B to B+
The nose on this light straw colored wine is exploding with apple, ripe peach, ripe melon, lychee, perfume, and apricot. The mouth on this light bodied wine follows the nose with apple, strong lemon showing, ripe melon, peach, and apricot. The mid palate is balanced with bracing acidity that calms down over time, perfume, and tart lemon. The finish is long and refreshing with a slight sweetness, tart lemon, melon, perfume, and bit oily texture. A wonderful quaffer that is goes great with spicy fare, light fish dishes, and soft cheese.
2005 Elvi Wines Ribera del Júcar Adar – Score: A-
The nose on this dark garnet colored wine, with slight browning on the edges, is hopping with coffee, licorice, black cherry, black plum, blackberry, rich oak, loamy dirt, and dates. The mouth on this full bodied wine is concentrated out of the bottle, that dissipates a bit over time, coffee, black cherry, black plum, and clear oak influence. The mid palate carries the concentrated flavors, and adds in lovely not yet integrated tannins, balanced acidity, and more oak. The finish is super long and a bit firm, which too softens in the glass, with tight and concentrated black cherry, oak, coffee, and dates. The wine is clearly at its peak or a bit over it. The wine is throwing sediment, browning on the edges, and showing date flavors that are not from the fruit but from age. That said, the wine is holding up quite fine with serious flavors, concentration, and oak influence. The wine does soften up a bit with time in the glass but never comes to a soft mouth palate that feels full in the mouth. rather this is a wine that is best enjoyed out of the bottle with little airing and watch how the wine evolves in the glass. It is a wine that is concentrated and will show that way. Enjoy with hearty Ragù, grilled meat, and/or hard cheese.
2008 Sol de Chile Estate Cabernet Sauvignon - Score: B to B+
We have had this wine before, but this time we drank from the bottle, leaving little time for the wine to air and show its best stuff. The nose on this dark ruby colored wine starts off hot, with some mineral and loamy notes, along with cherry, cranberry, and coffee. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has cranberry, cherry, and a soft mouth. The mid palate has integrating tannins, acid, and coffee. The finish is long and spicy, with a dollop of vanilla and a long and pleasing finish. This is NOT an admonishment of the wine as much as it is an admonishment to me for not properly managing this bottle. This wine needs time to open and allow itself to be shown in its best light, which we never let happen, so give this bottle a chance, but please open it a few hours in advance, taste at opening and then a few hours later to see the difference.
