Category Archives: Food and drink
2007 Casa Da Corca Douro and Vegan Meat Sauce
With Shavout coming up and the desire to take it a bit easy, I made some lovely vegan meat sauce along with quinoa and pasta. The vegan meat sauce is so easy to make and so absolutely tasty that I thought it best to put the recipe her.
Vegan Meat Sauce Recipe
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 diced onions
- 3 diced zucchini
- 16 oz. of thickly cut mushrooms
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp basil
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 packages (16 oz. each) of Yves ground soy (or the Trader Joe package)
- 2 28 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
- 1 cup (or more) of red wine
Heat the oil till almost smoking and throw in the diced onions until they are nicely caramelized. After that throw in the zucchini and saute them till they soften. Then throw in the mushrooms and cook them till they start to soften, but do not let them get too soft or browned as you want them to still have a bite. Finally throw in the spices and then the last four ingredients and cook for another 30 or more minutes until the sauce thickens, stirring often and making sure nothing sticks.
I enjoyed this over a bed of quinoa and my wife had pasta, but this goes well over any starch you may desire. It has good bite and flavor, while also being low in calories and fat.
To pair with this dish I opened a bottle of the 2007 Casa da Corca. I guess the saying, you get what you pay for really lived up to its billing. This wine was on sale during the Passover sales and this one was not worth it. The wine is fine, but not one that I wanted to waste my Shabbos wine on. Either way, drink UP if you have some and do not let it stay too long in the bottle. Either enjoy it right after you open it or save the rest to pour into a great pot of vegan meat sauce!
The wine note follows below:
2007 Casa da Corca Douro – Score: B to B+
The nose starts off with an conspicuous amount of toasty oak followed by blackberry, black cherry, a hint of raspberry, tobacco, and lovely smokey notes. The mouth is medium to full bodied with almost mouth coating integrating tannin, a large dose of blackcurrant, that is balanced with good oak extraction, earthy notes, and herbs for a pleasant mouth feel. The finish is long with citrus zest, at times, lovely espresso coffee, vanilla, licorice, and cloves. This is in drink up mode. The wine is not showing mevushal characteristics, but is quick to fade, losing its brightness and flavor profile within hours of opening. DRINK UP!
Elvi Wine Winery Tasting
Dr. Moises Cohen, owner and head wine maker of Elvi Wines, fell into his current love as part of his thesis defense of his other love - Agricultural Engineering, which he received from the Technion in Haifa. For the next 21 years Moises has used his degree and knowledge to build patented technology that allows vineyards to be remotely monitored on all aspects of the vine’s health and stress. Telemetry ranging from the vine’s overall health to how much water it has consumed and how much it still needs! It turns out that with some really cool technology a vine can tell you all the info you can ever imagine without damaging it in any way. The telemetry data allows the vineyard manager to control the water, fertilizer, and/or vineyard fans to cool or heat the vines.
Moises and his wife, Anne who holds a degree in History of Art and is a Sommelier, has been consulting with wineries, all around the world, to manage their vines and to make wines. In 2003, Moises started Elvi Wines, while continuing to being a wine consultant for wineries across Spain and South America. The duality of seasons between the northern and southern hemispheres allows Moises to help each in their own wine harvest and growing seasons.
Dr. Moises Cohen, the winemaker, is passionate about the terroir, and their winery’s name (Elvi) says it all; an abbreviation as Cohen explains it; EL (elokim or general rules or mother nature, just as you want, as you feel, as you believe) is always above VI (vino, wine). Wine is a mirror image of the vineyard and the wine maker. The more the wine maker manipulates the grapes and the wine, the more it feels and tastes fake. The more he/she lets the grapes and wine change and age naturally, the more the wine will be able to show its true terroir characteristics. All of the Elvi’s wines come from organically maintained vineyards! Further, the wines are brooding with earthy and mineral notes that show the terroir in ways that are quite enjoyable.
Wines from the weekend along with lovely meatballs and spinach kugel
This past weekend we had friends and family around the table to enjoy some great food and some pretty good wines. This week there was no wine theme, actually to be more precise, the theme was that there was no theme. The theme was Drink up or let die. I say this as I have far too much history and track record in this area, and it has been my sworn duty going forward that I would embrace and channel the work of Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher and attempt to always open that bottle in its time. To meet this need I attempt to create wine themes when there is no pressing wine to get to, otherwise, I drink the wines that are up next.
I use drink by dates of the late Daniel Rogov, Cellar Tracker, and of course, my own personal notes. This week it was time to get to some bottles that I have been worried about. I got to a couple of them, but missed out on the 2005 Ella Valley Pinot Noir, which we last tasted on some 3 years ago. We did get to enjoy some wine that we have not tasted in a couple of years, the 2001 Yarden Merlot, Ortal Vineyard, one of the finest Merlot that Yarden has ever produced, along with the 2006 Recanati Cabernet Franc, both of which have a year or maybe more left on them. Both are drinking lovely now, but if you too wish to live the motto “no good wine will be left to die“, drink it now and you will not be sorry.
I often laugh when people ask me when they should drink a particular bottle. In the kosher wine world more and more wines are being created that are built for cellaring. All that means is that the bottle you buy is not quite ready to drink, and the wine maker and winery have decided to diversify their risk and have you cellar the wine rather than them. For the most part, most wine (kosher or not) is made to be drunk within the year or two. There are reserve wines that are built to age a few years maybe 4 years at most. Then there are the a fore mentioned high-end wines that are truly not enjoyable at all from release, and need time to come into their own/peak.
The Recanati Cabernet Franc is at its true peak and can be left for another year or so, but why? Unless you have more pressing wine to enjoy – drink it now! There is only one sure thing, other than taxes, and that is – that the wine will eventually die. Why not enjoy it now. There is rarely a perfect time to drink a wine. There is just the acceptable and peak time to enjoy the wine and the rest is what you make of it! Read the rest of this entry
2010 Dalton Alma White Blend and Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken
This past week I was waffling on which white wine to open to pair with my wife’s awesome lemon and rosemary roasted chicken, which has become comfort and easy to make food for the both of us. I do go through my own mood swings in relationship to chicken and poultry, but this week I was on and truly enjoyed it as always. Along with the chicken we also enjoyed some fresh green salad and a blend of brown/red/black rice. Given the menu I wanted a solid white wine that could keep up with the chicken and rice. I was looking at opening the Dalton Viognier or the Dalton Alma, and since I had more of the Alma I opened one for the weekend.
The Haruni Family started the Dalton Winery in 1995, in the Napa Valley of Israel in the Upper Galilee. Within the massive Upper Galilee, a few areas are starting to gather fame, such as the vineyard from which Dalton sources its grapes — Kerem Ben Zimra, Yarden’s El-Rom, Ortal, and Katzrin vineyards, and Gailil Winery’s Yiron vineyard. The vineyard and winery are located minutes from each other, which is usually a great benefit to the winemaker and winery, as the winery can truly source and crush the grapes when they have reached optimal maturity. However, when there is a war going on, and that war is in your backyard, you wish you were miles away. In July and August of the year 2006, Lebanon and Israel were engaged in a bloody battle. It raged on for 34 days, before a cease fire was declared. With the winery and vineyard overlooking Mount Hermon, almost spitting distance from the Lebanese border, the winery was in the direct line of fire.
Dalton was the hardest hit amongst the Galilee wineries, but was still able to source and crush all of its grapes within a week of the cease fire. The actual damage was not nearly as bad as the winery’s inability to prune and manage its vineyard, which caused some of the vineyards (the Chardonnay especially) to fall victim to disease and hungry wildlife. However, the winery was blessed with a bountiful harvest that easily made up for the war’s collateral damage.
The Dalton Winery, near Kerem Ben Zimra, is set in the beautiful green, mountainous country of the Upper Galilee, five kilometers from the Lebanese border, overlooking Mount Hermon. Dalton is the only winery situated in this area, and can boast that it is one of the few wineries in Israel that is estate bottled, located minutes from all its vineyards. Established in 1995, Dalton is one of the few family owned wineries in Israel. The Haruni family moved from London to Israel with the vision of developing industry in the long neglected area of the Upper Galilee. Dalton started with humble beginnings in a back yard in Moshav Kerem Ben Zimra, producing 20,000 bottles of white wine. Today Dalton produces close to 600,000 bottles, of premium and super-premium reds and whites, in its state-of-the-art facility.
Starting in 2007, Dalton made Wild Yeast Viognier that was to die for. They followed it up with a vintage in 2008 and 2009. Unfortunately, they decided to stop making this fantastic wine and instead decided to blend it into the Alma Blend. I cannot honestly tell you why they are doing this. Every wine lover that I talk with speaks highly of the earlier Viognier wines. Still, Dalton decided to blend the very Viognier, still made with wild yeast, along with some Chardonnay and attempt to make a better wine. In my humble opinion, they have moved backwards. This wine was nice and clearly has yet to find its true self, but it is in no way a wine that I would score in the same league.
I hope that the Viognier comes back and that they find something to do with the Chardonnay they blend in. Until then, try a bottle of Alma and tell me what you think.
The wine note follows below:
2010 Dalton Alma White Blend – Score: B+
The nose and mouth of this wine act in equal proportions to its blend. The wine is a blend of 66% Viognier and 34% Chardonnay. The wine is a real shame, personally, because it does not come close to being the hit that the pure Viognier was, and Dalton has said that they will continue with this Alma blend, and will not continue producing the pure Viognier. The wine starts off with clear Chardonnay styling, pear, oak, cut grass, and green apple. The mouth is firm and not so round with lemon, some tropical fruit, and oak, all coming together ok. The finish is long with lemon zest, cloves, and spice. Over time the wine’s real winner comes out of hiding and does what it can to help this wine. The Viognier’s obvious stamp is made with lovely floral notes, honey, butterscotch, and lychee. The mouth finally fills out and adds in peach. The finish is lovely but not complex with hints of fig and date. This wine has so much more potential separate than combines, unfortunately this is not an example of the saying: ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’. In this case the whole is a less than the sum of its parts.
New vintages of Trader Joe Terrenal kosher wines
It has been only a few months since we last posted about the kosher wines at Trader Joe’s. The Banero is still only available on the east coast, but it remains in stock there. The Sara Bee is also back in stock on the east and west coasts, and doing really well. The prices have now stabilized, even though Moscato is going crazy in the wine world.
Sara Bee continues to taste as wonderful as always, but I cannot get the Banero Prosecco here on the west coast 
There are now two new Terrenal wines; one from Chile and one from Argentina that are both mevushal. I say this because the Spanish wines from February are not mevushal. The two new Terrenal wines continue the tradition of good kosher wine, for a reasonable price.
I am posting the previous notes as a reference, so that you do not need to go back to the older posting:
2011 Terrenal Chardonnay (Curico Valley, Chile) – Score: B++ (close to A-)
This wine is a lovely expression of unoaked Chardonnay and one that I am happy to buy often. Sure the price is also right (4.99 a pop), but price has ZERO bearings on how I score a wine. The nose screams with lemon fresche, apricot, guava, with ripe and almost sweet fruit. The mouth is really nice with sweet lemon, fig, Asian pear, apple, along with lovely and almost mouth-coating mouth. The finish is long with melon, good balanced acidity, a bit of sweet citrus zest (without the pith), along with a bit of vanilla and floral notes to close out the party.
2010 Terrenal Malbec (Mendoza, Malbec) – Score: B to B+
This wine is nice with a unique initial attack of butterscotch, along with blackcurrant, plum, and crushed herb. The mouth is soft and rich with a bit of raisin and blackberry, along with nicely integrated tannin. The finish is long and spicy along with good acidity, inky structure, sweet black cherry, spice, and vanilla on the rise. Read the rest of this entry
Four Gates Chardonnay and Four Gates Syrah
These past two weeks, since returning for Israel we have had the chance to enjoy some of the simpler things in life. In Israel, it was meat, meat, and more meat. Seriously, what else can you really enjoy, protein wise, on Passover other than meat? So, after all that carnivore activity we had no choice but to enjoy more of it! We had some of my wife’s classic slow roasted lemon and rosemary chicken. This past week we had some leftovers of whisky and brown sugar braised short ribs.
To pair with lemon rosemary roasted chicken I opened a bottle of the 2005 Four Gates Chardonnay, which was AWESOME! The wine started off very closed, but soon it turned around and made its way out of its oak and butterscotch haze to open into a tropical and summer fruit paradise. To pair with the braised sweet and sour short ribs we opened a bottle of the 2004 Four Gates Syrah. The last time we had the 2004 Four Gates Syrah, it was lovely but the weakest of the vertical. Today when we opened the wine it was fantastic! It was deep and rich with good extraction, crazy black and blue fruit, and lovely herbs and eucalyptus.
The wine notes follow below:
2005 Four Gates Chardonnay – Score: A-
This wine started off way wrong, with almost zero fruit and huge amounts of wood, along with a large dollop of butterscotch. I jokingly called it a wooden butterscotch Popsicle. Well, thankfully I waited and sure enough the wine popped out of its funk to create nothing short of heaven. The wine nose is redolent with lovely butterscotch, melon, rich butter, peach, and apricot. The mouth is full bodied, rich, and layered with rich ripe summer fruit, lemon, floral hints, Asian pear, and mango, all wrapped in good acidity and toasty oak. The finish is super long with smoky notes, caramel, nice butterscotch, with a touch and finish of cut grass vanilla.
2004 Four Gates Syrah – Score: A- to A
The nose on this wine explodes with nice blueberry, blackberry, rich earth, eucalyptus, menthol, and blackcurrant. The mouth is extracted, concentrated, and layered with layers of black cherry, mint, blue and black fruit, nice oak influence, and crazy tannin that is still integrating. The finish is long and balanced with good acidity, lovely tobacco, chocolate, vanilla, and butterscotch. Over time the wine also shows black olives and hints of tar. This is a lovely wine that has another two years ahead of it and may well be at its peak, while probably not evolving much better than right now.
Notes from kosher wines tasted in and around Israel
Before I left for Israel, I had a bottle of the 2008 Yarden Odem Vineyard Chardonnay. Normally this wine is killer. The 2009 vintage is lovely, the 2007 vintage was closed the last time I enjoyed it, but opened quickly enough and was lovely. Unfortunately, this bottle of the 2008 Yarden Odem Vineyard Chardonnay was clearly in a deep sleep, and one that would not open no matter what I tried. Humorously, when I came back from Israel, some three weeks later, the leftovers of the wine that I stored in the refrigerator, tasted quite nice!
In Israel, we enjoyed many wines for Passover and for other meals. Some of the wines were quite nice while some were just OK. The best two wines we enjoyed were the 2010 Dalton Zinfandel and the 2010 Saslove April. The other wines were fine but none of those were really note worthy. The 2010 Dalton Zinfandel showed far better than when I had it at the Gotham Wine Event. The Tulip White Franc was really nice, though a bit less Cabernet Franc-ish than the 2010 vintage. This is the second time I had the chance to taste April, when I enjoyed it at Sommelier last year, and it continues to impress with its light oak influence (they used staves) and interesting blend.
The only real downer for me was 2011 Galil Rose; it was OK, but nothing to write home about. I was not a huge fan of the Dalton Roses either, but hey I keep trying! I do love the Flam and Catsel Roses. The Tulip Just Cab and Merlot were lovely and continue to improve and show good varietal characteristics. I had the 2010 Galil Wines and they were average at best, which is OK, but again not wines to write home about. My father-in-law and I both enjoyed the bubbly Cabernet. Yes, I said I liked a semi-sweet bubbly Cabernet, because it was actually enjoyable. Sorry, to all the wine snobs out there, but the 2011 Tabor Pnimim (Pearls) sparkler, was enjoyable, unpretentious, and though semi-sweet, not cloyingly so in any way. No, I would not normally, bestow any praise upon a semi sweet Cabernet nor even write about it in a positive manner, as normally Cabernet and sweet do not logically go hand in hand, but Tabor did a good job, so Kudos!
Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to visit any wineries, but I did get a chance to see Gabriel Geller, a man I can happily call an acquaintance, and hopefully one day a friend, that now own a wine store in the heart of Jerusalem, called the Wine Mill. The wine store is located in the Wind Mill right next to the Prima Kings Hotel Jerusalem, and essentially at the corner of King George and Ramban streets. The store is laid out in a quite enjoyable and clutter free manner, with more than enough room for informal gatherings of his clients and customers. When I was there, I picked up some wines that I took home and I also had a chance to talk with both Gabriel and David Rhodes, a wine critic/writer who I have not yet had the chance to write about here in the blog, but a person who has solid wine abilities and who I have had the pleasure to talk with a few times now. The conversation inevitably came around to kosher wine, Israeli Wine, and Daniel Rogov (man I cannot believe it has been 6 months already since his passing), but hey what happens in the Wind Mill stays in the Wind Mill. I did have the chance to taste a lovely bottle of Domaine Ventura Cabernet Franc, but I did not write notes on the wine – sorry. From what I remember, it was very characteristic of Cabernet Franc, with good green notes, lovely ripe red fruit, without the raisin or date flavors, that are so characteristic of Israeli wines. The oak did not overpower though was felt and clearly present, and there was some nice extraction along with tobacco and light leather. An unofficial score would be B+ to A-. Read the rest of this entry
2010 HaSod Carmenere and 2008 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico
On the week of March 21, 2012, we enjoyed some both a simple and a nice wine. The first one was a simple wine from the Ha Sod label. The story behind Ha Sod, is a story of economics in the kosher wine world. There are many wonderful wines in the expensive price class ($30 and higher), and some decent wines in the middle price class ($10 to $30). The real problem has been finding good kosher wines in the cheap wine class.
To meet those needs Welner Wines has really come on strong to own this zip code. However, since then, Herzog Cellars and the Yarden Winery have both moved down into this price range with their own labels and wines. Yarden released the Ha Sod label in 2009 with both a Carmenere and Cabernet Sauvignon. We liked the 2009 Ha Sod Cabernet but were not as enthralled with this Carmenere. According to Wikipedia, Carmenere is a member of the Cabernet family of grapes, the name “Carménère” originates from the French word for crimson (carmine), which refers to the brilliant crimson color of the autumn foliage prior to leaf-fall. It was considered part of the original six red grapes of Bordeaux, France, but since then it is almost impossible to find in Bordeaux. However, the grape did not disappear, as Chile is now the world’s leading grower of this grape. The grape adds deep color but it lacks deep flavor and concentration.
The Terra di Seta was very nice, and just as enjoyable as the last two times we had it. The Chianti started off closed, but over time it opened to a lovely and enjoyable Chianti, and stays one of the best Kosher Chianti wines out there. Also, Terra di Seta is the ONLY completely kosher winery in Tuscany.
The wine notes follow below:
2010 Ha Sod Carmenere – Score: B
This is a new vantage for the HaSod label, which is a wine made in Chile by the Yarden Wine Company. They started this in 2009 because they needed a wine that could compete in the higher quality low priced wine market. Carmenere is a grape that does not make wine that is rich, deep, or powerful, however it makes for perfectly fine average and above average wine. The wine starts off with raspberry, plum, cranberry, and a distinct floral attack. The mouth is soft and medium in body with sour cherry, blackcurrant, integrated tannin, and a round mouth that makes for a very food friendly wine. The finish is long and spicy with nice herb, earth notes, black pepper, and vanilla. Read the rest of this entry
2006 Yarden Merlot, Odem Organic Single Vineyard
Recently, there was a tasting of kosher wines at our synagogue and one of the prize wines poured at the tasting was the 2006 Yarden Odem Merlot. The funny thing about this Merlot was that it was available in the general market last year for some 20 or so dollars from stores on the east coast. However, within a week or less, the wine sold out, only to reappear as few months later for 50 dollars a bottle. OUCH! Well, good news – procrastinators rejoice, good things really do come to those who wait! The price has returned to 28 or so dollars a bottle and it is one that is well worth hunting down.
The bottle is one of the more recent single vineyard Merlot to come to the states. This bottle is already old news in Israel. However, here in the states the wine is still not selling out and hence, the obvious conundrum that Yarden faces. If the wine cannot sell because there is not enough demand at 50 dollars maybe they can repeat their earlier success and hope that lightning strikes twice. The funny thing is that the retailers that bought the bottles at the old higher price are now stuck with them and are being undercut savagely by the retailers that just recently picked them up.
This was the first Merlot release from Yarden’s Organically tended Odem Vineyard. However, there are already 6 or more single vineyard wines ready and available for sale in Israel – and they have yet to sell through the 2006 vintage! OUCH! Talk about inventory! Clearly there is a need for Yarden to sell their wines and they are fine wines as well, but the kosher market is growing and may well be leaving Yarden behind, when it comes to these high-priced wines.
I would suppose that online retailers that had old stock will need to cut their prices to match the new lower prices, and eat the difference. Further, this wine is just one of many more single vineyard wines, that are of course sold at a premium from the normal Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Syrah, that are quite lovely by themselves and do not cost 50 or more dollars a bottle. Read the rest of this entry
Some of the best Kosher Cabernet Sauvignon and delicious Sausage Stew
This past weekend my friends and family shared some lovely Cabernet Sauvignon and some great food. When you talk about Cabernet Sauvignon inevitably there are folks who love it and some who hate it. It is the grand-daddy of the noble grapes, it is the wine that has the history and stuffing to last and cellar for many years.
Cabernet will always be the classic and default red grape that most wine drinker will reach for. Why? Because it is well know and consistent. I state this because if you buy a Cabernet Sauvignon from Hagafen Winery, Herzog Cellars, or many Israeli wineries, you may find ones you love and some you hate, but they are similar in nature. They are either green with classic graphite and green notes, or maybe they are black and red with other classic flavors, but they are not going to be massive failures or unfortunate wines. Since the start of kosher wines, all the wineries have started with the noble grapes; Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir. Some have done better with them and some have done a so-so job. Hagafen excels with their Cabernet Sauvignon that are sourced from the Napa Valley. Herzog, has been doing a really lovely job with their Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. Israel, of course has been doing a lovely job with their Cabernet Sauvignon, especially by Yarden Winery, Bravdo Winery, Recanati Winery, Castel Winery, and others. However, recently two wineries have been selling Cabernet Sauvignon as well. Four Gates Winery first released a 2005 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, a few years ago and it sold out quickly. Since then Four Gates has once again released a Cabernet Sauvignon, but this time from the Betchart Vineyard on Monte Bello Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Another and even more Cabernet focused winery – is Covenant Winery, which makes killer Napa Cabernet. They started with the 2003 vintage and has been releasing Cabernet in two or three different formats since then.
The saying, all good wine starts in the vineyard is true, but the real saying should be, the price of wines starts in the vineyard! If you own the vines like say, Hagafen or many of the wineries in Israel, than you have a chance to control the quality and the price of the wines. However, if you buy the grapes from growers, than you are at the mercy of their cost structure and what the market can bear. Sure, many wineries get into long-term contracts that assure them consistent pricing and hopefully, some control of how the vines are managed. However, as the contracts come to a close, the pricing will increase, which places pressure on the winery’s ability to keep its margin’s alive. Read the rest of this entry
