Category Archives: Kosher Rose Wine
Herzog International Food and Wine Festival 2011 Results
Well 2011 has come and gone and I am finally getting the chance to write up the 2011 International Food and Wine Festival (IFWF) that was held at the Herzog winery in Oxnard. In some ways it was the best ever and in some ways it was not. To start, 2011 was the fourth incarnation of this event and each time it has been well worth the trip. This past year’s event, in many ways, was the best. The food, as usual, was fantastic! The food is catered by Chef Todd Aarons, the head chef of the Tierra Sur, the world-class restaurant that is in the Herzog Winery. As usual, the food that Mr. Aarons and his staff prepare the event is bite size or a bit larger format, food that easily fits on a small plate. Essentially, think of them as normal or slightly large tapas, depending upon the food in question. As usual, the tapas were just divine, and as usual I always get the scarps. I say that because, I want to finish tasting the wines before I eat the awesome food, which would seriously inhibit my ability to write coherent wine notes. Of course, there is never a lack of good wines to taste, so essentially, I always eat whatever is left over as they are winding up the food and wine service. It is a mad rush to get some pictures and eat some food – truly sad, and totally my fault!
This past year’s event was even larger than its predecessors. As usual, the Herzog winery was fully decked out and expanded in the back by adding on a few heated tents. Normally, the French and Israeli wines were poured from the back room and the tent, behind the back room, which itself abuts to the parking lot behind it. This past year, they expanded further by pouring only Israeli wines from the entire back areas, moving Capcanes to the Spanish and Italian section, and moving all the French wines to its own room – the Herzog Situation or Conference room, which is off to the right from the entrance, essentially on the other side of the building. Some may look at that and say they relegated the French wines to the “basement”, but the way I see it, Royal has SO MANY wines to show off from its portfolio, and only so much room in the winery that they chose the best holistic group they could that would not look too small or take up too much room, in the conference room, and that fell to the French wines.
This was the first of the, not so good points, and that was the lack of communication around this change of venue for the French wines! I totally understand the complexity of it, and there was signage. However, given the drastic change that was in affect, a bit more information for some would have been good. I found myself telling many people about the new location for French wines, that they thought were AWOL for 2011. That said, I think this will not be an issue in 2012, as the event will be moving from Oxnard and the Herzog Winery to LA at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Century Plaza!
Of course, with all the room taken up by wines and wonderful food, there still needs to be place for the humans and this was issue number two, which again will be fixed in 2012. That being, there was very little room to move about as the evening moved on. I found myself having to find a corner to just write notes, let alone not to feel claustrophobic, which is a problem I do not normally exhibit. That said, I hope that the new venue will allow the event to stretch its wings and soar to higher heights with more space and more opportunities to showcase its wonderful food and wines.
I truly believe that 2011, was the first year where the wines totally out shone the food, excepting for 2008, when the French wines were truly off the hizzy. This is not in anyway a slight to Aaron’s food, rather it is a compliment to Royal wine portfolio, that has now reached world class, and something I am sure they are extremely proud of. I do not need to repeat the story of Herzog, which can be found in the middle of last year’s post, as that would be just repeating myself. I just hope you read this and it grabs you enough to buy some tickets that are going really fast for the 2012 version of the International Food and Wine Festival which will be happening in LA this year – enjoy the notes. I need to add my personal thank you to the entire Royal and Herzog staff for putting together such a great show, and much luck on your new 2012 event!
The wine notes follow below, in the order they were tasted:
2007 Domaine l’OrDeLine Chateauneuf du Pape – Score: B+ to A-
Would love to know how Herzog pulled this one off, and who is the negotiant for this wine. I found a lovely write-up about the winery and the name, anyway, on to the note.
The nose on this light gold colored wine is hopping with kiwi, grapefruit, lemon, gooseberry, mineral, apple, and white peach. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is rich with white fruit, tropical fruit, and mineral. The mid palate is round and balanced, with nice spice and mineral. The finish is long with clean yet round flavors of of fruit, spice, mineral, and bramble. The wine is so classic in its minerality and clean lines yet ripe and luscious. Read the rest of this entry
Flam Winery – The venerable European-styled family boutique winery, that is now kosher
Our culture is very quick to exaggerate for the sake of sensationalism and many in the wine industry press or bloggers have never missed a chance to prove it. Still, every so often we get it right! Use the word boutique in conjunction with a winery, and everyone from Mondavi down to your local corner Garagiste, will lay claim to being one. If you then throw in the terms family owned and European styled, believe it or not, you can still find many who are willing to lay claim to them as well. Thankfully, I was able to spend some quality time at a perfect example of exactly what we are talking about, the Flam Winery, in the rustic Judean Hills.
In a previous post concerning Ella Valley Winery, I have already discussed what I believe to be the definition of a boutique winery. In a sentence or more, it means a crazy (in a good way) level of oversight from the mundane to the essential. Of course, my take leaves a large enough space to drive a semi-trailer through, as exemplified in these retorts to my post. With that said, to me Flam Winery exemplifies many of the aspects of what I look for when talking about a boutique winery. Yes, they are smallish, at some 120 thousand bottles a year, along with very tight oversight of their vineyards. Flam leases five vineyards throughout the country, three in the Judean hills area and two in the upper Galilee. The vineyards are leased so that Golan Flam, the head winemaker, can work hand in hand with the vineyard manager, and know that they will both get what they want. The vineyard knows it will be paid on a consistent manner, per acre. While, Golan knows that the vineyard will be managed with quality as the benchmark and not quantity. Also, Golan has the opportunity to work hand on with the vineyard manager to maximize the potential of the grapes, in the direction that he thinks is most beneficial to the vineyard and the winery.
There are a few famous family owned wineries, including Castel Winery in the Judean Hills, and Tulip Winery in the Galilee. Flam Winery, of course is also on the short list of quality family run wineries. Flam Winery, which was started in 1998, is a personification of Golan’s dream to create an Israeli wine estate, focused on premium quality wines. The dream was hatched after graduating from Hebrew University with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture, on a trip through Tuscany, Italy in 1996. While on a fascinating tour amongst the splendid wineries of this enchanting region, Gilad & Golan decided to build a boutique winery in the Land of Israel, which should be surrounded by superb vineyards, and would be the source of the best possible Israeli wines. Golan returned to Italy to get his Master’s degree in Enology, and worked at Carpineto Winery in Tuscany, and in Australia as well. In 1998 Golan returned to Israel to be the wine maker of Flam, and joined forces with his brother Gilad, a successful lawyer and businessman, who runs marketing and Business Development. They recruited their mother, Kami, a successful businesswoman to be the winery’s CFO, and they leaned heavily in the beginning on their father, who was then the head wine maker for Carmel Winery.
2010 Dalton Rose, 2010 Golan Moscato, 2009 Bravdo Coupage
This past week was the last week in Israel, and we swung by the Bravdo Winery on Friday. I picked up a bottle of the 2009 Bravdo Coupage, which is a melange of 40% Cabernet Franc, 33% Shiraz, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon. When I was talking about this lovely wine with friends, I compared it to one of my favorite dishes, Puttanesca. There are many non-sequitur ingredients in Puttanesca that if ignored or left out ruin the dish. For example, the anchovies; add to much, and it ruins the dish, put in too little or non at all, and the dish is flat, but in the correct proportions, it is magic. It adds depth and richness to the dish, without overpowering it. Same goes for the 2009 Bravdo Coupage, the Cabernet is nice and somewhat noticeable, but it real purpose is to hold the entire, non-sequitur blend together. Cabernet Franc and Shiraz are not common bed fellows, but with the Cabernet, it all becomes a fantastic harmonious whole!
Also, we did get a chance to re-taste the 2010 Dalton Rose, and it did show better than in the previous tasting. The main difference was the finish, it was still shallow, but the tart acid lingered long. The 2010 Moscato was lovely again, with nice honey, pear, rich mouthfeel from nice residual sweetness, and slight bubbles, all of which caused the bottle to disappear quickly.
This was not the first time we tasted the Bravdo Coupage, we tasted it in April, at the Gotham Wine Event. Some of the times I wonder about wine tasting, my abilities and what we sense in wines. It is really great to taste a wine a second time, and without looking at previous notes, make new ones. I am happy to state that the wines notes once again are pretty good, and this wine is truly a monster and one that should be ready for true drinking in 6 months or a year. Stock up on the four red Bravdo wines Cabernet, Shiraz, Merlot, and Coupage), they are great, and wines that will be here for at least four or more years.
The wine notes follow below, thanks so much to my hosts and dear friends:
2010 Dalton Rose – Score: B+
The nose on this rose colored wine starts off nicely with peach, yellow apple, plum, strawberry, floral notes, lemon, and ripe and sweet kiwi. The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts off nicely but ends with a slightly deficient finish. The mouth starts with more yellow apple, plum, peach, kiwis, flowers, and strawberry. The mid palate is balanced with nice acid and a bit of orange peel. The finish is a bit shallow, but ends fully with a lovely tart, strawberry, and orange peel finish. I am happy we tried another bottle.
2009 Bravdo Coupage – Score: A- to A
The nose on this deep black colored wine is rich with mineral, herbaceous, lovely floral, black cherry, and raspberry from the Cabernet Franc, heavy date, tar, and rich plum from the Shiraz, along with blackberry, alcohol, and rich chocolate. The mouth on this full bodied, rich, and layered wine is concentrated with mint, floral notes, ripe plum, raspberry, dates, and massive rich tannins that coat the mouth and make the wine feel even bigger. The mid palate is rich and follows the mouth with nice balanced acidity, chocolate, mint, raspberry, dates, vanilla, cedar, tobacco, and rich tannin. The finish is super long and rich with cedar, tar, raspberry, plum, heavy tannin, lovely vanilla, tobacco, and rich chocolate.
Over time the nose changes to expose rich cedar, tar, chocolate, crushed herbs, blackberry, and dates. The mouthfeel is still rich with softer tannins, ripe date, blackberry, tar, and crazy inky structure, along with nice plum. The finish is super long and rich with black olives, dates, blackberry, vanilla, cedar, chocolate, all the while taking a long stroll with a fat stogie in its mouth and a rich lather coat. This is a lovely wine – enjoy it for the next 4 or so years, but you can wait another 6 months till you can really start to enjoy it.
Golan 2010 Moscato – No Score – enjoyable
I again did not have the ability to note down the particulars about this wine, but it is a lovely and rich wine with nice honey, pear, rich mouthfeel from nice residual sweetness, and slight bubbles, all of which caused the bottle to disappear quickly.
2010 Tulip Just Cabernet Sauvignon, 2010 Dalton Rose, and 2010 Golan Moscato
We were hanging with friends this weekend and we brought over a few wines and they were so kind to host us for the Shabbos. These are the wines we enjoyed. The wines were all from the 2010 vintage, which was a total accident, but funny. Also, there was a wine that is all new to the kosher world, Tulip Winery. Tulip is a winery that has long been one of Israel’s top wineries. On an aside, the 2010 Dalton Rose had no finish, and was somewhat of a dud. I am not sure if it was the bottle or me, but clearly others like this bottle and I did not have the same wonderful experience. I will try this bottle again soon, so that I can either corroborate or change my tasting notes.
In 2003, the Yitzhaki family fulfilled a special dream of theirs and established a boutique winery that combines top quality wine production, alongside contribution to the community. The family chose to locate the winery on a hillside, in the northern edge of the Carmel Mountain, in a small pastoral village, Kfar Tikva, overlooking the magnificent views of the Jezreel Valley.
Kfar Tikva – “Village of Hope”, is a community settlement for people with special needs, which strives to allow the disabled community to develop and realize their potential. The wonderful combination of the village’s vision and the family’s desire to make wine, resulted in an exciting wine industry model that employs members of the village and provides them with a business platform that integrates them in the labor force, just like any other person.
Tulip Winery produces about 100,000 bottles of wine per year, sold all over Israel, and in several countries around the world.
There was a very long conversation on Rogov’s forum about Tulip going kosher, you can find that here.
Thanks so much to our wonderful friends for hosting us over this past Shabbat, my wines notes follow below:
2010 Tulip Just Cabernet Sauvignon – A-
The nose on the dark garnet colored wine saris off closed but quickly explodes with chocolate, cedar, tobacco, black currant, raspberry, plum, and vanilla. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is rich in the mouth with almost mouth coating tannins, nicely integrating tannins, raspberry, black currant, almost tar flavors that remind me of netofa’s blend, and plum. The mid palate flows off the mouth with lovely acid, more tannin, cedar, chocolate, tobacco, and tar. The finish is super long and spicy with lovely acid, chocolate, plum, black currant, and vanilla.
2010 Dalton Rose – Score: B to B+
The nose on this rose colored wine starts off nicely with peach, quince, plum, strawberry, floral notes, and ripe and sweet kiwi. The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts off nicely but ends with a complete dud. The mouth starts with more quince, plum, peach, kiwis, flowers, and strawberry. The mid palate is balanced with nice acid and a bit of orange peel. The finish is a nowhere to be found. There was no real outward sign of impact for this bottle, but I will try another bottle soon.
Golan 2010 Moscato – No Score – Just to say it was nice and pleasant, and a fine Moscato!
2009 Baron Herzog White Zinfandel
For full disclosure I love what Herzog Winery and Royal have done for kosher wine. Still, come in now Herzog! I know you produce an obscene number of White Zinfandel bottles, and that it is created for the absolute lowest common denominator, in terms of your target market. Still, can you PLEASE FREAKING update your wine note on the back label!! Are you kidding me! Cotton candy. First of all that was a wine note that was perpetrated MANY YEARS ago by someone, if the lore is true, that does not work at the winery any longer, or just started (at that time), or may have returned, whichever version is correct 
Further, it IS NOT EVEN TRUE!!!! Sorry, yeah I drank some of this wine, get over it guys. For those who have been spared from reading the back label, or could not give a darn, it reads as such. Disclaimer, I bought the bottle, please do NOT send lawyers my way for replicating the incorrect and useless data from the back!
Aromas of strawberry and cotton candy make this wine remarkably versatile.
I will stop there, there is other text that talks about its crispness, which to be fair is somewhat true, though with all that perceived or maybe actual residual sugar, it is hard to see through the sweetness to the feel crispness. I could see how folks could think the wine has strawberry but in my opinion that is not strawberry but rather grapefruit and high sugar, but heck, that is my 2 cents!!
Now, originally, I placed this post on Daniel Rogov’s forum. I stated that I would replicate the posting on this blog tonight, God willing, and may the Wrath of Kahn keep far away from me!! Seriously, I know I am dating myself and what was Ricardo Montalban thinking! That movie does NOT age well!!!
2009 Herzog White Zinfandel – Score: B-
The nose on this light pink colored wine is its only true redeeming feature, with nice citrus, ripe and crisp grapefruit, lychee, over the top orange sugar drops, and slight floral characteristics. The mouth on this semi-sweet and light bodied wine has grapefruit, sugar drop, and lychee on the mouth. The mid palate has enough acidity to balance, along with more grapefruit and sugar drops. The finish is short with citrus, sugar drops, nice acidity, and lychee. Yeah, it works and that is what matters. Still, sorry, no cotton candy to be found. Maybe there was cotton candy or strawberry in previous vintages, but not on this one.
P.S. Yeah I have donned a firefighter’s suit in advance for God only knows what is in store for me, from all sides!!
Sausage Stew, Spinach Kugel, and a lovely assortment of kosher wines
Well we finally got back into the saddle and had ourselves a gaggle of friends and family for a lovely Friday night dinner. The menu was fun to create as we needed a recipe that could be eaten by both carnivores and vegans 
After going through our recipes, we fell upon a decent idea, making two of the same dish, one with meat and one with a suitable substitute. The best option for that direction was our Sausage Stew recipe, the carnivore version was made with Neshama’s sausages; Breakfast Delight and Country Apple, and the vegan version with Tofurky’s Italian Sausage. The cool aspect of making the same recipe for both types of diets are that the dish stays the same, as does the recipe and ingredients (other than protein), along with same timing for the vegetables, and same completion time. In other words; cooking made fun and easy.
We started with a course of smoked salmon, green and black olives, hummus, and my wife’s killer whole wheat challah. We followed that with the main course of the two stews, while my wife made some spinach kugel (parve souffle), along with some nice fresh green salad. The wines were paired well, I think. Some were clear winners, while some were not perceived by all as winners during the meal, and then there were the filthy, sick, and wild wines that were winners at the dinner and after. The winners were the 2001 Capcanes Peraj H’Abib, which is in the DRINK up state, enjoy it before you regret it! SUPER kudos go out to the Covenant Winery, who also had an entry in the winner’s circle, their 2003 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, which was from their maiden voyage. I am so happy that I held on to it to be enjoying it now. Finally, to be honest I whiffed on two wines; the 2009 Herzog Petite Sirah Second Edition and the 1996 Four Gates unoaked Chardonnay! Talk about messing up! I did not like either when we opened them, but WOW did that change fast. The two of them were drinking lovely a few hours later, while the Petite Sirah was better the next day.
Finally a friend of ours brought a surprise, a Kosher Akhasheni Georgian wine! The grapes used in this wine are called: Saperavi from the Akhasheni vineyards of the Gurdzhaani district in Kakheti, a province of Georgia.
The wine notes follow listed in the order they were drunk:
2006 Galil Mountain Winery Pinot Noir – Score: B (DRINK UP or Cook!!!)
Truly a shadow of its former self. It is dead and dying quickly, all at the same time. Some liked the wine, but not me. The nose on this dark ruby with serious brown halos colored wine has notes of dark cherry, aging raspberry, barn yard notes, vanilla, and stony rocks. The mouth on this medium bodied wine died off quickly with deep minerality, dark cherry, raspberry, and vanilla. The wine tasted old and dying, its structure was spicy and brambly with minerality with dark red fruit and still nice acid.
1996 Four Gates Unoaked Chardonnay – Score: B++ to A-
Wow this wine was clearly not on my radar, and was a really nice surprise from Benyo; I did not know it existed. We have posted in the past about its bigger oaked siblings (sulfur and non-sulfur), but I had no idea this one was lying around in the Four Gates cellar. The nose on this wine did not start nicely out of the bottle, but heck, how do you think you would smell if you were lying around in a dusty cellar for 15 years! Two or three hours later this light gold colored wine was hitting its stride, with clear and lovely notes of pineapple, grapefruit, lemon, citrus, white peach, and lychee. The mouth on this full bodied wine was channeling it inner nose, with pronounced pineapple, grapefruit, citrus, and peach. The mid palate was packed with core acid and lovely fruit. The finish was long and luscious with more summer fruit, pineapple, and a hint of grass and/or minerality.
2009 Herzog Petite Sirah - Score: B++
The nose on this black colored wine starts off closed and very unapproachable. However with time, the nose explodes with black cherry, blackberry, plum, hints of blueberry, black currant, light mocha, tar, tobacco, mounds of black pepper, roasted meats, oak, and floral notes of rose or violet. The mouth on this full bodied wine becomes rich and mouth coating with lovely tannins that are soft but still integrating. Along with pepper, tar, blackcurrant blackberry, and a hint of blueberry. The mid palate is packed with acid, tar, tobacco, oak, and lovely floral notes. The finish starts off stunted and short – DO NOT fret, it will open! The finish is long and sensuous with mocha, floral notes, blackcurrant, tobacco, and black pepper. Floral notes, blackcurrant, tobacco, blackberry, and oak linger long after the wine is gone.
2004 Chateau Labegorce Lede Margaux – Score: B to B+ (DRINK UP!!)
I know Daniel Rogov believes this wine is still alive and active, but the bottle I had was not over its peak, but clearly not as enjoyable as the one he tasted. It was nice but lacked so much body that it felt dead. The tannins and acid on this wine are clearly still kicking but I do not believe this wine is getting any better – drink up and open one hour in advance.
The nose on this dark garnet to mahogany colored wine is filled with tobacco, chocolate, cedar, raspberry, blackberry, herbs, and lovely dirt. The mouth on this medium bodied wine was nice and round with lovely tannin, blackberry, raspberry, and a touch of currant. The mid palate is bracing with acid, tannin, chocolate, herbs, and smoky characteristics. The finish is long, nice, and smoky with oak, blackberry, raspberry, dirt, chocolate, and herbs. Drink UP!!!
2001 Celler de Capçanes Montsant Peraj Ha’abib Flor de Primavera – Score: A- to A (DRINK UP!!)
Drink up – this wine is lovely but is really at its peak or a drop past it!! The score from previous tasting is a bit lower then the first score we gave this wine, and the same as my second tasting, but not because of tannins. Rather the score is a bit lower this time because of the color and age on the bottle. The notes are very much in line with my previous tasting except for color and tannin, but the structure is the same. I recommend opening the bottle 1 hour ahead of time, and NO more than that and enjoying it then. This bottle will not last four hours after opening, so drink now and enjoy.
The nose on this deep black colored wine, with a bit of a brown halo, is popping with blackberry, plum, cassis, sweet cedar, herbs, raspberry, licorice, and tobacco. The mouth on this full bodied and mouth coating wine is now smooth and layered with blackberry, plum, black currant, and cassis. The mid palate is packed with lovely tannins, bright acidity, and concentrated black fruit that comes at you in layers. The finish is super long, spicy, and concentrated with cloves, herbs, blackberry, plum, raspberry, chocolate, tobacco, and sweet cedar. The wine lingers long with cedar, plum, tobacco, vanilla, and chocolate.
2003 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon – Score: A- closer to A
Are you kidding me! This wine is as close to “filthy” as it gets without being covered in dirt and muck! This puppy is downright crazy, lovely, and insane! This wine was the clear winner of the evening, even against my clear, biased wines that I have a love affair with, the 1996 Four Gates Chardonnay and the 2001 Capcanes. Both were really nice, but in the end, fell a bit short, each for different reasons. This wine was the clear winner, and for bloody good reason! One other crazy thought, when this wine finally calmed down and lost some of its special characteristics, it was VERY close to the Capcanes. To the point where they were almost brothers, excepting for the color, where the Capcanes was clearly going brown and the Covenant being black as day.
The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine is packed with rich ripe blackberry, tobacco, chocolate/mocha, crushed herbs, black currant, vanilla, raspberry, plum, and sweet oak. The mouth on this blockbuster medium to full bodied wine is concentrated, layered and mouth coating with lovely and almost integrated tannins, blackberry, black currant, raspberry, and ripe plum. The mid palate flows off the mouth with balancing acid, sweet oak, mocha, tobacco, and more nice tannins. The finish is long, spicy, and continuous and, while maybe being the best part of this wine, which is saying a lot, with sweet cedar in the fire box, a long puff from a fat stogie, a warm cup of mocha in your hand, while munching on blackberry, black currant, and vanilla. Tobacco, plum, blackberry, and sweet cedar linger long on the palate.
2004 Yarden Merlot – Score: A-
This is a clear and powerful wine and one that when compared side by side with the other wines we enjoyed in the evening came across as over the top. The nose on this dark garnet colored wine was screaming with extra ripe and sweet plum, blackberry, and cassis, along with spicy oak, crushed herbs, and tobacco. The mouth on this intense and full bodied wine hits you up front with super ripe fruit, spicy and still active tannin, and cassis, blackberry, and plum. The mid palate is balanced with nice acidity, sweet cedar, lovely tannin, and sweet cedar. The finish is super long and extracted with tobacco, oak, black fruit and herbs. A nice wine that is fine for a couple more years but one I always have trouble with given its intensely ripe black fruit and mounds of oak.
2006 Alaverdi Akhasheni – Score: B to B+
The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine is hopping with dark cherry, candied fruit, perfumed nose, floral notes of violet, lovely chocolate, dates, and spice. The mouth on this full bodied wine is velvety, mouth coating, and enriched by the residual sugar of this semi-sweet wine, along with dark cherry, date, nice tannin, a bit too much residual sweetness, and candied fruit. The mid palate is balanced with acid, lovely tannin, oak, chocolate, and spice. The finish is super long and rich with candied fruit, sweetness, cherry, and oak. The wine linger long with chocolate, date, and spice.
Gotham Wine’s Seventh Annual Kosher Wine Extravaganza 2010 – Results
On March 7th, 2010 my friend and I returned to the basement of the Lincoln Square Synagogue, for the Seventh Annual Gotham Kosher Wine Extravaganza. The event is driven by the master in arms, Costas Mouzouras, General Manager of Gotham Wines of Manhattan, NY, and his merry band of helpers. The event was just as busy and successful as the last one we were at in 2009. Just like last year, the tables were setup by wine importer rather than by region, because at this event there was more than just one importer. The event is one of those truly rare opportunities where a person is able to taste wines from all around the world, from any importer, and almost any top line kosher wine that exists out there. Of course, there was a very large table of wines imported by Royal Wines. However, there was another 12 tables of wines from all around the world – are you kidding me? It was like being a kid in a candy shop!
Where else can you taste up to 400 different wines that are from wineries as varied as Dalton, Yarden (not imported by Royal), Recanati, Tishbi, Abrabanel (now Admiral Imports), Red Fern Winery, Happy Hearts Importer, Victor Wines, and Royal (Carmel, Capcanes, and Yatir Winery). Each of these tables had either the wine maker, wine importer, or wine expert. They were knowledgeable about the wines and as passionate about them as I am about wines. Overall the event was another home run. There must have been easily a couple hundred people at the event, all packed into the basement of the Lincoln Square Synagogue (also known as Wink and Stare Synagogue). That said, I never had to wait long to get a glass of wine, and even if one of the people manning the tables was busy talking to a guest about a wine or winery, there was another person happy to pour for others. There was also a fair amount of wine mavens/maniacs, like me, that were a joy to converse with and get tips on what wines were really special or interesting to try, which came in handy when there are 400+ wines to look at/try.
Like last year, the event starts off with a special VIP tasting of some superb wines, two at a time. Last year, the VIP session took a bit too long, while this year it was a bit too fast. That said, there must have been some 40 or so seats at the VIP tasting and 2 folks pouring the wine. So that alone took a fair amount of time. Once the wine was poured we had very little time this year to bond or ruminate with or about the wine, as we had 18 bottles, in total, to taste at the VIP session. Many of these bottles were not on the tables or floor, so it was taste it now, or forever hold your peace. I say that, because many of these bottles are way out of my price range. The only times I get to taste them are either at this event or the Herzog event. The wines that we tasted in the VIP session are listed below with the rest of the wine notes, in their own section. The wines were tasted two at a time, which allowed Costas to talk about how they differ from each other and/or how they mimic each other. It was an awesome hour and well worth the extra few bucks. Read the rest of this entry
Hagafen Winery Visit
The day started out as a lovely and sunny Sunday, the last one of 2009. We took a long and enjoyable last look at massive Clear Lake, which our hotel wrapped around, and headed south on CA-20. As we closed into Lower Lake, we were supposed to continue south on CA-29, but plans are just that – plans! Instead, we took the road less traveled, the Knoxville-Berryessa Road (lovely pictures of the road linked here from a motorcycle rider). It is so called because, it is a road that runs through government-owned land, counted some 5 or so structures from Lower Lake until Berryessa Lake. For some 30 or more miles, at a rate of maybe 35 mph, we saw no one – period. Truly a road less traveled. Finally, and blessedly, right before Lake Berryessa, we came upon a truck, and two folks fishing (actually, I think that was not public knowledge , and they told us where we were. I guess this teaches us, that if we do not want a GPS or expensive phone contract (with GPS on it), and instead want to go retro, we should act retro, and carry around a map or two!
Well after a fair amount of driving, we came to the Hagafen Winery, a bit late, at a not so warm time of day. It was some 40 degrees outside, and we went inside to meet Josh Stein, Hagafen Winery’s Brand Manager. I stated the temperature, because Josh started the winery tour outside where every vintage starts – in the vineyard of course! I asked about the way the vines are managed, and Josh quickly replied that the vines have been managed using CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) rules for many years now, but they are now in the second year of their CCOF certification, and hope to be certified within a year. Of course, as we have spoken about this topic many times, the wine will NOT be organic, but the vineyard will be. There are three full time employees, Ernie Weir, the owner and founder of Hagafen Winery, who is also the manager of the winery. The other two full time employees, manage the winery’s most important other asset, the vineyards. The winery started some 32 years ago, after Weir had made wine, at a custom crush site in Napa, CA, for a couple of years. He decided to start making kosher wine. He started his production with 25 cases and a single SKU. Today, Hagafen makes some 8000 cases of wine, under three labels, and 30 or more SKU. Hagafen started with no vineyards, and then in 1986 they bought the land that the winery sits on presently. The vineyard in those days was planted with Pinot Noir and Chenin Blanc, but it was replanted in 1997 with what stands there today, 12 acres of clone 7 and clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon, named the Weir Family Vineyard II. The Weir Family Vineyard III came online later with 9 acres, 3 acres of Cabernet Franc, 3 acres of Syrah, and 3 acres of White Riesling. Many of Hagafen’s wines are labeled as Estate Bottled, though they are not actually on their estate at all, as seen here on Hagafen’s vineyard map. They source grapes from vineyards as far south as Fagan Creek, and as far north as Soleil and Moskowite vineyards. So, how are they allowed to use the term “Estate Bottled” on their labels? Well, the rules are a bit more simplistic, though not well known. As described here on the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the Estate Bottled tag line has three requirements to be added to your label.
- The vineyard must either be owned by the winery or under the winery’s 100% control
- The vineyard to be in the same viticultural area
- The grapes are crushed, fermented, aged, and bottled in the winery or on the winery grounds
Hagafen has continued to expand its own vineyards, while perfecting their relationship and processes with its many vineyard partners. They have long term contracts with the vineyards, and have recently taken control of many of the coveted blocks within the upper echelon of Napa Valley vineyards. Read the rest of this entry
Ella Valley Winery Visit and Wine Tasting
On a lovely Friday in August 2009, a friend and I were weaving through route 395 as it winds through the lush Judean Hills, and then descends into the valley of Route 38, which junctions into Route 375. After driving Route 375 for a few miles, we find the turn off for Netiv HaLamed-Heh, where the Ella Valley Winery is situated. This was our third trip to the winery. Our previous visit was very generously hosted by Udi Kaplan. The winery was founded in 1996 when the Adert Vineyard was first planted. Soon after, in 2001, the winery was constructed using state of the art wine making technology, that would allow Ella Valley to compete with the world’s best wineries. The winery was built from the bottom up with a desire to craft the world’s best wines, while keeping to a strict adherence of the kosher certification requirements. The winery started production with the 2002 vintage, when they produced some 100,000+ bottles of wine, to high praise and acclaim. Since then, they have succeeded with their vision and are continuing to produce more than 200,000 bottles of top quality wines, even for their non reserve lines (named Vineyard Choice).
The winery is managed by Uri Kaplan, who runs the day-to-day operations of the winery, while the wine making duties are left to the capable hands of French trained Doron Rav Hon. Doron has been part of the winery since its inception, and his handiwork is all over the wine itself. The wine’s signature flavors are clear with every sip. There is no overripe fruit, clobbering oak, or under ripe green characteristics, that dominate many of the wines in Israel and the world alike now a days. Instead, Doron’s wines are all well balanced wines that do take advantage of the sun and valley’s cool nights. He uses French oak predominately, which allows for a more subtle wine expression, and thereby giving the grapes a chance to show their true quality, without screaming it from the rooftop. When talking with critics and wine experts alike about Ella Valley, the word that comes up is consistency and elegance. The reds and whites alike are consistently elegant, while keeping to winery’s credo – of traditional elegance with a twist modernization.
So when we drove up to the winery, we were not surprised to find that very credo staring us in the face. The winery’s lovely traditional structure and facade, was quietly wrapping its modern inner workings. We were super honored to meet with Doron himself, and he was kind to show us around the winery before, sitting down to a superb wine tasting. The conversation was varied and fascinating; from discussions around kashrut to Doron’s wine making philosophy. The wine tasting was equally varied from an Unoaked Chardonnay all the way to a blockbuster Merlot and everything else in between. If you had to point to a single varietal that defines Ella Valley – it would have to be Merlot. From 2002 and on, Ella Valley’s Merlot(s) have been the top scoring and most sinewy yet refined wines in their portfolio. Nothing about our wine tasting changed that perspective, except for the fact that they continue to show exactness and gentle prodding on all of the wines in their fine portfolio. Read the rest of this entry
