Category Archives: Kosher White Wine
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
Bravdo Winery – Round 2 with the new 2010 and 2011 wines
Unless you have been living under a rock for some time, you would know that I am a huge fan of the Bravdo winery! The winery is a family affair, with Professor Bravdo making the wine and his daughter, Hadar managing the winery. I really enjoyed visiting the winery, late last year, and re-tasting the 2010 red wines, that I tasted at the Gotham event in 2011. Well, recently at the 2012 Gotham Wine Extravaganza, I had the chance to meet Hadar again and taste through the new vintages of the wonderful wines!
Bravdo is imported into the United States by Happy Hearts Wine Importers, who has kept the prices on these wonderful wines at a reasonable level, while also continuing to make the newest vintages available, and not bringing in old wines. While, I was talking with Hadar, which is always a joy, Benyamin, manager of Happy Hearts, swung by and proudly stated that Happy Hearts had suggested they make a blend – and the output was Coupage! WOW! That is quite synergistic, if I say so myself, the importer suggesting a different wine, and the Professor delivering, with what I think is the best bottle, along with the Shiraz, that Bravdo makes.
There was one slightly under performing wine and that was the 2011 Bravdo Chardonnay, but given the trouble that 2011 presented, in Israel and the US, the wine is just fine thank you.
I must excuse myself for the lack of pictures, but I seem to have forgotten to take pictures of the 2010 wines! I am very sorry. The bottles look the same as the 2009 vintages just of course with a different year. You can find those, along with the wine notes here.
So many thanks to Hadar, The Bravdo Family, Happy Hearts, and of course Costas for the wonderful opportunity to taste through these fantastic wines. I hope to be tasting through these wines again soon, at a shabbos table, where I can have a bit more time to enjoy them and actually drink them. Read the rest of this entry
Dinner at The Kitchen Table, Goosebay Sauvignon Blanc, and Hagafen White Riseling
A few days ago my friends and I returned to The Kitchen Table for some good food, wine, and camaraderie. The last time we were there, after Chef Long had left the establishment I was not in love with the wine list or the food. My wife and I had some poor experiences, and I was worried that this would be another poor repeat performances. Thankfully, the food was wonderful and so was the wine.
I must say that the wine list, even now, at the TKT is still lacking in two main areas, Sparkling and red. The sparkling wines are truly undrinkable, with the Herzog Brut and the Bartenura Prosseco both being non starters. I understand the issue here, balancing the price to the product. However, there are many lovely mevushal options, including Hagafen Brut and the new Drappier Champagne! Both are far better candidates than the ones on the list. In the red selection, there are so many better options than what is available. The newly minted and available Shiloh wines are lovely, including the Barbera and the Legend. There are tons of beautiful mevushal wines from Allied and Happy Hearts, two kosher wine importers that are not Royal Wines.
I know, be happy with what we have, and so I attempted to make the best of it. I had no interest in ordering or drinking any of the red or bubbly options, so we went with some lovely white wines. I had recently tasted the 2010 Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc, at the Herzog International Food and Wine Festival and it was awesome again! Bright and acidic, yet bursting with ripe fruit – quite lovely! I also, had the opportunity to taste the wines from Ernie Weir’s Hagafen Winery in Napa Valley, and I tasted the 2010 Hagafen Lake County White Riesling Devoto Vineyard – it was awesome! White Riesling is making a big push now in the kosher market. It is sweet, another big theme in the world of wine in general, yet it is sophisticated enough to meet the other growing theme – kosher wine drinkers in search of good wine. Read the rest of this entry
Gotham Wine’s Ninth Annual Wine Extravaganza results – WOW!!
I have posted often about why we love going to the Gotham Kosher Wine Extravaganza. Sure, Royal Wine’s International Food and Wine Festival is quite lovely, but in the end the wines are just from the Royal’s vast Portfolio. At the Gotham Wine Extravaganza, you get to taste Royal’s wines (though we skipped most of them this year as they were repeats of the IFWF) and wine from 7 other importers. To me this was the best one yet, hands down. We have been coming to this event for four years now, and it was where we first met many in the NY wine scene, as well. The evening was absolutely fantastic. Last year’s event was complicated by the difficulty of finding a place for the event. This year’s event was planned out beautifully in advance and it was once again hosted in the same location as it was last year – the West Side Institutional.
As stated many times already, 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. 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 14 tables of wines and food from all around the world! Every year I feel like a kid in a candy shop!
Where else can you taste up to 500 or more different wines that are from wineries as varied as Dalton, Tepperberg, Recanati, Tishbi, Bravdo Winery, Happy Hearts Importer, Victor Wines, Hevron Heights, River Importers, and Royal (Carmel, Capcanes, and Yatir Winery). Each of these tables has the winemaker, 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 second floor of WSI. 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 so many wines to look at/try.
Dalton Petite Sirah and Gilgal Chardonnay
This past weekend I was staying with friends I tried a new wine and an older wine, though a wine I have no had before. The first wine is the 2010 Dalton Petite Sirah. we have spoken many times about the difference between the Petite Sirah and Syrah and Shiraz, for more of that check out this post.
In the end, the Dalton was quite a lovely wine indeed. It was not a massive winner, though it did score well. Instead, it is another example of the direction that Israel is pointing towards, ripe beautiful wines that do not taste hot (too alcoholic) or overly ripe (new world) in you face. It has a lovely floral, blue and black fruit nose and body, though over time the blueberry fades to a richer black plum and blackberry mouth with floral resonance. There is one quandary I had while tasting this wine and that was the finish. There is a clear flavor that lingers like mad, almost bitter and I call it bitter olive but it may well be something else. Would love to hear what others think of this one.
For comparison sakes I have included the 2009 Dalton PS, which was the first release of a singe varietal PS from the winery. The 2009 is VERY different in style. While the 2009 is elegantly muscular, the 2010 is lean and soft, with a bit of muscle but more unique in its flavors than in its body. The 2009 is rich with black fruit, tannin, oak, and leather. The 2010 is more elegant with blue and black fruit, vanilla, leather, and nice spice.
The Yarden Gilgal Chardonnay is the new name for the old wines – Gamla, which is in trademark wars with Royal, so in the US the wine is sold as Gilgal in Israel the same bottle is sold as Gamla. In the US, Gamla wines are actually made by Carmel and distributed by Royal – ah the logic and business of kosher wine!
Anyway, either way the wine starts off very closed, a bit hot, and overly oaked. As it opens, it shows lovely tropical nd summer fruit, but never quite enough complexity to grab you by the scruff of your neck and shake to awake. So, while it is a perfectly fine wine, it is not one that quite meets the A- score requirements.
The wine notes follow below:
2009 Yarden Gilgal Chardonnay – Score: B++
The wine starts off closed and stunted with little tropical fruit or summer fruit, but clear oak influence. Over time the wine opens to clean peach, brioche, melon, guava, crushed herb, and ripe and intense Meyer lemon. The mouth is round and oaky with nice toast on the edges along with good acid and bright fruit. The finish is long and spicy with lemon zest and good mineral.
2010 Dalton Petite Sirah – Score: A-
The wine starts beautifully once you open the bottle with ripe blueberry, nice blackberry, over the top ripe plum that is not overripe, lovely cinnamon, and chocolate. The mouth is full and layered with attacks of blue and black fruit, floral notes, roasted meat, and soft and integrating mouth coating tannin, all coming together quite nicely. The finish is long with nice leather, cinnamon, vanilla, boysenberry, and good bitter olives. To me this is a lovely example of Durif (Petite Sirah) expression. The wine shows nice blue and black fruit, leather and heavy tannin, but one that is restrained and not meant for very long cellaring. I would give this wine till 2013 or 2014 and then drink up. The spices and vanilla are simple extensions of the 12 months in American oak. Other than the spice, the oak is not nearly as evident as in the 2009 vintage and only helps to round the mouth and add heft to what was clearly a lighter vintage, due to the cold season.
2009 Dalton Petite Sirah – Score: A-
The wine hits you hard with its heavy oak and blackcurrant, followed by lovely cedar, chocolate, mounds of black pepper and tobacco. The mouth is rich and unctuous, much like a coiled snake ready to pounce, all wrapped in a sheath of inky structure, along with tannin that is not quite integrated, all of which helps to lift the blackberry and cassis fruit up and balances it nicely with good acidity. The finish is long and smoky with more tobacco, ripe plum, mounds of vanilla, leather and black fruit that lingers. The hardcore style of this wine will allow it to last a bit more than the 2010 vintage, probably till 2014 oor 2015 than drink up.
