Getting back to script, the meal started with a lovely baked herb encrusted fish loaf, we paired it with black and green olives, hummus, and eggplant salad. We opened a pair of lovely white wines with this course. I have tasted these wines a few times now, and each time the wines show off lovely honey and tart fruit characteristics. Though this time the unoaked wines showed off better. Yes, I said unoaked wine – what is that? Really? Are we that jaded? Most of the entry level wines that we do and don’t enjoy are not oak infused or modified. Instead, we have all become so jaded that if a wine is not oak influenced, it is not a nice wine. That cannot be farther from the truth! Some white wines are better without oak or malolactic fermentation (malo), because the fruit can either stand on its own and make the wine cleaner, or because the wine is so bad that adding in oak would cost money that is not warranted. So, it was a real kick to taste two Chardonnays that were separated at birth (or must – fermented grape juice), with one going to a home of rich oak, while the other went to live in a clean but plain steel home. The wines notes will show my precise feelings, but in short, the non oak laden Chardonnay was far more bright, evocative, and attention grabbing.

We then moved to the Mr. Hyde (Risotto) and some lovely Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken, along with a nice green salad. The Chardonnays paired nicely with the dishes, but we also enjoyed some Sara Bee, and some nice Hagafen Merlot. The Merlot went well with the cholent and cold cuts on the following day as well.

The wine notes follow below – many thanks to my buddies for swinging by the house – it was a real KICK!

2009 Binyamina Chardonnay Reserve Unoaked Galilee (Israel, Judean Hills) - Score: A-
The nose on this straw to light gold colored wine has stayed fairly consistent between the two times I have tasted this wine, some 6 months apart. The nose explodes with rich ripe and tart summer/tropical fruit, pear, kiwi, lychee, honey, grapefruit, ripe lemon, apple, and floral notes. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is super rich with explosive fruit that follows the nose, peach, lemon, apple, kiwi, lychee, and grapefruit. The mid palate flows off the mouth with super rich and tart lemon, honey, apple, and mineral almost yeasty. The honeyed and spicy finish is super long with crazy tart fruit, lychee, grapefruit, kiwi, lemon, floral notes, and mineral. The wine is super enjoyable with more than enough attention getting fruit, minerality, and floral notes. The lack of oak is a benefit with this fruit and makes one wonder whether oaking this wine is such a good idea!

2009 Binyamina Chardonnay Reserve Galilee (Israel, Judean Hills) - Score: B++
The nose on this light gold colored wine started off muted and not nearly as bright as its unoaked brother. The nose opened to a rich and deep honeyed nose, oak, smoky toast, floral notes, grapefruit, lemon, yellow apple, and mounds of caramel and butterscotch. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is rich with honey, oak, pear, kiwi, grapefruit, lemon, and apple, all rounded with a tad of oak which seems to dull the fruit. The mid palate is oaky with toast, cut grass, and butterscotch. The finish is long and richly honeyed with butterscotch, oak, kiwi, lemon, melon, and grapefruit. Honey coated butterscotch candy along with ripe grapefruit, lemon, and melon linger.

2006 Hagafen Merlot (USA, California, Napa Valley)  - Score: B++ to A-
The nose on this purple colored wine is filled with rich cedar, black cherry, raspberry, fig, herbs, vanilla, chocolate, cloves, and smoky notes. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is classic Hagafen, with a soft plush mouth of rich cedar, plum, raspberry, fig, cherry, and nice mouth coating tannin. The mid palate is balanced with nice acid, chocolate, more cedar, and nice tannin. The finish is long and spicy with cloves, cinnamon, cedar, vanilla, chocolate, raspberry, plum, herbs, and tobacco. Herbs, cinnamon, chocolate, cedar, vanilla, and tobacco linger long after the wine is gone.

2008 Clos de Nouys Vouvray Moelleux (France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray)  - Score: B to B+
This was a disappointment. Rogov predicted this one was going to last, but when we opened it, the wine was a shade of its previous self, which we tasted a year ago. The wine had much of the same fruit, but lacked the very grace that a good Chenin Blanc should have and that is ACID! No zip, nor in the middle or the end. Truly sad.

 The nose on this straw to gold colored wine is rich and honeyed, with wet grass, floral, green apple, honey, guava, pear, and citrus. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is rich with honey, floral notes, green apple, and tropical fruit. The mid palate is semi-sweet with almost no acidity, plain and old with a touch orange peel. The finish is medium with honey, floral notes, tropical fruit, vanilla, and citrus. A nice wine that has lost its ay, the zip is gone and so is the enjoyment in drinking it. DRINK UP!!!

Steaks can handle being eaten medium rare, my favorite temperature, because the bacteria does not penetrate the solid surface of a steak too deeply. However, ground meat can have or attract the bacteria and now it has the potential to get into every nook and cranny of the meatball or burger – which can be painful or far worse. The answer is to fully cook the ground meat dish and still have something edible in the end, which is no small feat. The panade gives you a cushion or life jacket because it allows you to cook the ground meat right to the end and maybe a bit more and not end up with ground up shoe leather.

So while the panade does wonders for ground meat recipes, it does not work in a kosher home – given the whole “meat and milk thing”. That leaves us with a need to get a substance that starts off dry and ends up soft – vegetables! This is not the first time we have made meatballs with vegetables, however, it is the first time we have done it with vegetables that I did not squeeze out! Ouch! I was lazy and tired and did not want to bother – big mistake.

The meatballs came out fine, but they were overly soft. I should have seen it when I made the mixture. A few rules about meatballs:

1) NEVER over mix them – the more you slam them around the harder and more gummy they get
2) A mixture that is correct should feel more like a stiff dough than a soft one – that is where I messed up
3) Cook the meatballs until they float in the pan (if you are braising them). They will sink to start, and the second they bob up to the surface, yank them out.
4) To be sure they are not ready, make sure to not overstuff the pan and the braise, so that the meatballs have freedom to rise to the surface when ready

There you go – I hope you all can learn from my mistakes and, lets be honest – bobbing for meatballs is so much more enjoyable than rotten apples!

To pair with this lovely tasting, albeit overly soft, meatballs, we cooked up a pot of linguini and a tossed a fresh bowl of green salad. The wine we enjoyed over the weekend was the 2007 Binyamina Zinfandel. We also enjoyed a few more wines in the same time, so I am adding them here for posterity.

2007 Binyamina Zinfandel Special Reserve (Israel, Galilee) - Score: B to B++
The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine starts off way to hot, however over time it calms down to expose chocolate, tobacco, cedar, raspberry, plum, blackcurrant, black cherry, crushed herbs, dirt, and mound of black pepper. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is starting to show its age with excessive date flavors that taste oxidized, plush mouth feel from nice tannin, rich loamy dirt, raspberry, plum, blackcurrant, and black cherry. The mid palate is balanced with nice acid, cedar, and vanilla. Th finish is long and spicy with heaps of black pepper, chocolate, tobacco, vanilla, blackcurrant, date, cedar, and herbs. Cedar, black pepper, date, raspberry, black currant, chocolate, and vanilla linger.

2009 Cantina Gabriele Pinot Grigio (Italy) - Score: B
This past weekend I tasted this bottle at our synagogue’s kiddush and it was lacking to say the least. The nose on this wine was totally killer! The nose on this light gold colored wine was exploding with lemon, aroma, pepper, honeyed melon, and peach. Unfortunately, that was where it ended. The mouth on this light to medium bodied wine was dead with light hints of acidity, peach, honey, and melon. The mid palate was totally flat with little bite, more sweet fruit and melon. The finish was average with a bit of bite but it faded quickly leaving only a hint of melon, honey, and light floral notes. I was so hopeful after the nose but so it goes.

2009 Terrenal Cabernet Sauvignon Yecla (Spain, Murcia, Yecla) - Score: B to B+
Still really like this bottle especially given the cheap price. Much has stayed the same but a few new nuances have shown up. The nose on this dark garnet to black colored wine is rich with dirt, cloves, graphite, raspberry, blackberry, crushed herbs, a hint of chocolate, and black cherry. After some time blueberry also makes an appearance, however at that time the wine is starting to degrade. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is heavy with tannin that lends to a nice but crazy mouth feel, along with blackberry, raspberry, and black cherry. The mid palate is bone dry and acidic along with some chocolate and a fair amount of crushed herbs. The finish is long with chocolate, blackberry, black cherry, crushed herbs, mint, and some mineral. This wine is really nice for the price! (103 views)

2007 Binyamina Cabernet-Merlot Yogev Kosher (Israel, Samson) – Score: B
The nose on this garnet colored wine with brown halo has an almost dead nose with chocolate, rich tobacco, dirt, mineral, blackcurrant, blackberry, black cherry, herbs, date from light oxidity, and oak. The mouth on this medium bodied wine starts to show oxidation with date flavors, blackberry, blackcurrant, herbs, soft tannin, and black cherry. The mid palate is balanced with nice acid, spicy oak, more soft tannin, and tobacco. The finish is long with date, tobacco, blackberry, blackcurrant, crushed herbs, and vanilla. This wine dies quickly, drink up or use for cooking.

2003 Four Gates Merlot Kosher (USA, California, San Francisco Bay, Santa Cruz Mountains) – Score: B++ to A-
The nose on this electric blue/purple colored wine is vibrant and expressive with rich sweet oak, smoky, vanilla, black candied cherry, raspberry, blackberry, ripe plum, bramble, chocolate, tobacco, crushed herbs, and date. The mouth on this lovely and full bodied wine is concentrated and expressive like its nose, from its fruit and tannin, with slowly integrating tannin, raspberry, blackberry, ripe plum, cherry, and crushed herbs. The mid palate has balanced acid, chocolate, sweet oak, tobacco, and nice integrating tannin. The finish is super long and spicy with acidity, rich ripe plum, chocolate, tobacco, vanilla, long and luxurious finish with dates and vanilla.

Since the official recipe calls for spaghetti, we were more than happy to oblige with whole wheat spaghetti. We cook the two parts separately and we finish them at the table not in the pan, as otherwise, the spaghetti would be mush when we reheat the puttanesca for Friday night. We paired it with a lovely fresh green salad.

We went looking for a lovely wine to pair with this treat and we found a bottle of the 2005 Four Gates Cabernet Franc. We have spoken many times before about how Cabernet Franc just never seems to get any respect, while all the while continuing to consistently turn in great scores. Maybe Cabernet Franc is the Rodney Dangerfield of wine varietals.

The particular vintage has changed a bit overtime. The oak is more pronounced with lovely red fruit and green notes, though the cool floral notes seem to be gone.

2005 Four Gates Cabernet Franc – Score: B+ – A-
This wine has changed a bit since the last time we tasted this. This time around the floral notes are gone and the oak is more pronounced and rich. Still the wine is a real joy and one I will continue to go back to for a couple of more years. The nose on this garnet to purple colored wine is super rich and opulent with a ton of dark chocolate, rich oak, raspberry, cherry, plum, and follows on with classical franc notes of bell pepper, along with mint and eucalyptus. The mouth on this complex medium to full bodied wine has really calmed down and now shows velvety smooth tannin along with cherry, raspberry, mint, and currants. The mid palate is flush with fruit and balanced almost perfectly by bright acidity, chocolate, silky smooth tannin, and rich oak. The finish is spicy and long with layers of vanilla, cherry, rich oak, raspberry, chocolate, and mint. The vanilla, chocolate, raspberry, plum, and rich oak linger long.

After that we had some lovely herb encrusted Gefilte fish loaf along with eggplant, onion, and mushroom salad. For the main course we had some lovely meatballs, kugel, quinoa, and a fresh green salad.

Now before you call me a heretic, yes I eat Quinoa on Passover, as does the CRC and the Star-K, while the OU has backed away from this whole mess and let people decide for themselves. We have been eating Quinoa for sometime on Passover and though others have an issue, we feel fine about it, though it is best to contact your own local area Rabbi. The New York Times heard about the tumult and wrote an article all about it.

Kosher for Passover Meatball Recipe (modified from the Early Show recipe):
3 tablespoons of Olive oil
2 coarsely chopped Onions
8 ounces of tomato sauce
4 tablespoons of  Parsley
3 broken up square Matzohs
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 eggs

Tomato Sauce for Braising the meatballs:
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 finely chopped Onions
1 28 oz can of Tomato Puree or Tomato Sauce
2 cups of red wine

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Add the onions and sauté over a high flame stirring constantly until soft. Add the tomato sauce and parsley and continue to cook for three minutes. Remove the onions from the heat and set aside and cool. Once cool, add all of the ingredients to a large bowl and mix thoroughly by hand and roll the meatballs into golf ball sized meatballs.

Now we need to create the braising sauce. Chop the two onions and saute them in the olive oil. Once browned nicely throw in the tomato sauce and wait for the sauce to thicken by a quarter. Then add in the wine and mix thoroughly. Then add in the meatballs one at a time into the hot braising sauce and cook the meatballs for 20 to 30 minutes.

The funny thing about the Early Show recipe was that it had liver in it, which is not for me. Also, they were roasting the meatballs and that is a no-no for the first two nights, as one cannot eat any type of roasted meat for the first two nights of passover, as it may look like the Passover Sacrifice which we do not have today. Yes, meatballs do NOT look like a sacrifice! Still, the law is: any meat braised is fine, any meat roasted (cooked without a sauce) is NOT. You can eat roasted vegetables.

For the four cups (arba kosos) and beyond we enjoyed the wines listed here in the order they were served:

2004 Golan Heights Winery Pinot Noir Yarden Kosher – Score: B++ to A-
This wine is really hitting its stride and may well be time to drink up! The nose on this dark garnet colored wine opened with black fruit that lays deep within this wine’s veins, but hidden initially under a blanket of oak. This wine opens with sweet oak, blackberry, raspberry, plum, and classic Pinot cherries along with coffee, dirt, and a hint of herbaceous mint. The mouth on this full bodied wine was velvety and mouth coating. The tannins are now well integrated and not mouth puckering and give a richness to the wine. The mouth starts with blackberry, raspberry, plum, and cherry, and flows into a mid palate of more oak, coffee, dirt, and some middling acidity. The finish is long with rich fruit, oak, chocolate, vanilla, and a bit of chocolate that rounds out the wine. This is a nice wine that is showing well but is time to drink up!!!

2007 Alexander Cabernet-Merlot Sandro – Score: B++ to A-
The nose on this lovely purple colored wine screams with chocolate, rich cedarwood, rich black fruit, plum, cassis, crushed herbs, and blackberry. The mouth on this rich full bodied wine is mouth coating with lovely integrated tannin, rich and ripe blackberry, cassis, and plum. The mid palate was balanced with nice acid, chocolate, licorice, and rich cedar. The finish is super long and extra spicy with crushed herbs, blackberry, chocolate, more cedar planks, black fruit, with a hint of vanilla. This is a nice wine that I would drink anytime I have access to it.

2010 Backsberg Estate Chardonnay – Score: B to B+
The nose on this straw colored wine is its strongest attribute with an exploding nose that is crazy reminiscent of Sauvignon Blanc more than Chardonnay. The nose explodes with guava, lychee, lemon citrus, cut grass, dirt, peach, grapefruit, and light creme. The mouth on this light to medium bodied wine is bright, dirty, and flinty, with guava, lychee, peach, and grapefruit. The mid palate has more dirt and cut grass, and crazy acid. The finish is super long with more acid, light creme, guava, grapefruit, lychee, dirt, and cut grass.

2006 Galil Mountain Barbera – Score: B++
The nose on this purple colored wine is filled with fig, rich super ripe black plum, coffee, vanilla, cherry, raspberry, black fruit, black pepper, mineral, and oak. The palate on this medium to full bodied wine is lush and ripe with black plum, cherry, and raspberry. The mid palate is nicely balanced with acidity, oak, and coffee. The finish is long and spicy with more coffee, black fruit, cherry, plum, black pepper, dirt, acid, and spice. Drink UP!!!

2006 Carmel Mizrachi Carignan, Appellation series – Score: B++
The nose on this purple to black colored wine is exploding with chocolate, tar, dirt, oak leading to cedar, vanilla, roasted meats, raspberry, blackberry, cassis, plum, and crushed herbs. The mouth on this full bodied is rich and velvety with mouth coating tannins that are just about integrated, with blackberry, cassis, raspberry, plum, and sweet oak. The mid palate is balanced with rich acid, chocolate, sweet oak/almost cedar, plum, and cassis. The finish is rich and spicy with chocolate, roasted meats, cedar, black fruit, crushed herbs, rich leather, and a large dollop of vanilla.

So what is Sulfites?  They are nothing more then a preservative for wine.  They were added into wine staring in the last century or so.  Before then people got along fine without using them – why?  Because sulfites occur naturally in wine.  The extra sulfites one may add allow for the wine to stay on the shelf or in the cellar longer.  So most wine makers that bottle organic wine will say that white wines should be drunk within the year and within the day of opening it.  Red wines have a bit more life to them – 5 years or so, as sulfites are far more prevalent in red wines.

Many wineries have wines made from organically grown grapes – this is a trend that many wineries are trying to push, in ways as part of the whole natural wine story. Also, because organic grapes are more than just a selling point, it because organic grapes are good for the vines, the vine workers, and ultimately, the customer.

When we talk about sulfite free wine, it does not always mean organic wine!  In the USA, the rules are VERY simple, you CANNOT add any preservatives in ANY manner – as described here, (sorry the data is in a PDF) on the USDA website, if you wish to put the word Organic on the wine label.  An organic wine means ZERO SO2 was added to the wine at any time in the processing of the wine. The wine will still have sulfites, unless they were fined out, because sulfites occur naturally in the grape skins.

So why all the buzz around sulfites in wine? Because some people are supposedly allergic to the sulfites. What is the percentage of people with this ailment? The USDA describes it as 1/100 as stated here, far fewer people than the percentage of folks who think Cilantro is the Devil’s spawn.

Unfortunately, I missed the chance to taste this brand new wine that is being imported into the USA by Happy Hearts, wine importers. The wine is made by the Or Haganuz Winery, which was founded in 2005. The winery can be found in the Upper Galilee village of Or HaGanuz, the winery lies about six kilometers north west of Sefad and at the foothills of Mt. Meron (taken from Rogov’s site). It is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and 25% Cabernet Franc. From the rest of the scores, maybe this wine is not worth the price. I saw it at a wine shop going for some 35 or so dollars! I guess since they have the monopoly in sulfite free kosher wine, they think they can charge whatever they want…

Chime in if you have tested it, I would love to know…

Taken from the notice…

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On my travels and at the wine events I was fortunate to attend, I was lucky to meet a large number of you that actually enjoy and read my blog. It was then that I quickly realized that this blog is more than just a place to catalog and recount my foodie needs, and more about us all sharing what we like and dislike in and about the kosher food and wine world.

So, I want to make sure that you all know that I truly appreciated the comments and concerns that were shared with me, and that I look forward to sharing more of my notes and recipes with you in the coming year!

Please look forward to postings, in the near future, on many of the wineries and people I was fortunate to see and meet, and on the 2011 Herzog International Food and Wine Festival – which was another smashing success.

Thanks again!