The best/top kosher wines for Passover 2024 in all price ranges
As I have stated many times in the past, this list started from folks asking me to come up with a cumulative list. This year there have been many such events, I went to three of them, back-to-back-to-back. After that, there were a few smaller ones as well, all in the NY/NJ area, and one in Miami.
A few caveats first, this is MY list! This is not a list that will make many happy. These wines are the wines that make me happy. No wines here would be considered overripe, over-sweet, or all over the place. The wines here are listed in the order of cost. That said, the top-line wines – what I call Top-Flight wines, are not defined by cost at all. In that list, you can find a 2018 Elvi Wines Herenza Rioja, Reserva. At the same time, the list includes some of the best high-end kosher wines I have ever tasted. In the end, price does not define your place on the Top-Flight Wines, nor does QPR (Quality to Price Ratio), only pure quality gets you on this list. The list of Top-Flight wines is ALL wines that I would buy without hesitation, no matter the cost (if I can afford it of course).
Passover is a time of year when Jews buy the most wine, along with Rosh Hashanah, and the American New Year. That is why all the kosher wine events, normally, happen a month or two before the Passover festival. It gives the wineries and distributors a chance to showcase all their wines that each appeal to different market segments. So, no there are no sweet or semi-sweet baseline wines here. There are many very good 25 or lower-dollar bottles of wine, that can be bought at Skyview Wines, Gotham Wines, Suhag Wine, Liquid Kosher, onlinekosherwine.com, kosherwine.com, and now Elk is live with his website, for those of you who live in the Miami area or are going there for Passover, or any other time of the year! Of course, those and others exist, support your local merchants! I have no real options, so I use the ones to the right of this blog, when viewed on the web (as always I NEVER make money from them and I never know or care what people buy, the list is whom I buy wines from and so I can recommend them to others).
Also, the amount of money you spend does not define the value or quality of the wine. Take for example the 16-dollar 2020/2021 Elvi Herenza Rioja, the 2022 Chateau Les Riganes, Blanc, and some others. These are nice wines and the great price is only an added benefit. However, many low-priced wines are not on this list, as they lack the quality required, IMHO.
Seeing the list and checking it twice (could not help myself), I am sure there will be a question – what defines a wine as a Top-Flight wine, and why are there wines that are not on it? The Top-Flight wines are wines that impressed me when tasting them. That does not mean that the 2020 Chateau Clement-Pichon, as nice as it may or may not be, can compare to another wine on the Top-Flight Wine list. What it does mean was that when I tasted one of these Top-Flight wines, I was wowed, and I said this is a wine that everyone should get – no matter the price. In the end, the Top-Flight Wines is my way to whittle down the list of wines that I enjoyed from a set of thousands of kosher wines available here in America. In hindsight, I am sure I will have missed some wines. If you do not see a wine you love and it scored a 91 or higher on this blog somewhere, then I can assure you that it was probably an oversight on my part.
Also, this is a PSA – please do not buy 2021 or 2022 rose wines! PLEASE! They are muted and a waste of your hard-earned money. Thankfully, there are a lot of 2023 roses out there.
Arba Kosot (The Four cups of Passover)
Finally, it is the Jewish custom to drink four cups of wine on Passover, but to gulp down these wines is far too hard for me (the concept here is to drink the base quantity of wine to fulfill your requirement – which is a Revi’it, within a certain period). In the past, I was drinking red, Israeli wines that were simple to drink, not complex or impressive. However, with time, I found a better option, drink the majority of a small cup that fulfills the Revi’it quantity of wine. This way, I can drink an Israeli, not Mevushal, red wine – like a Netofa wine. This is explained more below. As has been my approach over these past many years, I think I will go with Yarden Rose Brut Sparkling wine, again. It is Israeli, not Mevushal, “red”, a lovely wine, and an acid BOMB!
For the main course, I am happy to open a Top-Flight wine and enjoy that at a calm and enjoyable pace. Another option is to get some of these great glasses from Stolzle, that fulfill the official four-cup requirements in terms of volume and respect, according to most Rabbis. The glasses hold 3.5 fluid ounces of wine, which according to almost every source fulfills the concept of Revi’it.
It does not fulfill Chazon Ish’s requirements of 5.1 ounces, but if you wish to meet that requirement use these glasses by Libby’s. Also, remember that you should drink the entirety of the cups, which is why I recommend the smaller cups. If you cannot, some allow the idea of drinking the majority of the cup, but that is not the best approach. Finally, the LAST CUP, should be drunk in totality, as that is the ONLY cup upon which you say an “After Bracha (Blessing)”, and as such you must have drunk at least 3.3 ounces to say the last blessing.
NOTE: Again, I make nothing from these Amazon links, they do not have sponsor links or whatever. I do not have that and never will. These are just suggestions – buy what you want. They are only there for ideas.
Four Cup Options
Like much of what I do on this blog, I was recently asked to come up with some 4 cup options for people. I am not big on pounding good wines for the 4 cups. My Rabbi mixes wine and grape juice and pounds that. No rabbi says you must use the best wines for the 4 cups. I know that sounds horrible, but honestly, the point of the 4 cups is to drink wine in their Halachic format, not to drink great wines slowly, in their non-Halachic format. The priority is drinking red wine quickly and according to the proper shiur (assigned minimum liquid intake). Still, while I will be doing my 4 cups on the Yarden Rose Brut, I have a list of other options here. ALL OF THESE wines are available here in the USA and are at/below 13.7% ABV (VERY HARD By the way!!!):
All White wines (non-Top-Flight Wines) – Sauvignon Blanc:
- 2021 O’Dwyers Creek Sauvignon Blanc
- 2023 Covenant Sauvignon Blanc, Red C
- 2022 Domaine J. de Villebois Pouilly-Fume
- 2021 Jean-Pierre Bailly Pouilly Fume
All White Wines (non-Top-Flight Wines) – Various:
- 2022 Shirah Marsanne
- 2021 Philippe Le Hardi Mercurey Blanc
- 2021/2022 Pescaja Solei’ Arneis
- 2022 Hajdu Pinot Blanc
Kosher Wine Tasting Week 2024 comes to a close – and it was a SMASHING SUCCESS!
As I have been posting for a few weeks now, KFWE 2024 was going to be Trade-only, KFWE LA was canceled, as they moved to every other year, and there were two new entries into the Kosher Wine Tasting season. Those new entries were the Jewish Link Wine Guide Grand Tasting and KWD’s Wine and Food Night. These events were back to back to back, three nights in a row. The first two were in the NJ area, KFWE returned to the Hilton MeadowLands, as it did in 2022, and the Jewish Link Event occurred in Passaic, NJ.
All in all, as we will delineate in detail, the week was a smashing success. I know the next question will be which was the best? Were they a Mosh Pit or in the current vernacular – a Kiddush Scrum?? Which had the best wines? Were they mostly idiots who attended? Could you really taste anything? All of these and more will be clarified below.
KFWE – the approach should change
Look, ask most of the public why they go to KFWE and they will reply to have a good night out. Think of it as a more expensive dinner for two, throw in VIP, and it is a very expensive dinner for two. Many of the VIP folks from last year never left VIP, they had their wine, not very good food, but it was comfortable and they did not have to travel back and forth between the buildings. Read my post about last year’s KFWE and you will see that the food failed them last year and that VIP was a mess, food-wise, but again, comfortable.
Fast forward to 2024 and sure, KFWE dropped the public, shrunk the footprint, expanded the wine selections, and made an overall better product for those who need the opportunity to taste that large a portfolio in one location. The point here is that KFWE, looking back at it, with the proper lens, was always a lose-lose proposition. It was too much of a mosh-pit, even during Trade hours to do any proper tastings. It was also, too much selection, a classic overload for the average person hoping to learn something new. In the end, neither came out with what they wanted, and the sheer size of the humanity made for an unappealing outcome.
As we progress through this retrospective, I must admit that much of this was an epiphany that I garnered by the end of the week, after attending all of the events. Let us start with the fact that they really should rename it KWE, the food was an afterthought, which is 100% reasonable, given the year’s focus. Still, as we move through this retrospective, this will become a sticking point.
I was thinking of doing pros and cons – but this is a more streamlined approach (AKA my stream of consciousness) – so my apologies.
- The food options were passable – at best, other than the pizza, the fried tortilla with Cilantro, while the Sushi was acceptable.
- There were not enough pourers but it was not HORRIBLE, but it could have used more
- The biggest tactical error they made was to remove the water towers they had at the last KFWE NYC. Having a single place for the Hotel’s staff to go and fill up water, allowed them time to also clean out the spit buckets
- The outcome of removing the water towers was the spitoons being full on most of the tables I tasted at. To be fair, the clientele was spitting far more than in previous years, but the reason for the full spitoons was not the clientele, it was the lack of staff, which I think was exasperated by the need to go to every table and fill every bucket on those tables. A multiplicable time suck, exaggerated worse by the number of pitchers and tables. Essentially, it was the perfect storm, caused by a single mistake. Overall, it was a tactical error that NEEDS to be fixed next year. It was beyond gross when more than 4 tables I was on had spittoon buckets filled to the top! Sorry, this was a big issue for me.
- The Tam Tam crackers on all the small tables – may well have been the best food at the event.
- Overall, I have never had the opportunity, even if I wanted to, to get to taste so much wine in one event, to me that means the event was a success. The crowds were controlled and the tables had issues but overall, I tasted through all of the Israeli wines and that was cool.
- The 2021 Bordeaux vintage really put a damper on the overall wines that I would say “ARE GREAT”. People asked me throughout the tasting – which was the GREAT one and I had to think hard. Most of my TOP wines of the year are not from Royal. Such is life – this year! The 2020 Leoville Poyferre, was lovely as was the 21 Herzog Alex Cab, the Covenant 21 Solomon Cab, the 2020 Chateau Lascombes, and the 2020 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah. That says a lot. Next Year will be very different, I think.
- The stupid music was so annoying – I could not even HEAR myself think, let alone talk to the winemakers or the folks at the table – HARD PASS! Further, for the given focus and clientele, the music was a hindrance.
- Overall, 2021 red Bordeaux are painful, 2023 white and rose wines from Israel are water and not much else, 2021 Cali reds rock, 2021 Israel reds are VASTLY improved over all the other years I tasted. Again, these are generalizations, there are exceptions, but sadly, those exceptions are far and few between.
- Finally, I was saddened by the lack of focus of Herzog, as was promoted. There was no KFWE LA this year and the lack of a deep Herzog lineup bummed me out! Sure, the mainstays were there but I have tasted many wines from Herzog that were not there. Further, the marketing of the KFWE East Coast event made clear that Herzog and Israeli wines would be a focus. I think they swung and missed there. Sure, they brought a single bottle of a barrel sample for a wine that has not been released yet. Sure, that is cool, it was stuck on the side, more like a worth check. Were you worthy of a dram of this wine? Sorry, either this is something to showcase Herzog and it should have been in greater supply or it should have not been there like other wines. Yes, I tasted it, this is not sour grapes (which it was not), but it is a point that Herzog was not focused on enough.
In the end, the lack of selection, and the lack of focus, made me feel like Herzog was just punting here. I think for trade they should have been more active, more present, and showing more of the portfolio! How else will new restaurants, wine shops, or retailers know about the many cool wines that are being produced at Herzog? Showing older wines that do not promote the brand well, undermines Herzog and undermines the point of KFWE, especially for Trade partners.
KFWE Miami was also a swing-and-miss, no one was there to promote the Winery. That is crazy to me. I know it was Hanukkah, but hey wine is a business.
A Quick stop in London on my way to Israel – Honest Grapes Domaine Montille and some extras!
It had been almost 5 years since I had stepped foot in Israel. I tried to rectify that issue last year but the war and the lack of planes put a large crimp in that plan. So, once I saw Lufthansa was flying planes again to Israel, in January 2024, I booked a flight and was all ready to go to Israel on a clean and simple one-stop flight in each direction. SFO-MUC-TLV and TLV-FRA-SFO. Either way, the flights forced me to stay overnight in Frankfurt, but that was life.
The flights were booked and I was planning my trip, my hotels and all, when I got this strange email from Ruth Morrell, a new name for me in regards to Honest Grapes, it read: Private Tasting of Domaine de Montille 2022 Kosher Cuvees – January 22nd. I must say that I rarely feel the need to run to such events but I was already going in that direction a day before. So after a few changed flights, itinerary, and a crazy couple of phone calls, my tickets were set to fly through London for a day.
None of this could have happened without the insane kindness, hospitality, and openness of Richard and his wife Hannah! They opened their home for me, shared their brand new wines with me and so many others, and threw the entire event in the evening so that we could all taste some wines together. A total mensch and a truly kind and wonderful person. I cannot forget the kids for putting up with me arriving early as well, an all-around very kind and overly hospitable experience! My sincere thanks!
The event was being hosted by Richard and Hannah in their home in London, later that evening, and I asked if I could arrive early and taste the wines that came just that day. The number of kindnesses by Richard and family was met by the kindness of Nathan Hill, the Bond warehouse, and two separate delivery people, all needed to play a very fine hand to meet the needs of the many, including myself!
Honest Grapes
I have written about Domaine de Montille before when I first tasted them, long after I had bought them En Primeur. However, I never had the time to talk about Honest Grapes, that was until I wrote my post on M&M Impoters, a partner of Honest Grapes and the importer of their wines in the USA.
Tom Harrow and Nathan Hill built quite the company and we have all been the beneficiaries of more kosher wines, because of Mr. Hill. Mr. Hill was very kind in the email exchanges we had along with the newly hired Ruth Morrell. They assured me that the event was on and it was going to be an opportunity to taste the following 2022 wines, though these were all barrel/tank samples.
Honest Grapes have just launched these stunning wines as en primeur in the UK. All the cuvees are exclusive to Honest Grapes and are funded entirely by us as in previous years. We are immensely proud of these wines and they follow the sold-out 2021’s from last year though production is higher, the quality is excellent and we are very confident in high critical appraise once again.
The tasting will be at the private home of one of our club members in Hendon on Monday January 22nd from 18:30-20:00 . We will enjoy a selection of canapes catered by Chef David Scott and his team that will accompany the wines. We are asking for a £40 contribution towards the canapes and waitressing staff to be paid directly to our host on the evening. We are limited to a certain number of guests so please may I ask that you RSVP as soon as you can. Address to follow.
We will be tasting the following 6 Domaine de Montille cuvees:
2022 | Beaune Premier Cru ‘Les Perrières’ | Domaine de Montille | Red |
2022 | Monthelie Premier Cru ‘Les Duresses’ | Domaine de Montille | White |
2022 | Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru ‘Aux Thorey’ | Domaine de Montille | Red |
2022 | Pommard Premier Cru ‘Les Grands Epenots’ | Domaine de Montille | Red |
2022 | Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru ‘Les Chalumeaux’ | Domaine de Montille | White |
2022 | Volnay Premier Cru ‘Les Brouillards’ | Domaine de Montille | Red |
The very cool part was that while these were what the tasting (what Nathan called the NON-RCC Tasting) was about, because of Richard’s kindness it also included the 2021 Domaine Montille wines as well!
You see the day I landed in London was the same day the 2021 Domaine Montille wines arrived, from Bond to Richard’s home! Through Richard and Hannah’s kindness, they shared the wines with us all and allowed us to taste them all in one night.
NOTE: There are EIGHT Kosher Burgundy wines in 2022, there are also two Bourgogne wines a white and a red, sadly they were not at the tasting.
The Tasting
As stated previously, I had asked Richard if I could arrive earlier and taste his 2021 wines quietly, without the noise and smells of cooking food, which would be the case later that evening.
As you read the evening would have some lovely small bites and that food was cooked in the house. So, the faster I could taste the wines the better I could feel about my notes. I arrived a bit before the chef arrived and an hour or so before Mr. Hill and Ruth did. This gave me ample time to taste the five 2021 wines that Richard had bought. I did not taste the 2021 Domaine de Montille Beaune, 1er Cru, Les Perrieres, Beaune, 1er Cru.
Overall, I found the 2021 Domaine de Montille wines to be right between the JP Marchand Burgundies and the Aegerter. Avi and I tasted the JP Marchand 2021 Burgundies in Paris in late Nov 2022 and I tasted them again in Jan 2023. The Aegerter wines I tasted in May 2023 (and again in Nov 2023) with Avi as well.
From the six times or more that I have now tasted kosher 2021 Burgundies, I can say that while they do not reach the 2020s or earlier, they are not the disaster that describes the 2021 Bordeaux vintage.
Read the rest of this entryLatest releases from Andrew Breskin and Liquid Kosher
I just came back from Israel, that is a whole other post, including two stopovers, one before the trip to Israel and one on the way home. The stopover on the way to Israel was to taste Honest Grapes wines, yes, that is another post as well! The final stopover before returning home was to see my friend Andrew in San Diego. The airport is an absolute mess, but the new Terminal 1 is starting to take shape, still, please beware before going there!
Mr. Breskin is the founder of Liquid Kosher a wine curator and importer of a wide array of kosher wines, from French wines (like the famous Domaine Rose Camille to Israeli favorites). My trip this time was more of a mad dash than a proper visit and thankfully Andrew kept it simple. It was great to hang with Andrew, which I normally get to do only once a year at KFWE Los Angeles. Sadly, with no KFWE this year, this will be my only time with Andrew, unless I can find my way down there again, later this year!
Andrew has been the go-to guy for access to French wines that are not imported into the United States by Royal or the other larger kosher wine importers. Andrew has brought us Burdungdies like Domaine Chantal Lescure, and Domaine d’Ardhuy, along with the famous Domaine Roses Camille, which have been top scorers for many years now. These are all wines that Taieb has made for many years now. Sadly, 2017 was the last vintage of the Lescure, and Domaine d’Ardhuy ended in 2015.
The wines I tasted included a few JP Marchand Burgundies from the new 2022 vintage along with a few Taieb wines as well. Sadly, Taieb only made 4 red wines in 2022, no white wines. There were a couple of other wines, including the Domaine Roses Camille 2020 Chateau Les Graves de Lavaud. It is a lovely wine but I already posted the notes on that one.
Next, there were new Taieb wines that I had not tasted in Paris. First, it was a very simple but good Mevushal option called 2022 Prince George 1er Choix de Cuvee, IGP Coteaux de Narbonne. I had never heard of the region called IGP Coteaux de Narbonne. It is a region in the Rhone, but not a very well-known one for Kosher wine.
Next came the 2021 Chateau Castelbruck and the 2021 Chateau Haut-Breton Larigaudiere. The Castelbruck broke out of the failed 2021 Bordeaux mold. It showed well for such a failed vintage. The 2021 Chateau Haut-Breton Larigaudiere sadly did not follow and it too succumbed to the 2021 Bordeaux malaise. The pictures include a few other wines that I already posted, like the 2022 Chateau Tournebrise, the 2021 Jean-Philippe Marchand Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes de Beaune, and the 2022 Chateau Meilhan. The Tournebrise is a refreshing wine and one that I almost drank, during the tasting, very refreshing. The 2021 Jean-Philippe Marchand Bourgogne, Hautes-Cotes de Beaune showed beautifully, as during the tasting in Jan of 2023. Finally, the 2022 Chateau Meilhan is OK, one of the less impressive 2022 showings. We also tasted the 2019 Lahat Syrah, it is so Israeli, but not evil, I did not write notes. The 2022 Gehring Riesling and the 2018 Rieslings were all very nice.
After that, we tasted a few wines that are tangentially related to Andrew and his business. The Corcos wines from 2016, including the 2016 Chateau D’eck, the 2016 Chateau Haut-Bacalan, and the 2016 Verdeto. I was on point with my concern with the 2016 Verdeto, when I tasted it in June of 2021. The ripeness could never find balance and tasting it that night was not painful but not enjoyable – drink up! The 2016 Chateau Haut-Bacalan did not show well, it felt closed and nowhere, I hope it is just asleep, I will check in on it in a year, God-Willing. Finally, the 2016 Chateau D’eck was also, uninspiring, much like I felt back in 2020.
The newly released 2020 Elk Cabernet Sauvignon, Mount Veeder was quite nice. A classic Napa Cabernet. I always wish for more verve and acidity, but it is quite nice still.
Finally, I was graced with two other wines that evening, both of which I wish I could eviscerate from my memories. They are the 2019 Viniferia, Castel Luciano, Super Tuscan, and another wine I will retaste. The 2019 Viniferia Castel Luciano, Super Tuscan, is nice enough, not super, and maybe it is Tuscan, but not for me! The 2017 vintage of this wine did not score much better when I tasted it back in 2022.
My many thanks to Andrew Breskin and his wife for hosting me and for sharing his time, home, and wines with me. The wine notes follow below, in order of quality and grouping – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2022 Jean-Philippe Marchand Burgundies
2022 Jean-Philippe Marchand Bourgogne, Hautes-Cotes de Nuits, Hautes-Cotes de Nuits – Score: 91 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine opens to show pomegranate, sour Bing cherry, intense rosehip, cinnamon, English lavender, and funk, with loads of dirt, earth, mineral, rich smoke, and roasted meat. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is lovely, intensely acidic, layered, and earthy, with loads of floral notes, lavender, rosehip, smoked meat, and classic dark cherry. What stands out is the sweet oak influence of cedar, mouth-draping tannin, tart cherry/lavender, and minerality. The finish is floral, and very feminine, with herbs, graphite, toast, mushroom, and forest floor. Nice! Drink until 2030. (tasted January 2024) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.5%)
California Dreaming – 2021 is quite the vintage – part #2
The 2020 fire-riddled vintage in much of Northern California has thankfully given way to a stunning vintage of 2021! After suffering drought, fire, and extreme temperature swings, Cali has been gifted a vintage that while low on yields, in some locals, is high on quality.
This is the second post on California wines that I have tasted recently and this one is less complimentary of the wines than the previous one. Please go read the first post and see those wines before reading this post.
I will say I was unimpressed by the Chardonnay from 2021 and even though the Oakville came in with the highest score I wished it had more acidity and more verve. I am still trying to get my hands on the Herzog Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon, it is just impossible sometimes to get wine, such is life! I hope I finally have a line on it for next week!
The real WINNERS for me were the 2023 wines from Covenant. I have been banging the drum for their wines for around a year-plus now. dating back to the tasting I had in Berkeley in September of 2022. They have really not missed a step these past two years. and the 2023 vintage is starting with a bang! The Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc are both Fruity but balanced and refreshing, and that is the word you want to see in my posts, sometimes more than the Nice or Bravo (keywords).
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