Well it has been a bit of time since I last posted.  Passover and a few things that I had to get done around the house kept me away.  Now that I have a few more minutes to breathe – I will get to posting again.

Did you all see the headings on many of the online kosher marts – they were touting the number of days till Passover and shipping guaranties.  Kind of sounds alot like the holiday monikers you see out in December.  Anyway, the numbers looked brisk all around.  No matter who I was buying from – they all seemed busy this year.  Which is a nice thing to see.  As always, please remember to support your local wine shop, and when they do not have the specialty items you wish – look at the large online shops to backfill.

I have been away from the keyboard but not from the bottles 😉

Here are my tasting notes from the past few bottles and have a wonderful rest of Passover:

Well the Passover was quite nice. I did not go overboard on the wines. First night we ate out and the menu was a nice vegetable bisque. Followed by fish rolls (matzo soaked and then rolled around some lovely salmon) with asparagus and roasted mushrooms as side dishes.

The wines I had for the 4 cups was the 2006 Bartenura Valpolicella.  A very nice soft and lightly tannic wine. Perfect for the cups. It turns out that the wine also goes quite nicely with soft cheeses (hard cheeses ran all over it). For the dinner we paired the food with a Four Gates Chardonnay 2000.  The Chardonnay is still kicking down doors. This is a very fruit forward and heady wine. Tons of fruit on the nose – peach, apricots, and some custard. The body is full and oaky – but not velvety, which is fine with me. The acid and fruit balance very well into a satisfying finish.

The second meal was at home and we had the Valpolicella for the four cups. For dinner we had gifilte fish baked in a tomato and balsamic vinegar mixture, and covered with lemon slices. For the main course we had my favorite – brisket. The brisket is marinated in wine for a day and then baked slow and low for many ours. Then let stand over night. Next morning it is sliced and then rebraised in the wine, cranberry sauce, and brown sugar for a few more hours. Paired with was two wines:

2002 Tabor Meshcha: A-
I really liked this bottle, but it was not a hit on the table filled with French people. The nose is filled with coffee, chocolate, and cassis. The mouth on the full bodied wine is very fruit forward and the tannins have nicely integrated with the fruit and oak and the outcome is a wine that goes great with the meat and the next morning we had it with some Asiago and other hard cheeses and it was a great match.

2001 Château Malmaison Baronne Nadine : B+
I really like this one and the rest of the table agreed. This one is a little lighter than I would have liked but still complex enough to keep your attention. It goes well with the brisket, but could not really keep up with the hard cheeses.

On Erev Pesach (Shabbos) we opened a:
2002 Baron Herzog Cabernet/Zinfandel/Syrah Special Reserve: A-
It was quite a nice wine. This melange is constantly changing in your glass, which is really nice. It starts with a heady Zinfandel nose and slowly migrates to the Cabernet nose. The mouth on the full bodied wine shows nice tar and pepper notes from the Syrah, while balancing it with tobacco notes from the Cab and great fruit from who knows where 🙂 .  This is a real hit for Baron Herzog and I am kind of sad that this was my last bottle. That said, it is at the peak so more would be a mistake. I am hoping the 2005 vintage can keep up.

Happy Passover everyone!!!