With the start of 2017 and the completion of another successful Miami KFWE 2016, the new wine tasting season is upon us. As I post every year, we all need to educate ourselves in what makes us happy in the kosher wine world. The best way to do that is to attend RCC tastings (that happen monthly), or attend one of the many kosher wine events that happen in and around the Passover wine-buying season.

This year is no different as in the past, thankfully I have the dates for all the events. The first and IMHO, the best KFWE in the books is the Tzur tasting in Tel Aviv. The Miami event was actually quite nice, but it happens in December of the previous year and in this case, it happened already on December 14th at the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood.

Though to be 100% truthful the first event (after the Miami one), is Sommelier 2017 in Tel Aviv January 30th and 31st. Honestly, with the horrible 2015 vintage in Israel, all you will need is one day at Sommelier this year. You can register here for the event. The next day, fly to Paris for the the KFWE in Paris which will happen on 1/31/17 at the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts Paris – Marceau. After that wake up the next morning and hop on the Eurostar and you will be whisked to London where you can still get tickets to the VIP session at the KFWE Europe, which will be taking place at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane, London on February 1st, 2017.

A returning theme throughout the KFWE family is the classic approach of steal what works best! The KFWE system is basically a brotherly rivalry between the cities – with London/NYC/LA being the three official ones, and Miami/Israel/Paris being less so. Still, when one idea works for one of the siblings – you can be sure it will be copied. In this case, I am talking about the VIP session. I exalted the idea in my post about the KFWE in LA, and the year before, and this past year LA crushed it again with tons of room for the main public event, by renting out the entire Petersen Automotive Museum, though the food was lacking this past year. The VIP room/experience is 100% On like Donkey Kong! The question is now, who will come up with the next big idea?

After the London event, you can hop on a plane and fly to Israel for the Tzur (now officially part of the KFWE family) tasting on Monday, February 6th in the evening. Then hop on a plane and fly to the Granddaddy of them all – the original KFWE NYC use coupon code KWSE18 for $18 off.

The event at Chelsea Piers is taking place on Monday, February 13th, 2017. Sadly, the VIP session has already been sold-out, and the 25 off coupon code has expired. The non-VIP session is available, and the Chelsea Piers location will make for a far more enjoyable and manageable experience, just like last year.

Then hop on another plane and make your way to warm Los Angeles! The KWFE LA last year was the hands down winner for its epic VIP session, and the VIP session is back and I would advise all to jump on them before they sell out! The LA event is returning to the gorgeous Petersen Automotive Museum and is taking place on Wednesday, February 15th, 2017, at 6 PM. Order tickets here NOW and use coupon code: “eatupdrinkup” (without the quotes) to get a 10% discount off the rack rate of the NON-VIP rate session. The larger space allowed for an expanded VIP session and lots of room for the public tasting.

After that – you would think you should be exhausted and ready for a break and I am sure you will need it and it will be well deserved. However, the following weekend, it is time to go to The Grand Kosher Wine Tasting on Sunday, February 19th at 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM at The Grapevine Wines & Spirits, in Wesley Hills, New York! When you are there say hello to Yehoshua Werth, he is the wine man at the Grapevine!

Finally, you get a month off, and then there is the Jewish Week Grand Wine Tasting, taking place on Monday, March 20th, at the City Winery, in NYC. The VIP concept is back again this year, with early access to the venue and special wines that will be served by distributors just for the VIP guests. VIP starts at 5 PM, with general access at 6 PM. Order tickets from this link!

Well that is it! If I were you – I would recommend you buy the tickets of the KFWE that apply to you ASAP and then go to the events with the mind of enjoying yourself, but also with the mind of learning! These events are the best opportunity to see what wines you like, love, crave, and most importantly hate!