After going through the 2019 roses in my last post the 2019 and 2018 whites are up next. I am adamant that QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) is where kosher wine needs to go. QPR means well-priced wines. Still, people do not get QPR. To me, QPR is what I describe and explain here.

To restate it again, the Q part of QPR (Quality) is the qualitative part of the QPR score while the P (Price) is the quantitative part of the QPR score. My opinion of a wine, its qualitative score, is 100% subjective, and my opinion, while what the ACTUAL price of the wine (in a public store) is 100% objective, it is NOT subjective, the price is right there on the website! Where I disagree with many about QPR is that many choose an arbitrary price to state that a wine has a good QPR (a good value for the price). Well, that is absurd, I may spend 50 dollars for a bottle of wine and others would not spend more than 10 for a bottle of wine. QPR based upon a subjective price – adds yet another subjective valuation to the mess! That is why I used the actual price of the wine – IN COMPARISON to its peers! That way you get to see wines in the same categories (white, rose, red, sparkling) compared against its peers – where the wine score is now apples to apples. So a 50 dollar red wine that gets a 90 score and 30 dollars red wine (both in the drink now red wine category) that gets a 90 score, makes the obvious choice for the 30 dollar wine. But what is the 50 dollar wine gets a 92 score – well now you need to compare the 92 against its peers, and you may well find that it is still a POOR to BAD QPR even though it gets a subjective score of 92, because there are other peers to it, in its category, that score better or maybe a drop worse (say 91), but cost half as much. Please read the QPR revised post again.

In the Rose world, things were not great. Sure we had two QPR Winners (again a winner is a QPR score of GREAT and a 91 score or higher), but those two JUST sneaked in, as the prices for roses keep rising. The world of white wines is not like that. White wines have loads of winners, 13 in total, and half of them or more are priced well below the Median price.

Also, remember that this post is about simple white wines (AKA Drink “soon” White Wine). I qualify this wine category in my QPR 2.0 Revised post to mean, white wines that will not age 7 years. The ageable white wine list is far smaller and will be released soon.

Median Price keeps moving and more wines are Winners

I liked the 2019 Covenant Sauvignon Blanc but it was priced too high when I first had it. Since then, as I keep tasting wines in the simple white wine category (AKA not age-able white wines) the price overall for the category is going up. This is NOTHING new, I say it constantly, kosher wine prices keep going up! This is why we created the QPR idea, as I was sick and tired of seeing such high prices on wines.

Well, the simple white wines are not immune and sadly they too are now rising at a pace that is not great. Still, A rising tide lifts all boats, so, the good wines go from good to GREAT and then to WINNER with really nothing more than a higher tide! As, again, QPR is 50% wine score and 50% price, the 91 score for the 2019 Covenant Sauvignon Blanc did not change – what changed was the price of its peers and as such its QPR score.

Breath of white wine varietals

The sheer number of white wine varietals in this post is crazy. From common varietals like Sauvignon Blanc to one-off varietals like Gruner Veltliner, to crazy blends, and everything else in between. There is also great variance in the wine regions from where these wines hail, Italy, France, Israel, California, Spain, New Zealand, Washington State, and South Africa (not a very good option sadly, at this point).

Overall, we have seen an explosion of white wine options that are truly impressive from a price and quality perspective. It is truly incredible what is going on in the white wine category! Bravo!

Now many years ago all we had was Chardonnay and maybe some Sauvignon Blanc here and there. NOW, the bounty is awesome!

Overall Impression – Quality and Price

As stated a few lines above, the prices keep marching up! Roses, simple white wines, and reds as well. This is UNSUSTAINABLE, time will tell, but this has to stop! The simple white wine median price has gone from 22 to 24 to 26 in a matter of MONTHS! That is crazy! CRAZY! I stated these words a couple of months ago – SAD!

Still, the idea that we have 13 wines that qualify for the QPR WINNER category is really good, and as I stated already a few times, I do not define the QPR winners, the market does. I throw in a qualitative/subjective score for the wine’s quality and then the market and its peers duke out the rest. Overall, 2019 is still a dud in Israel – but I did find 2 Israeli white wine QPR WINNERS. Still, Europe, California, and Washington State are the winners here. Also, of the 109 white wines, I tasted almost half are 90 or better, which again, is saying we are getting the quality side of the QPR equation – working well! What we need to do is STEM the rising tide of wine prices and then start to work on lowering them. Until then, at least we have lots of good white wine options!

All the wines here are scored both quantitatively, AKA using my classic wine score described here, and using the newly revised QPR score described here. So, yes, there will be more of the QPR discussion that will arise from this post.

Finally, in order of price, the first of the 13 QPR WINNER wines come in at wine #54, sorted by price! That means there are loads of other wines far less interesting than the 2019 Matar Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend, the most expensive of the 13 WINNER QPR wines, at the QPR Median of 26. This is the kind of data that makes me scream. This is what needs to change! Wineries are willing to produce wines that are more expensive and less interesting, than more than HALF of the wine I tasted! This is what needs to change, kosher wine has gotten out of control, price-wise.

Do yourself a favor, check the price, you do it for everything else you buy! Check the wine, check the price, and then decide!

New wines since my last post

Let me start with the winners, literally (All the notes are below), this is just the highlights (or low lights) – the details are below, as always:

1. 2019 Matar Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon, it is a rare good 2019 wine from Israel – Bravo!!!
2. Another winner from Israel, the 2019 Vitkin Israeli Journey, the best kosher vintage of this wine, IMHO.
3. I tasted the 2017 Vitkin Grenache Blanc, Collector’s Edition again recently and it is vastly improved. Something I said about his Grenache Blanc a few times, it takes a few years for this one to hit its stride.
4. I was given the chance to taste the Lahat White wines and red wines from 2018 and 2019. What I will say is that this man is a professional and even his red wines (another post) are 90 scoring wines. Still, I was not blown away by any of them. They all scored well and I hope we will see better pricing and a better product in the future:
   1. 2018 Lahat Lavan White
   2. 2019 Lahat Laichter White
   3. 2018 Lahat Laichter White
5. Nice! A reasonably-priced Tulip white wine from 2019! Go figure. I used to like their product and then they fell away, like much of Israel. The 2019 Tulip White Tulip is reasonably priced and while not a wine I would run to buy, a wine that if poured to me I would drink.
6. A limited amount of 2019 Flam Camellia is in the USA. It is a blend of Chard and Sauvignon Blanc, and while it works, and I liked it, I have some reservations. Time will tell.
7. Sadly, Tzora is going the wrong direction, IMHO. I continue to be in awe of the epic wines from the past, including the 2014 whites and the Or wines of the past. However, in the recent wines, of the past 5 years, things have gone in the wrong direction. The wines are OK, but the prices are out of control and if you put that together, I will buy other things.
   1. 2019 Tzora Shoresh, Blanc
   2. 2019 Tzora Judean’s Hills, Blanc
8. The 2018 Sentieri Ebraici Greco di Tufo, D.O.C.G. is not only a bad wine it is a bad deal and a total FAILURE in my eyes. Sad, it has and continues to garner so much hype, but that is all a very poor window-dressing for an average to below-average wine, at the best. MOVE ON!

The wine note follows below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

QPR Winners in the White Wine Category

2018 Chateau Les Riganes, Blanc (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 92
This wine is made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc. The nose on this wine is crazy, straight New Zealand crack, with loads of saline, gooseberry, cat pee, and dirt that the pee fell on, with green notes, and passion fruit, lovely! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is lovely, it is a bit short in the front, but wow the saline hits you over the head like a 2×4, with loads of spice, slate, grapefruit, gooseberry, and green apple, with loads of mineral, earth, rock, and loads of quince, lovely! The finish is long, green, earthy, with more saline, and orange blossom. Bravo! Drink until 2021.

2018 Ramon Cardova Albarino, Rias Baixas (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 92
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is just below the median price line, so this wine SHOULD get a score of GREAT for QPR. However, it is ALSO one of the few white wines that score at least a 91, and that has a price that is below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. Bravo!!!
The 2018 vintage of this Albarino, in its second vintage, shows less tropical and ripe than the first vintage, 2017. This bottle also had the thermal active label, and it shows up when the bottle is at the proper drinking temperature. My only REAL and serious complaint is the cork, why would Royal waste the money and my money of a real cork? Use a DIAM or any other amalgamated cork, like almost everyone else is. I hope I do not hit a bad cork for the wines I have.
The nose on this wine is better than the 2017 vintage, Lovely nose of rich mineral, with loads of straw, with which salinity, and lovely peach and dry pear, with honeysuckle, gooseberry, along with green notes galore. Lovely! The mouth on this lovely green and acid-driven wine has a more oily mouthfeel than the 2017 vintage, showing rich salinity, green olives, with lovely dry quince, green apples, more peach, green apple, but also with lovely lime and grapefruit, no sense of guava or melon-like on the 2017 vintage, with a tinge of orange notes. The overall mouth is lovely and it comes at you in layers. The finish is long, green, with gooseberry, tart fruit, with an incredible freshness, and orange pith, slate, rock, and incredible acidity lingering long. Incredible!! Bravo!! Drink until 2022.

2019 O’dwyers Creek Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91+
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is below the median price line, so this wine SHOULD get a score of GREAT for QPR. However, it is ALSO one of the few white wines that score at least a 91, and that has a price that is below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. Bravo!!!
Lovely notes of passion fruit, incredible cat pee, gooseberry, and loads green notes for the cat to pee on, with incredible saline, such a wonderful and classic New Zealand nose. This is a very fruity, yet extremely well-balanced New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, it is more tropical than the 2018 Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc, but also more New Zealand – in nature. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is lovely. well balanced, with good acidity, extremely refreshing, with loads of grapefruit, guava, passion fruit, lemon/lime, and lovely loads of crazy tart gooseberry, and incredible slate. The finish is long, green, with lovely salt, intense saline, rock, and more citrus. Bravo! Drink until 2024.

2019 Hagafen Sauvignon Blanc, California (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91
It was awesome tasting this side-by-side the 2019 O’Dwyers Creek Sauvignon Blanc – they are remarkably close, with the O’Dwyers Creek winning by a nose. This is tropical but so well balanced! Another white wine WINNER for the 2019 vintage!
The nose on this lovely Sauvignon Blanc is crazy tropical and almost over the top, but still well controlled, and fun, with lovely notes of gooseberry, pineapple, intense and aromatic passion fruit, and lovely smoke/slate, wow, fun! The mouth on this wine is equally enjoyable and refreshing, with nice acidity, wish it had a drop more, with nice fruit of passion fruit, grapefruit, tart melon, and rich saline, with gooseberry, and slate/flint. The finish is long, green with lemongrass, ginger, and overall fun and refreshing approach. Nice!!! Drink now.

2019 Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is well below the median price line, so this wine SHOULD get a score of GREAT for QPR. However, it is ALSO yet another Sauvignon Blanc from the 2019 vintage that scored at least a 91, and that has a price that is at or below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. TWO years in a row for Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc! Bravo!!
The nose is closed and does not show the classic creaming notes, right now the notes are subdued but they are present, with time the wine finally opens up, with cat pee, gooseberry, straw, grass, mineral, and Asian pear. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine needs a few minutes and with time it shows a far more restrained version but still quite enjoyable, with intense acidity, followed by loads of pith, straw, cut grass, mineral, dirt, and lovely orange, nectarines, citrus, Asian pear, and lemongrass. The finish is long, green, with passion fruit, more gooseberry, and mineral galore, straw, pith, slate, and flint. Bravo! With time the fruit will come out from under the pith and straw haze. Drink until 2023.

2018 Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is well below the median price line, so this wine SHOULD get a score of GREAT for QPR. However, it is ALSO one of the few white wines that score at least a 91, and that has a price that is below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. Bravo!!!
Love the screw tops, we need to embrace screw tops for one-year wines. The nose is classic, with gooseberry, passion fruit, cat pee, and straw with mineral. The mouth on this wine holistic, while the group was nice but lacked this complexity and overall acid structure. The mouth on this wine is crazy fun, bright, with rich gooseberry, citrus, grapefruit galore, with incredible bright fruit structure, that blends well with the fruit powerful not out of place, with layers of acid, tart ripe tropical fruit, with impressive lemonade and pink grapefruit candy that gives way to tart lemon, fun. The finish is long, green, and crazy tart, with slate, flint, and truly fun and refreshing. Bravo! Drink this year.

2018 Hagafen Dry Riesling, Napa Valley (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is below the Median price line, so this wine gets a GREAT score for QPR. However, it is ALSO one of the few white wines that score at least a 91, and that has a price that is below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. Bravo!!!
The nose on this wine is tropical and sweet fruit-focused, with pineapple, guava, melon, peach, but now THANKFULLY the petrol is in full gear, and it commands your attention, with the tropical fruit still very present, along with some nice mineral. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is fun, tart, nice acidity, with more petrol funk, showing nice balance, with good acidity, still, the mouth is sweet and ripe, the petrol and tart notes help, with green apple, tart grapefruit, tart stone fruit, and slate galore, with waxy notes, and tart pineapple. The finish is long, green, with intense mineral, slate, flint, and lovely petrol that gives way to nice acidity, and hints of tannin. The wine has indeed come around and now petrol is more present and the hole in the middle is gone. Drink until 2024.

2019 Herzog Sauvignon Blanc, Lineage (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is below the Median price line, so this wine gets a GREAT score for QPR. However, it is ALSO one of the few white wines that score at least a 91, and that has a price that is below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. Bravo!!!
They finally put it all together with the 2019 vintage and for the price, it is fun! The nose on this wine is lovely with aromas of gooseberry, cat piss, and passion fruit, with straw and mineral, and citrus galore, NICE! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is rich and nice with crazy acidity, lovely honeysuckle, orange blossom, grapefruit, and flint galore. Lovely. The finish is long, green, and lovely with lemongrass, flint, hints of pineapple, lovely! Drink now!

2018 Elvi Wines Herenza White, Alella, Spain (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is well below the median price line, so this wine SHOULD get a score of GREAT for QPR. However, it is ALSO one of the few white wines that score at least a 91, and that has a price that is below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. Bravo!!!
The wine is a blend of something like 60% Pansa Blanca and 40% Sauvignon Blanc. The nose on this wine is closed, with time it opens to show beautiful tart fruit, nice minerality, with mango galore, lovely impressive funk, white peach, with loads of hay and mineral, with citrus and mad orange blossom. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is oily and richer in mouthfeel, but sadly, not as acidic as I remember it from last year, still nice and balanced, with tart pink grapefruit, followed by orange fruit, yellow plum, and beautiful orange blossom. The finish is super long, tart, and juicy, super well balanced, showing more acidity on the finish than on the front of the wine, with fun mineral, more funk lingering long, along with flint, and pith. WOW! Drink from 2020 until 2025.

2018 Kos Yeshuos California Kid (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is just below the median price line, so this wine SHOULD get a score of GREAT for QPR. However, it is ALSO one of the few white wines that score at least a 91, and that has a price that is below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. Bravo!!!
Ok, so this is the fifth time I have had this wine and it is ready to go. Also, the sweeter side of the wine has moved to a drier side, the orange and nectarines are gone, with more passion fruit, and citrus galore lingering.
This wine is a blend of Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc. The nose on this wine starts to show like a 100% Sauvignon Blanc, showing crazy gooseberry, fresh-cut grass, cat pee, with herbal notes, and nice peach in the background, lemongrass, and bright citrus notes, with loads of green notes, with peaches and crème in the background! The mouth on this medium plus bodied wine is rich and acidic, with a lovely acid core, followed by more peach, grapefruit, and more lovely gooseberry, with salinity that is off the charts, now the orange and nectarines are gone, and now what we have is more lemongrass, more saline, and hints of melon. The finish is long, green, tiny hint of orange, and tart. Bravo!!! Drink by 2021.

2018 Pacifica Riesling (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is just below the median price line, so this wine SHOULD get a score of GREAT for QPR. However, it is ALSO one of the few white wines that score at least a 91, and that has a price that is below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. Bravo!!!
This wine has changed a lot since the last time I had it. Second solid showing with lovely notes of sweet fruit, with great bright notes, of sweet guava, sweet peach, apricot, and loads of mango, nice, all well balanced with bright notes, and orange blossom, and hints of petrol. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is well layered, plush and oily, with loads of petrol, lovely sweet notes, lemon/lime sorbet, and great mineral, funk, and good rock. The finish on this lovely wine is super long, with slate, rock, petrol, and sweet fruit that is perfectly balanced, Bravo! The plush and refreshing wine is a true joy! Drink by 2024.

2019 Matar Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91
Nice, finally an Israeli 2019 white with a solid score, it is on sale at the Median price – so buy it up!
This wine is a blend of 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Semillon. This is the perfect blend of funk from the Semillon and acidity from the Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The nose on this lovely wine is bright, starting with lovely funk, followed by lovely apple, quince, citrus galore, white flowers, dandelions, and lemongrass. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine hits you with layers of acidity, followed by lovely citrus, sweet melon, sweet apple, pear, creamy notes, backed by a mineral and saline backbone, with tart quince and gooseberry. The finish is long, tart, green, and sweet, with hints of passionfruit, more gooseberry, pink grapefruit, and lovely slate. Bravo! Drink now.

2019 Vitkin Israeli Journey (QPR: WINNER) – Score: 91
Two wineries and two white wine blends from 2019 with a 12% ABV! This is what I need! While the 2019 Tulip white was a blend of Gewurztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc, the Israeli Journey from Vitkin is a blend of 30% Grenache Blanc, 20% Chenin Blanc, 20% Viognier, 20% Colombard, and 10% Viognier. Quick question – WHY? Sorry, that was not a question, so, WHY do you need a natural cork on such a wine?? There a real question, this is absurd! Please stop putting corks into wines that have a shelf life of 2 years, max!
The nose on this wine shows a better balance of the Gewurztraminer than the Tulip white, with lovely hints of pineapple, green notes of passion fruit, herbs, pear, and nice citrus. The mouth on this light-bodied wine is nice, well-balanced, refreshing with what feels a bit like a hollow feeling, but the acidity upfront helps, with crazy honeysuckle, peach, intense orange, intense Pomelo, with lovely citrus, gooseberry, honeyed fruit, and intense Meyer lemon. The finish is long, green, and intense, with passion fruit, more citrus, lemongrass, and crazy slate and flint. Bravo! This is a fun and refreshing wine, and yes, please get rid of that real cork, not worth losing this wine to cork taint. Drink now.

Other white wines in order of score

2018 Les Marronniers Chablis (QPR: Good) – Score: 93
While the price of white wines keeps rising it cannot save this wine and make it a winner or even a great QPR wine, but that does not mean I do not buy lots of it! At 31 dollars, or so, here in the USA, it is a wine that is above the price median – but at a score of 93/92, it is a no brainer. When there is a wine, like this one, which has a bigger enjoyment but just above the median – you go and get it, even when it is only a GOOD QPR.
This wine is made with native yeasts and as little manipulation as possible. The nose of this wine is beautiful with orange blossom, yellow apple, and rosehip, with lemon curd, and yeasty and creamy notes. This is so much better than the 2016 or 2017 vintage, this is so much fun! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is crazy fun, intense acidity, incredible salinity, piercing, almost painful, with lovely layers of lemon, grapefruit, with quince, and pie crust, with Anjou pear, and quince. The finish is long, crazy long, almost oily, mostly creamy, with baked pear and apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, and loads of mineral, with slate, rock, and saline. Bravo!! Drink until 2023 maybe 2024.

2018 Les Marronniers Chablis, Premier Cru, Cote de Jouan (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 92 to 93
So, this one is a bit harder to say – stretch and get this one, from a QPR perspective. This one comes in at 41 dollars a good 15 dollars higher than the median (a good 36% higher), but it is a lovely wine!
The nose of this wine is closed, but it shows lovely notes of mineral, slate, blossom water, and loads of citrus, with apple, and smoke. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is rich, layered, and impressive, with a rich oily mouthfeel, showing a lovely weight, with yellow apple, tart citrus, Asian Pear, and beautiful acidity that is well integrated with a strong mineral core, showing Orange pith, with tart citrus and slate and yellow plum, with saline, and more earth and hints of nectarines and orange. Lovely! Drink from 2020 to 2024 may be longer.

2017 Vitkin Grenache Blanc, Collector’s Edition (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 92
Again, at 39 dollars, this wine is hard to sell and even harder for me to tell u to run out and buy, but WOW is it a good and fun wine! In the end, the wine is well above the market’s median, enjoy!
This wine is a blend of 90% Grenache Blanc and 10% Roussanne. OK, so when I tasted this in late 2018, I was wrong, this wine is not dead or close to it, it has another year and it deserves a higher score. When I said it was not minerally focused, I meant it WAS minerally focused, I just added the extra word for no reason.
The nose on this wine shows crazy mineral, lovely lithe, and rich aromas, with a great focus, to start is the funk and mineral, slate, rock, pencil shavings (yes on a white wine), and then throw in fun floral notes of violet and dandelion, then nice tart fruit, yellow pear, peach, and apple. With time the nose and mouth throw in petrol funk and rich and intense honey and honeysuckle. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is still lovely, rich acidity, lovely weight, with great pith, showing grapefruit, pomelo, with tart gooseberry and straw, intense citrus, lovely pith, with scrapping mineral, slate, and more pith, with honey and lemongrass. Bravo! Drink by mid-2021.

2017 Domaine Netofa Tel Qasser, White (QPR: GOOD) – Score: 92 to 93
I have had this wine again recently, and I think it is still NOT time to open! STOP opening these wines early, this is a superb wine and it needs time.
QPR-wise, this wine clocks in at 33 dollars, here in the USA, a bit more than I had wished. The Marronniers came in at 31 and that is still some 16% higher than the median. The Tel Qasser comes in at 33 dollars, which is a discrepancy of 22% higher than the median. Still, I stocked up, the quality is worth the extra dollars, IMHO!
This wine has changed, and so much more for the better, bravo as usual to Pierre! Please be careful, this wine is not ready for showtime, the acidity does not come put until at least 8 hours of bottle air time, please do not be careless with this wine! Also, do NOT drink this wine from the fridge, please let the wine come to almost room temperature, much akin to red wine.
After many hours, the nose of this wine is showing beautifully, a lovely Roussanne, showing earth, mineral, rich brightness, lovely floral notes, with straw, yellow plum, lanolin, almonds, walnuts, and apple. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is layered, rich, and nicely extracted, with piercing acidity, showing a rich oily structure, with layers of green apple, quince, lovely richness, with mineral, grass, straw, and lovely acidity showing long with flowers, and rich lemongrass. The finish is crazy good, showing lovely acidity, rich heather, hints of smoke, and loads of mineral, straw, dry grass, and quince lingering super long, with acidity, and loam!! BRAVO!!!! Drink from 2021 until 2025.

2019 Kos Yeshuos Pinot Gris – Score: 92 (QPR: GOOD)
This is a VERY nice wine, and with my new QPR scoring, it is sadly expensive, higher than the median, however, it scores in the 2nd quality score quintile, so that makes it a GOOD QPR score.
This wine is oaked but not heavy oak, no toast, just barrel heads. This wine underwent a multi-day maceration that gives the wine its unique color, though far from a rose, and not an Orange wine, IMHO. This wine is closed to start, but with time shows a unique nose that is closer to a Roussanne than a simple Pinot Gris. The nose on this wine is tight, with time, it opens to show nuts, walnuts, almonds, marzipan, with some lovely apple, pear, yellow plum, crazy hay/straw, and spices, followed by citrus, ginger, and herbs. The mouth on this medium-plus bodied wine is layered and has a nice mouthfeel, with clear oak leanings, showing stone fruit, orange, nectarine, citrus, lemon, with waxy notes, wrapped in sweet oak, with a tannin that emerges from under the sweet but well-balanced summer fruit, and sweet baking spices. The finish is long, green, oaky, with a wonderful mouthfeel, well-textured, fruit-focused, with a nice creme and oak backbone, pear and apple core, mineral of saline and rock, with lovely spices, and lovely honeyed notes, with lovely roasted and dried walnuts and almonds on the long sweet mineral nutty finish. Bravo! Enjoy until 2022.

2019 Kos Yeshuos Viognier – Score: 91 to 92 (QPR: GOOD)
This is a nice wine, and with my new QPR scoring, it is sadly expensive, higher than the median, however, it scores in the 2nd quality score quintile, so that makes it a GOOD QPR score.
This wine is oaked but not heavy oak, no toast, just barrel heads. This is a higher ABV and this vintage shows more tropical than last year. The nose on this wine is classically Viognier with peach, mango, guava, with less of crazy peach and honeyed perfume, still, this has a nice oak and honey perfume, with apricot, and creme notes. The mouth on this medium-plus bodied wine is ripe, well-balanced, with clear marzipan, almond, coming from the fruit, no oxidation, with lovely acidity, nice pith, oak tannin, showing nice grapefruit, mango, tropical notes, lovely sweet cedar, earth, green notes, and candied pear, all wrapped with a lovely mouthfeel, salinity, with cedar, acid, and almond pith on the long finish. Drink by 2022.

2018 Jean-Pierre Bailly Pouilly-Fume, Sauvignon Blanc – Score: 91 to 92 (QPR: EVEN)
While this wine is nice enough it is two quintiles higher in price than the median and as such even with a quality score higher than the median it should have received a score of POOR for QPR, however, it is in the second quintile for quality as well. Therefore, it is dead even.
The nose and mouth on this wine are more tropical and is a slight step behind the 2017 vintage, which we tasted side-by-side. The nose on this wine shows nicely, but the tropical fruit peeks out with hints of mango, melon while showing nicely with mineral, and chalk, with green apple, and loads of floral notes. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is lovely, layered, rich, and complex, with crazy grapefruit, lovely mineral, slate, and green apple, with Asian pear, but also with a bit too much tropical notes of melon, and hints of pineapple. The finish is long, and green with lemongrass, nice saline, and mineral, but not as much as the 2017 vintage, with stone fruit, more tropical notes, and citrus galore. Bravo!!! Drink until 2022.

2018 Joseph Mellot Sancerre, La Graveliere (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 91
While this wine is nice enough it is two quintiles higher in price than the median and as such even with a quality score higher than the median it should have received a score of POOR for QPR, however, it is in the second quintile for quality as well. Therefore, it is dead even. This wine is crazy expensive here in the USA, in France it is far more reasonably priced.

The nose of this wine is pure heaven, honeysuckle, gooseberry, with crazy loads of orange blossom, passion fruit, and rich saline, lovely! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine has lovely weight, showing crazy pith, screaming grapefruit, with citrus and layers of rich slate, spice, nutmeg, and lovely lemon curd, and herbs. The finish is long, green, and mineral-driven, with loads of pith and orange blossoms lingering long Lovely! Drink by 2022.

2018 Lahat Lavan White (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 91
This wine is a blend of 70% Roussanne, 20% Viognier, and 10% Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is nice but not as acid packed as the 2019 wine, the same statement I made about the 2018 Lahat Laichter. The nose on this wine is nice, showing classic notes of Viognier and Roussanne, with screaming candied peach, apricot, straw, yellow apple and pear, and nice mineral. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine shows more weight from the Viognier, with good complexity to grab my attention, followed by gooseberry, grass, straw, and earth, but loads of spice, and herbs as well. The finish is long, green, and sweet, with a sweeter profile than 2019, with great saline, green olives, slate, and flint, with lemongrass, sweet pear and peach, and gooseberry, and loads of pith lingering long. Nice! Drink now.

2019 Flam Camellia (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 91
This wine is a blend of 87% Chardonnay and 13% Sauvignon Blanc. The nose on this wine starts closed a bit, but with time it opens to show a lovely nose of sweet baked yellow apples, mineral, vanilla ice cream, with butterscotch, and toast. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, showing layers of elegance, good acidity, tart notes of lemon, gooseberry, and grapefruit, from the increased amount of Sauvignon Blanc (2018 only had 10% SB), but well balanced and still a Chardonnay, in both name and style, with sweet oak, more vanilla, crème Fraiche, refreshing and mouth-watering salinity and acidity. The finish is long, tart, green, and oaky, the oak is well integrated, with lovely slate, saline, rock, and sweet spices. The 2nd vintage is not as epic as 2018, but this is showing well – nice! With time the Sauvignon Blanc takes over and it tastes like a luscious SB and then the Chard returns and we get the classic Chard stylings. It will be fun to see this one evolve. Drink until 2024.

2018 Yaacov Oryah Soulmate – Score: 91 (QPR: EVEN)
While this wine is nice it is two quintiles higher in price than the median and as such even with a quality score higher than the median it should have received a score of POOR for QPR, however, it is in the second quintile for quality as well. Therefore, it is dead even. This is based upon the USA pricing, not the Israel pricing.
This wine is a blend of 55% Chardonnay and 45% Chenin Blanc. The name comes from a play on how the two components truly come together to create a wine that is greater than its parts. The nose on this wine is lovely, showing more chard than Chenin, with green apple, yellow apple, and quince from the Chenin, with lovely yellow blossom, and hints of orange. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is fun, showing good acidity now, mineral galore, with lemon/grapefruit notes, followed by lovely fruit focus and fruit structure that is quite precise and professional. The finish is long, green, and mineral-laden, with slate, saline, with green notes of gooseberry, and lime focus. Bravo!! Drink by 2021.

2018 Vitkin Grenache Blanc (QPR: GOOD) – Score: 91 to 92
Sadly, this wine is only available in Israel, so the QPR is a bit off here, IMHO.
I keep coming around to the idea that this wine, the 2016 and 2017 vintages, needs a year to come together, the 2016 vintage is screaming great now.
The nose is a basket of ripe but well-controlled fruit, with great white blossom, honeysuckle, with honeyed fruit, with great honeyed notes and melon. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is mouth draping, with great richness, followed by ripe melon, citrus, with green apple, lovely rich salinity, with great mineral, sweet notes in the background, with great tart and incredible saline, with lovely weight, showing apple, pear, melon, and grapefruit, with mineral and crazy hay and straw with slate. The finish is long and green, acidic and rich mineral and lovely weight and fresh and tart lychee. Lovely! Drink by 2022.

2019 Shirah Gruner Veltliner – Score: 91 (QPR: GOOD)
This is a nice wine, and with my new QPR scoring, it is sadly expensive, higher than the median, however, it scores in the 2nd quality score quintile, so that makes it a GOOD QPR score.
Wow, thank goodness for great wines. Bravo to the brothers, this is a return to the Veltliner of old, a wine that embodies weight but also seriously clean lines and funk. Yay! The difference between steel and terra cotta can be felt, lovely, while the 1/6 Hungarian oak is felt as well! To me, the 2/3 terra cotta fermentation added a bit of the fat to the wine while the 1/6 oak, really beefed the wine up, the steel is that steely acid, super clean lines, that give the wine the backbone it craves.
The nose on this wine is tearing at me from two different directions, it is not a pure steel driven attack of citrus and not much else, no, this is a complex blend of two different approaches, with lovely fat notes of melon, guava, and peach, and lovely citrus, with orange blossom, ginger, green notes, and hay, quite nice! The mouth on this weighty medium-bodied wine is lovely, layered, expressive, complex, and still very refreshing, this is not an oak bomb, like a Viognier or what, with a lovely backbone of steely acidity from lemon/lime citrus, with a great fruit focus of grapefruit, more peach, nectarine, and loads of smoke, nice! I like the interplay of the fruit, acidity, and flint, that plays and changes with time in the glass and as the wine changes temperatures. Look for white pepper, ginger, cloves, and allspice, with cinnamon as well, with flint, rock, and hay. Impressed. Drink by 2022. Bravo guys!!!

2019 Kos Yeshuos The Joburg Girl (QPR: GOOD) – Score: 91 to 92
This is a blend of mostly Pinot Gris, Viognier, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is oaked but not heavy oak, no toast, just barrel heads, the oak is in the Pinot Gris. The nose on this wine starts closed but shows notes of the Sauvignon Blanc, with gooseberry and flint, along with almonds from the Viognier, and apple from the Chardonnay. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is dominated by the apple and pear from the Pinot Gris and Chardonnay, with nice nutmeg, allspice, and cloves, followed by lovely balancing oak, with lemon, flint, more oak tannin, earth, and citrus blossoms, balanced well with great acidity. The finish is long, green, with lovely peach and apple pie, fresh crumbled bread, cat pee, Crème Fraiche, and mineral lingering long, with nice pith and oak tannin. Very nice! Drink by 2021.

2019 Kos Yeshuos Falanghina – Score: 91 (QPR: GOOD)
This is a nice wine, and with my new QPR scoring, it is sadly expensive, higher than the median, however, it scores in the 2nd quality score quintile, so that makes it a GOOD QPR score.
This may well be the first kosher Falanghina every made in the USA, there were some made in Europe in the past. The nose on this wine is unique and very much akin to a Roussanne and Chenin Blanc, showing green notes, pine, menthol, with waxy notes, showing loads of citrus, with hay, Orange blossom, and ginger. The wine is a very cool acid bomb, none added, all of this is natural, with a clear leaning to lemon/lime, orange notes, with lemongrass, clementine, with great mineral, with the acid overpowering, with chalk and flint, followed by straw. The finish is long, green, crazy tart, with fun notes of almond, honeyed notes of lemon, and more mineral, with citrus acidity still dominating. Drink by 2022

2018 Vitkin Gewurztraminer, Collector’s Edition – Score: 91 (QPR: GOOD)
This is a nice wine, and with my new QPR scoring, it is sadly expensive, higher than the median, however, it scores in the 2nd quality score quintile, so that makes it a GOOD QPR score.
This nose on this wine is dry and lovely with pineapple, ripe melon, and green notes and lychee galore, with funk and hints of soap, incredible aromas, white pepper, smoke, flint, and redolence. The mouth on this wine is lovely, with grapefruit, citrus, lovely pith, with apple, pith galore, followed by complexity and bitter notes of melon, yellow Apple, lovely weight, slight tannin, with sweet notes honeysuckle, sweet pineapple, and balance. The finish is long and green and sweet and mineral balanced. Bravo! Drink by 2021.

2019 Goose Bay Pinot Grigio – Score: 90+ (QPR: GREAT)
This is a nice wine, and with my new QPR scoring it is below the median price for white wines, but the quality score is in the 1st quintile, so the math says the QPR score is GREAT. Missed the WINNER status by “that much”.
The nose on this wine is consistent with what I want from a Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio, AKA the same thing. This wine clocks in at a 13.5% ABV and it shows, with slightly flabby notes of sweetness that comes across as unbalanced, but it is still well hidden behind the façade of tart citrus, lime, orange blossom, honeysuckle, orange, and hay. This wine is fun, refreshing, enjoyable, and while it is fun, it is not very complex, the complexity it does have comes from the salinity and lovely almond pith it has, showing a nice front of acidity, with green apple, nectarines, orange, along with a good weight and an almost oily texture. The finish is long, sweet, with more orange, honeyed notes of honeysuckle, and sweet orange, but well balanced with saline, with sweet and yet tart notes lingering long. Nice! Drink up!

2018 Le Vins de Vienne Crozes-Hermitage, Les Palignons, Blanc – Score: 90 to 91
This wine is made from 100% Marsanne. The nose on this wine is closed like crazy, it needs so much time to open, showing green notes, honeysuckle, lemongrass, flint galore, rock, and saline. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is well balanced, with good acidity, showing green apple, quince, searing acidity, with screaming tannin, balancing out the oak, with sweet cedar, Asian pear, and rock, with charcoal ribbons, and flint. The finish is long, creamy, smoky, and earthy, with saline, with the searing tannin, oak, and acidity lingering long, with minerality and tart green notes is fun! Bravo! Drink from 2020 until 2024.

2019 Tzora Shoresh Blanc (QPR: BAD) – Score: 90
This wine is a blend of 60% Sauvignon Blanc and 40% Chardonnay. Again, this wine is not doing it for me, the oak is not the issue, but once again, the wine cannot figure out what it is. The blends do not work for me.
The nose on this wine is more oak than it is gooseberry, the Judean Hills was not saved by the 25% SB, this wine does not have enough SB to make it feel like an SB majority blend, strange. With time, the nose opens a bit more, with nice gooseberry, grass, and mineral, but the Chardonnay fruit, apple, and quince do not blend well, in the aromas and mouth.
The nose is just oak, wax, quince, peach, and floral notes of jasmine and violets. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is equally strange with a very strong scent and flavor profile of almond paste and halva, with saline, citrus, more peach, and garrigue. The finish is long, green, floral, and a bit oaky and also nutty, with more wax, and slate. With time it opens a bit, and the acidity finally shows with some gooseberry, lime, and grass, but overall it is not a huge hit. Drink until 2022.

2019 Lahat Laichter White (QPR: POOR) – Score: 90+
This wine is a blend of 50% Roussanne, 34% Grenache Blanc, and 16% Marsanne. This is a fun wine, at least aroma-wise, with lovely notes of white and yellow flowers, lychee, kiwi, funk, citrus, straw, and rock. The mouth on this light to medium-bodied wine starts with a huge pothole in the middle, but then it cleans itself up, with crazy acid, balance, funk, and ripe but well-controlled fruit, with elegance and a real pop, that is super refreshing showing bright and tart lychee, lemon, funk, straw, rich saline, acidity, with floral notes, beeswax, orange peel, and sweet pear. WOW, if I was tasting this blind, I would have said this was a Rhone, the only thing missing is the dirt/loam. The finish is crazy long, green, with passion fruit, loads of pith, with tart green notes, slate, and lovely mineral. Sadly, two hours later this wine was not as good, to me, this is lacking and as such is a bit lower than I had hoped. Drink by May 2021.

2018 Lahat Laichter White (QPR: POOR) – Score: 90
This wine is a blend of 58% Roussanne, 27% Grenache Blanc, and 15% Marsanne. This wine is nice but not as acid packed as the 2019 wine. The nose on this wine is bone dry, tart, and bright, with a drier profile than 2019, with flint, stone, orange peel, lemongrass, lychee, and pear. The mouth on this light to medium-bodied wine is nice, but after tasting 2019 it is a step back, it lacks that crazy acid, though it has a balanced palate, and good enough acidity, with a sweeter mouth than 2019, with orange, nectarine, tart melon, with gooseberry in the background, nice mineral, and pith. The finish is long, but not as fun or complex as 2019. Nice drink now.

2018 Yatir Creek White (QPR: BAD) – Score: 90
This wine’s QPR score is POOR because while it has a good quality score the price is so absurd that it does not work. Also, the bottle may be absurdly heavy, but at least they figured out the truth, you do not need anything more than a DIAM cork for a 50 dollar wine! LOL!
This wine is a blend of 69% Viognier and 31% Chenin Blanc. The nose on this wine is quite nice, with mineral, loads of floral notes, jasmine, followed by peach heaven, straw, and loads of stone fruit. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is ruined, IMHO, by the oak, the oak adds the spice, but it covers over the fruit, and all you get is oak, peach, and nice acidity, with loads of spice and not much else, and that is sad. The wine is still refreshing, but at this price, it makes no sense, given the better options. The finish is long, and oaky, with loads of yellow fruit, peach, apricot, yellow apple, and floral notes, with slate, rock, and did I say oak?? Drink until 2023.

2019 Shirah Riesling (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 90 (I am sure that score will improve)
While this wine is nice enough it is higher in price than the median and as such even with a quality score higher than the median it receives a score of EVEN for QPR.
This wine is far too young, truly a shame I opened it, I am sorry to the bottle. Riesling needs time to come into its own when it is done correctly. I can say, this is done correctly, get some, and let it come to you, aromas, and taste-wise.
The nose at this point is all wax, bee’s wax, honeysuckle, honey, with lovely jasmine, citrus galore, with hints of pineapple. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine starts to show some tertiary notes of petrol, it will come, with extremely obvious wax, the wax coats the mouth, with layers of screaming acid from lemon, grapefruit, but all coated with the wax, bitter notes of almond and orange rind, with a lovely refreshing style, with loads of ginger, nectarines, and orange notes, nice! The finish is long, bitter, waxy, and green, with sweet notes, orange blossom, and more pineapple, and sweet notes. Lovely! Drink until 2024. Right now this wine needs six months to come around, let it lie!!

2018 Herzog Albarino, Special Reserve (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 90
The nose on this wine is far improved to the 2017 vintage, with hints of canned pear, white fruits, with green notes, candied white cherry, and mineral. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is much brighter than 2017, with a fuller body than the 2017 vintage, with nice lemon/lime curd, with tart pear, acid core, with green apple, and nice extraction. The finish is long, green tart, dry, and nice. Bravo! Drink now.

2019 J. de Villebois Pouilly-Fume (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 90 to 91
This is a tasting of the wine before it is officially bottled, this is a tank sample. The nose on this wine shows lovely notes, classic flint bomb, lovely funk, with loads of fruit, showing bright citrus, mineral galore, with lovely orange blossom, with white and yellow stone fruit. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is quite lovely, it is rounder than I would have thought, though well-balanced with nice enough acidity, peach, pear, lovely grapefruit, and lemon curd, with lemongrass, and loads of funk with smoke and green notes of gooseberry in the background. Lovely! The finish is long, green, white, and flinty! Bravo! Drink until 2023.

2019 Hajdu Vermentino – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose on this wine is fun, it takes a bit to open, but with time, say an hour, the nose is fun, showing notes of orange, orange blossom, daffodil, with lovely citrus, ginger, and hints of nectarines. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is fun, with good acidity, showing a slight miss in the mid-palate, that is covered up by the nice acid profile, with a nice almost oily texture, with orange, pink grapefruit, lime, and sweet yellow apple. The finish is long, tart, and green, with lovely acidity, slate, mineral, and more sweet fruit notes. Very nice! A shockingly good balance for a 14.5% ABV white wine!

2019 Covenant Viognier, Blue C – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
While this wine is nice enough it is has been blessed by the higher tide price and as such even with a quality score higher than the median it receives a score of GOOD for QPR.
The nose on this wine is ok, it is sweet with ripe peach cobbler, sweet compote of rose, orange, peach, and apricot, followed by orange blossom and more peach, did I say peach?? The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is less focused than the Sauvignon Blancs from Covenant or Yarden, with good acidity but not much else, though the acidity is incredible, with the neutral oak impacting clearly with both weight and flavor of sweet oak, orange notes, and nectarines behind the wall of peach and apricot, and yeah lots more acid. The finish is long, with oaky notes, orange, orange blossom, and mineral. Drink now!

2018 Domaine Ternynck Bourgogne, Les Truffieres (QPR: GOOD) – Score: 90
The nose of this wine is pure baked goods, with night jasmine and Orange blossom, along with hints of orange and herb. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, with rich salinity, herb galore, with roasted mint, oregano, and orange, and nectarine, with sweet notes but well balanced. The finish is long, sweet, ripe, and yet well balanced, with great acidity, saline, with crazy herbs, Orange pith, grapefruit, and slate, with wet rock, and earth. Nice!! Drink until 2021.

2019 Shirah Vin Blanc de Bro.Deux – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
This is a nice wine, and with my new QPR scoring, it sneaks in under the newly raised median price, it also scores a quality score higher than the median for white wines, so that nets it a QPR score of GREAT. It needed a score of 91 to be a WINNER.
This wine is a blend of 50% Sauvignon Blanc Clone 1, 25% Sauvignon Blanc Musque, and 25% Semillon. The nose on this wine shows almost no notes from Semillon and is controlled by classic New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc notes, crazy cat pee, lovely gooseberry, rich and bright notes of passion fruit, with some hay and straw in the background, green notes, and a bush for the cat to pee on. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine has a lovely mouthfeel, and while it lacks that upfront and in-your-face acidity that I crave, this wine does not lack from acid, it is just a discussion of acid profile. The acidity is there with loads of gooseberry, tart grapefruit, along with crazy tart Meyer lemon, nectarines, and peach/green apple. The finish is long, green, yet sweet and ripe, with lovely cut grass, lemongrass, and ripe fruit with good acidity lingering long. Bravo!! Drink now.

2017 Carmel Kayoumi Riesling – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
This is a nice enough wine, and with my new QPR scoring, it sneaks in under the newly raised median price, it also scores a quality score higher than the median for white wines, so that nets it a QPR score of GREAT. It needed a score of 91 to be a WINNER.
The nose on this wine is nice, but nowhere near the greatness of the 2014 vintage. At the opening, this wine is a step behind the 2016 vintage of Carmel, but with time it shows better, but still never eclipses the 2014 Carmel Riseling.
The nose shows a little bit of Petrol, not as much as previous vintages, with more green apple, with more tropical notes than previous vintages, showing almost pineapple, and gooseberry. As stated above, the mouth and the wine is slow to open, I think this wine needs more time. The mouth is nice, well balanced, but showing more tropical notes, with guava, light melon notes, with more petrol, great acidity, and nice mineral, with green apple, peach, and notes of smoke and flint. The finish is long, green, tropical, and sweet, with nice acidity lingering long. Drink from 2020 until 2023.

2019 Domaine De Panquelaine Coteaux Du Giennois Sauvignon Blanc – Score: 90 (Mevushal) (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is above the Median line for quality and it is below the median price, so this lands a GREAT QPR score.
The nose on this wine takes a bit of time to open, but once it does it has lovely notes of minerality, nice pith, flinty notes, with yellow plum, floral notes, lemongrass, and citrus. The mouth on this light to medium-bodied wine is nice, refreshing, elegant in its simplicity, and that is its only con, yes it is nice, even cool with lovely refreshing notes of flint, solid to good acidity, lemongrass, grapefruit, hints of peach, yellow plum, with lovely deep-rooted grapefruit/lemon, but it does not have the complexity to take it above the score, and it has a bit of a hollow in the middle. The finish is lovely, again refreshing, a bit fatty/round, with more of that yellow to pink grapefruit, with great flint/rock, smoke, and nice acidity that lingers long, with orange blossom. Nice! Drink now.

2018 Koenig Riesling, Alsace – Score: 90  (Mevushal) (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is above the median quality score and it is below the median price line, so this wine gets a score of GREAT for QPR. This is a MUCH better option than the horrible roses we have in 2020.
The wine has opened now, showing nice notes of orange blossom and honeysuckle, with hints of petrol, flint, peach, with mineral, and gooseberry. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, it shows a heavier mouthful than 2017, along with more floral notes, with a great balance of acid, truly a nice and refreshing wine, even if it lacks complexity, with nice lime, Meyer lemon, and spice. Drink by 2022.

2019 Yarden Sauvignon Blanc – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is above the median quality score and it is below the median price line, so this wine gets a score of GREAT for QPR.
This is one of the few 2019 Israeli Sauvignon Blanc that I want to drink, but not enough to make me buy more! The nose of this wine is clean, it is not overly fruity, it has a backbone of citrus, orange blossom, and rose water, followed by lemongrass, and hints of sweet kiwi. The mouth on this nice weighted medium-bodied wine has a great presence, with fruit focus, showing rich saline, mineral, followed by a great backbone of orange/grapefruit/lemon acidity and pith, wrapped in olives and passion fruit, nice. The finish is long, green, acidic, with more citrus, slate, pith, and lemon core. Nice! Drink now!

2019 Shirah Vintage Whites – Score: 89 to 90 (QPR: EVEN)
This is a nice enough wine, and with my new QPR scoring, it is below the newly raised median price, but the median score also went up, and as such it stays at an EVEN QPR score.
Of the four white wines in 2019, at least so far, that have been released by Shirah, this is the weakest of them all. The wine is a blend of 80% Grenache Blanc and 20% Viognier – not a conventional blend.
The nose on this wine pulls at me again, but with the Gruner that was a compliment, here not so much. The nose is cool with the classic Grenache notes, but it gets muddled quickly with the absurd viognier notes of peach and intense vanilla, in the end, all I get in Vanilla flavored peach ice cream on a bed of green notes and apples, but disjointed. The mouth is not an improvement, yes, the fruit is controlled on this medium-bodied wine, with more peach, apricot, and hints of Grenache Blanc fruit, with pear and yellow plums, but it is hard to find under all that peach and apricot. While there is acidity, it is more about the almond and orange pith, orange fruit, and more pith that defines the finish. Drink now.

2019 Shiran Semillon – Score: 89 (QPR: POOR)
While this wine is nice enough it is higher in price than the median and its score is right on the median quality line, which means this has a POOR score for QPR. This is the perfect example of a wine that needs to change. Wineries cannot charge such high prices for a wine that is 3x the price of better wines than it, like the 2018 Chateau Riganes or 1.6x the price of the 2018 Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc.
I had high hopes for this one, and while it showed some life early on, it fell apart very quickly. I cannot “like” a wine that is good for 3 hours, it does not work for me.
The nose is blossom, mineral, slate, citrus, and lemongrass, with funk, and a good mouthfeel, with lovely acidity, for 3 hours. After that it falls apart, it is still around, but now the nose is just lemon, flint, and some floral notes, and not much else. The mouth follows the nose with a bit of pith and sadly the acidity has fallen off. Either way, it is multidimensional and nice enough, if you are a pith or Semillon believer. Drink up!

2019 Flam Blanc – Score: 89 (QPR: POOR)
While this wine is nice enough it is higher in price than the median and its score is right on the median quality line, which means this has a POOR score for QPR. This is the perfect example of a wine that needs to change. Wineries cannot charge such high prices for a wine that is 3x the price of better wines than it, like the 2018 Chateau Riganes or 1.6x the price of the 2018 Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc.
This wine is a blend of 84% Sauvignon Blanc and 16% Chardonnay. The nose of this wine is very redolent with notes of eucalyptus, mint, along with incredible lemon/lime, along with pineapple, and hints of lychee. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is where the wine loses a step, the mouth feels weighty, with a good start, but then it falls apart, with no real complexity and while the mouth shows fruit notes of orange, lychee, lemon/lime, and orange blossom, it lacks the attention-grabbing component it needs, it does show saline, acidity, and loads of almond/orange pith, it feels uni-dimensional. Drink now!

2019 Five Stones DvsG, White – Score: 89 (QPR: POOR)
While this wine is nice enough it is higher in price than the median and its score is right on the median quality line, which means this has a POOR score for QPR. This is the perfect example of a wine that needs to change.
The wine is a blend of 82% Chenin Blanc, and 18% Roussanne. The nose shows nice notes of smoke, earth, funk galore, loads of mineral, with green notes, straw, hay, and yellow plum. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, tastes of smoky notes, green apple, grapefruit, with hints of orange, with great mineral notes, loads of pith, and great fruit focus. Nice! It needs more complexity.

2019 Hagafen Riesling, Lake County, Robledo Ranch – Score: 89 (QPR: BAD)
Sadly, this wine is below on the Median line for quality and it is more expensive than the median price, so this lands it as a BAD QPR wine.
The nose on this slightly off-dry Riesling is too young to get those lovely petrol notes. Petrol takes a good year to fully evolve in the bottle. The nose on this lovely wine is sweet, but very bright, with bubblegum, watermelon, with tiny hints of mineral and petrol, followed by lovely honeysuckle, lemon, lemongrass, with lovely melon, hints of pineapple, and rich saline. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is screaming for more acidity, but it is still nice, with lovely sweet notes of pineapple, sweet guava, honeysuckle, honeydew melon, and more watermelon in the background, with sweet pomelo, and nice salinity. A nice wine with a good saline/tart citrus finish but a bit simple and uni-dimensional. Drink now until 2023.

2019 Tulip White Tulip (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 89
This wine was a shocker for me – I did not see them getting this score, good for Tulip! Also, the QPR is EVEN as the price is lower than the median but so is the score.
This wine is a blend of 65% Gewurtztraminer and 35% Sauvignon Blanc. Look this wine is not going to win any awards, but come on, for the price, this is a fun wine! Solid fruit and acid and a nice quaffer!
The nose on this 12% ABV wine is not screaming pineapple, but yet it is! LOL!! Come on, even 10% ABV Gewurtz will be pineapple, the question is will the pineapple be candied or crazy tart. The nose of this wine is lovely tart and dense pineapple, with great brightness, lovely floral honeysuckle, and white flowers, followed by nice gooseberry, green notes, and citrus galore. The mouth on this light-bodied wine is nice, the acid is what really stands out, but overall the notes from the nose come through nicely with good bright acid, with pith and rocks. Nice! Drink NOW!

2019 Tabor Roussanne, Adama – Score: 89 (QPR: EVEN)
This is a nice enough wine, and with my new QPR scoring, it is below the median price line, but the quality score is also below the median line for white wines, so that nets it an EVEN QPR score.
The nose on this Roussanne is more round and less bright than previous vintages, with nectarines, Orange, Orange blossom, and flint. The mouth on this light to medium-bodied wine is nice, nothing special, but well-made, with enough acidity to keep you interested, the fruit profile is lemon, grapefruit, tart gooseberry, and orange/nectarines that make the mouthfeel rounder. The finish is long, tart, and bright, with sweet notes of orange, blossom, and flint lingering long. Drink now.

2018 Route Victor Chardonnay – Score: 89 (QPR: EVEN)
This is a nice enough wine, and with my new QPR scoring, it is below the median price line, but the quality score is also below the median line for white wines, so that nets it an EVEN QPR score.
The nose on this wine is clean, floral, with green apple, and tart fruit notes, unoaked, and interesting. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, with great acidity, showing clear residual sugar but it is still quite nice, well balanced, with screaming tart green apple, pear, quince, and tart gooseberry, with grapefruit pith, and lemon. Nice enough. Drink now.

2017 Pascal Bouchard Chablis, le Classique – Score: 89 (QPR: POOR)
While this wine is nice enough it is higher in price than the median and its score is right on the median quality line, which means this has a POOR score for QPR. This is the perfect example of a wine that needs to change. Wineries cannot charge such high prices for a wine that is 3x the price of better wines than it, like the 2018 Chateau Riganes or 1.6x the price of the 2018 Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc.
While this wine is less elegant than the Premier Cru, it was still nice enough, with smoke, green notes, green apple, and pear. The mouth on this light to medium-bodied wine is nice enough, but the fruit is less focussed and is not as interesting. Drink soon.

2019 Cantina Giuliano Costa Vermentino (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 88
This wine is well made but a bit weak, no funk, nothing special. The acid is great but not much else, with lovely nectarines, orange notes, and slate.

2019 Elvi Vina Encina, White (QPR: GOOD) – Score: 88 (Mevushal)
The double lower quartile price and the lower quality score net this a GOOD QPR score.
The nose and mouth of this wine are nice and solid, but there is nothing there to grab your attention, the acidity is great, and there is nice fruit, but I was hoping for a bit more.

2019 Domaine du Castel, Blanc du Castel, La Vie (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 88
Here a high Median price for white wines raises all boats, including this OK wine, as well.
This wine is a blend of 90% Sauvignon Blanc and 10% Chardonnay. The nose on this wine is nice, but it is stunted and quiet, with notes of gooseberry, quince, and apple, with citrus, and peach. The mouth on this wine is disappointing, as well, with little to grab your attention besides the salinity, tart notes, and sweet notes that are slightly unbalanced, with sweet melon, and loads of pith. The finish has more pith and salinity, and slate. Drink now.

2019 Tzora Judean’s Hills, Blanc (QPR: BAD) – Score: 88
Sadly, this wine is below on the Median line for quality and it is more expensive than the median price, so this lands it as a BAD QPR wine.
This wine is a blend of 75% Chardonnay and 25% Sauvignon Blanc. The nose on this wine is far more apple and pear than gooseberry, with oak notes, creamy and sweet. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is too oak-driven for me, with loads of sweet oak, sweet spices, quince, apple, and smoke/toast. The finish is long, green, and refreshing, but the oak makes it not as fun as it could be, with good mineral, slate, matcha tea, and sweet dill. With time the oak does calm a bit but this is a wine that cannot figure out what it is. It is not a creamy Chardonnay and it is not a non-oak Chardonnay (AKA Chablis), instead, this is a blended approach and it does not work for me. With time the oak turns into apple toffee and the citrus shows strangely. Drink until 2022.

2018 Goose Bay Chardonnay (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 88 (Mevushal)
Here a high Median price for white wines raises all boats, including this OK wine, as well.
The nose of this wine is clearly showing its oak at this point, with a nice toasty approach, followed by lovely yellow apples, melon, and nice oak spices. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice e enough but it is too simple, it has a nice weight, but the overall package is lacking, with a very simple focus, but nice enough, with more apple, quince, creme brulee, and a bit of the creamy notes one gets from oaked Chardonnay. The finish is sadly short, it is hidden behind the nice acidity of this wine, but that is not enough to make up for the short length. Drink by 2021.

2018 Domaine Netofa, White – 88 (QPR: EVEN)
Sadly, this wine has slipped in the last few months and while it is still a nice enough wine, with my new QPR scoring, it is below the median price line, but the quality score is below the median line for white wines, so that makes it an EVEN QPR score.
At this point, the nose on this wine has moved past the mineral and into pure tropical notes, with apple and quince galore, and lovely fruit and blossom. The mouth on this wine has lost a step, with a clear ripe backbone, and the steely backbone is barely keeping it afloat, nice quince, with what used to be an incredible tension between the ripeness and the tart/dry fruit and minerality. The finish is long and green, with slate, more ripeness than I would desire, and minerality! Drink up!

2019 Tabor Sauvignon Blanc, Adama – Score: 88 (QPR: EVEN)
While this is still a nice enough wine, with my new QPR scoring, it is below the median price line, but the quality score is also below the median line for white wines, so that makes it an EVEN QPR score.
The nose on this is pure cat pee, with loads of gooseberry, passion fruit, and lemon curd, pure happiness. The mouth on this light to medium-bodied wine is nice enough but it lacks the acid needed to bring this all together, thankfully it is not flat or flabby, rather it is still tight, but the mid-palate is lacking, also it lacks almost all complexity has very little to grab your attention, other than its clean lines of fruit that mimics the nose. The finish is long, with pith, green notes, lemongrass, and nice pith. A solid wine with little to offer other than its cleanliness. Drink now!

2019 Twin Suns Sauvignon Blanc – Score: 88 (Mevushal) (QPR: EVEN)
While this is still a nice enough wine, with my new QPR scoring, it is below the median price line, but the quality score is also below the median line for white wines, so that makes it an EVEN QPR score.
The nose on this wine is nice, it is not round, it is well made with peach, apricot, and citrus notes. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, with a good fruit-focus, showing enough acidity, with tart grapefruit, peach, some tropical notes, but well-balanced with straw, grass, and gooseberry. The finish is long, green, with tropical notes, citrus, lemon, and lime, with slate/chalk, and foliage/herbs. Nice! Drink now.

2019 Barkan Sauvignon Blanc, Classic – Score: 88 (Mevushal) (QPR: GOOD)
This is a wine that is better than the median in regards to price, it is at the 2nd quintile below the price median, but it is below the median for quality, so that gives it a GOOD score for QPR. It is a wine that I would not run after but a perfectly good wine for the price.
This wine starts off smelling and tasting cooked. The nose shows stewed notes of lemon compote and lemongrass. The mouth is even worse, with stewed lemon, quince, apple, and kiwi. Sad and painful. After an hour the nasty aromas blow off and it becomes nice enough. Nothing great, but a nice enough wine. The nose shows notes of gooseberry, lemon, citrus, and hints of kiwi, at 11% ABV this is what I was hoping for. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine has more presence than Tabor but less focus and cleanliness, either way, both are boring overall. Still, the Barkan shows enough fruit and mouthfeel to make this wine quite acceptable in a pinch, the acidity and fruit makeup show nicely while having a bit of pith on the finish. Drink now!

2016 Chateau Fombrauge Blanc, Bernard-Magrez, Saint Emilion, Grand Cru classé (QPR: BAD) – Score: 88
The nose on this wine is funky and stinky, with loads of flint, smoke, fruit, with citrus, and green apple. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine has weight, and while it is balanced, the overall acidity is lacking, though with time the acidity does show a bit more. Still, it is missing in the middle and then the finish comes back with lemon acid. Sad, not much else. (Not sure if this will be in the USA)

2017 Avi Feldstein, White – Score: 88 (QPR: BAD)
While this wine is nice enough it is in the 2nd quintile in pricing – almost at the tip-top,  and its quality score is below on the median line, so it garners a QPR score of BAD. This is the perfect example of a wine that needs to change. The pricing on this wine is crazy, wineries cannot charge such high prices for a wine that is 3x the price of better wines than it, like the 2018 Chateau Riganes or 1.6x the price of the 2018 Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc.
This wine is a blend of 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Roussanne. The nose on this wine is flat, boring, with green notes and mineral, and not much else. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice but has little to show, with peach and apricot and hints of grapefruit, with loads of pith, hay, and rock. The finish is long, green, and pith driven, the best part of the wine by far. It came around a bit more with time but for the price, it is a pass.

2018 Dalton Viognier, Reserve – Score: 87 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is below the Median line for quality and it is less expensive than the median price, so this lands an EVEN QPR score.
The nose on this wine is toasty and oaked, with notes of vanilla ice cream, toast, sweet oak, loads of peach, apple, quince, and allspice/nutmeg. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is flat and highly uni-dimensional, with more peach and apricots, followed by more oak, too much oak, with pith, spices, and almond paste. The wine has enough acidity to make it interesting and the pith helps but overall the wine is boring and not enough. Drink by 2022.

2018 Chateau de Cor Bugeaud White (QPR: EVEN) – Score: 87 (Mevushal)
While this is still a nice enough wine, with my new QPR scoring, it is below the median price line, but the quality score is also below the median line for white wines, so that makes it an EVEN QPR score.
This is a fun wine, showing tropical fruit, but overall well made and quite fun. The nose of this wine shows ripe fruit, with lovely mango, followed by tart and juicy citrus, with lovely herb, and mineral, with floral notes. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine has enough acidity, followed by tart and juicy fruit, with lovely citrus, orange, grapefruit, and gooseberry galore. It is more round than it is clean. The finish is long, green, passion fruit, with slate, and herb. Drink now!

2019 Recanati Yasmin, White – Score: 87 (Mevushal) (QPR: GOOD)
The double lower quartile price and the lower quality score net this a GOOD QPR score.
This wine is a blend of Chardonnay and 40% Sauvignon Blanc. The wine is all over the place with the Chardonnay being so sweet that it takes over and makes this wine unfun. The mouth and nose are too all over the place. Not fun, but the Sauvignon Blanc is nice and tart with good gooseberry and straw, but the sweet Chardonnay fruit showing apple, pineapple, and nectarines make the wine a bit of a mess. Drink now.

2018 Five Stones Nobility 215a (QPR: BAD) – Score: 86
This wine is a blend of 95% Chardonnay and 5% Sauvignon Blanc. Sadly this wine shows very sweet notes of sweet oak, sweet apple, and orange with nectarines and smoke. The mouth on this wine is short, move on.

2019 Shiran Viognier – Score: 86 (QPR: BAD)
This wine’s quality score is below the median for white wines and the price is above the median for white wines, so it gets a BAD score for QPR.
If the 2019 Semillon was a bit of a letdown, the Viognier was off from the start. The nose is pure peach juice, and while I love Viognier, it needs more than just peach to make it go. The mouth on this Viognier is much like the nose, apricot, peach, and loads of pith on the finish. Drink now!

2018 Shiran Triad – Score: 86 (QPR: BAD)
This wine’s quality score is below the median for white wines and the price is above the median for white wines, so it gets a BAD score for QPR.
This is a blend of 50% Chardonnay, 25% Semillon, and 25% Viognier. Another multidimensional wine, and while it shows OK, it needs acid or something else to liven it up. This one is again dominated by the peach, and the apple (Chardonnay), the Semillon is lost behind the wall of peach and apple, and again loads of pith. Drink now.

2019 Dalton Pinot Gris – Score: 86 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is below the Median line for quality and it is below the median price, so this lands an EVEN QPR score.
Yet another boring wine from the 2019 Israel white vintage. The nose on this wine is boring and shows green apple, lemon, and not much else, with hints of floral notes of orange blossom. The mouth on this light to medium-bodied wine is very uni-dimensional, with not much to show other than its very sprite-like attack with loads of acid, along with orange, apple, and melon, and lemon/lime mix. There is nothing there but a crazy attack of acidity. The finish is insanely long, with absurd acidity, that does not feel artificial, with flint, and more lemon/lime/orange. Drink now.

2018 Sentieri Ebraici Greco di Tufo, D.O.C.G. (QPR: BAD) – Score: 86
This wine’s quality score is below the median for white wines and the price is above the median for white wines, so it gets a BAD score for QPR.
Greco di Tufo is a famous Italian white wine and one that is now available to the public through the River wine importers. That said, come on guys! If you put a website on a wine bottle, please make sure it works!!!
The nose of this wine is pretty, it shows lovely violet, almonds, and tart summer fruit, hints of peach, with pear, and mineral. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is a mess, a real mess, look I am normally not so uptight about a nose and mouth that are opposite each other, but this is wrong! The nose is controlled and the mouth is a tropical disaster zone, sad.
The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is just a mess, very tropical, not balanced, showing heavy spikes of floral notes that fight in opposition to the pineapple-like mouth, the acidity is OK, but the fruit is soo tropical, with loads of guava, pineapple, ripe peach, and crazy almond paste, it does not work. Maybe with time, this one will come around. For now, even with the nice acidity, this is not a wine I would enjoy. With time, the tropical madness does calm down but that does not make it better as the acidity calms down as well. IMHO, this wine is not interesting, thank goodness we have many better options. Drink now, if you must.

2019 Recanati Sauvignon Blanc – Score: 86 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is below the Median line for quality and it is below the median price, so this lands an EVEN QPR score.
This wine is overall boring, with no complexity, but it ha enough acid and fruit to make it a bit interesting. The nose is not interesting, but the mouth has acid, some good fruit of citrus, lemon, orange, and gooseberry, make it a bit interesting. Drink now.

2019 Chateau Les Riganes Blanc – Score: 86 (Mevushal) (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is below the Median line for quality and it is below the median price, so this lands an EVEN QPR score.
I was hoping for another home run from this chateau, and sadly this vintage lacks the acid of 2018. The nose of this wine is lovely but closed with orange pith, orange notes, apple, and orange blossom, ginger, with mineral in the background. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice but flat, with no acid, what it has instead is a load of pith and mineral, followed by gooseberry, straw, mineral, and more floral notes, with orange, nectarines, and more pith. Drink until 2023.

2016 Jacques Capsouto Cuvee Eva, Blanc – Score: 85 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is below the Median line for quality and it is below the median price, so this lands an EVEN QPR score.
The wine is a blend of 60% Grenache Blanc, 20% Clairette, 15% Roussanne, and 5% Marsanne. Sadly, this wine went off the cliff and is now in DRINK YESTERDAY mode.

2016 Jacques Capsouto Cuvee Albert, Grand Vin, Blanc – Score: 85 (QPR: BAD)
This wine’s quality score is below the median for white wines and the price is above the median for white wines, so it gets a BAD score for QPR.
This wine is in its decline, it is still nice, but drink NOW! This wine is a blend of 65% Roussanne, 30% Clairette, and 5% Marsanne. Sadly, this wine went off the cliff and is now in DRINK YESTERDAY mode.

2019 Domaine De Panquelaine Sancerre – Score: 85 (Mevushal) (QPR: POOR)
Sadly, this wine is below the Median line for quality and it is more expensive than the median price, so this lands it as a POOR QPR wine.
This wine is not as fun as the Coteaux Du Giennois. This wine is 100% Sauvignon Blanc like all Sancerre, sadly, this lacks the MOST important aspect of Sancerre, teeth-gnashing acidity, this one barely has any.
The nose of this wine is lacking, it has a bit of what can only be described as oak, but Sancerre has no oak, followed by lemon and maybe a drop of white peach, but boring with some minerality. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine follows the nose with a bit of acidity, some peach, and grapefruit, with almond pith and that is about it. This is not evil but not much there. Drink Now.

2018 Herzog Sauvignon Blanc, Lineage – Score: 85 (QPR:EVEN)
This wine is below the Median line for quality and it is below the median price, so this lands an EVEN QPR score.
The nose on this wine is drier than in previous vintages, with green notes, yellow fruit, peach, lemongrass, and foliage. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, dry, with good green notes, foliage, but not enough acidity, green notes, a bit of passion fruit, with green apple, nutty notes, and smoke. The finish is longer than the 17, with nice floral notes, rose petals, nuts, and tart fruit. Drink up.

2019 Psagot Viognier, M Series – Score: 83 (Mevushal) (QPR: BAD)
This is a wine that is just not good enough, and with my new QPR scoring it is one quintile more expensive than the median price and it is not as good as the median score so that is why this wine gets a BAD on the QPR score.
This wine has real potential, sadly this was cooked and it feels it. The nose on this wine starts nicely, but within a minute of opening the bottle, it has that slightly extra-fruity note that is not from the fruit. The nose on this wine is a nice Viognier, showing tart and well-controlled peach, apricot, perfumed jasmine, and loads of yellow flowers and honeysuckle. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, excepting for that ripe fruit that sticks out from this lean and sleek profile, with an annoying spike of ripe honeysuckle, followed by peach, apricot, and honeyed and sweet mango, with nice grapefruit, and an overall sweet mouthfeel. The finish is long, green, in a way, yet sweet, with pomelo and citrus, along with apple, slate, and absurd pith on the long finish. Drink now.

2018 Teperberg Famitage, Inspire – Score: 83 (QPR: POOR)
Sadly, this wine is below the Median line for quality and it is more expensive than the median price, so this lands it as a POOR QPR wine.
The nose is nice, pineapple juice, with citrus, and mineral. The mouth is medium, hollow in the middle, nice acidity in the front, and boring.

2019 Segal Chardonnay, Wild Fermentation – Score: 83 (QPR: EVEN)
The fact that this wine sells for 23 dollars and is called EVEN QPR, explains how absurdly expensive these white wines are priced at. This wine should be a POOR QPR, but the score is below the median for white wines and the price is also below the median, so it gets an EVEN score for QPR.
This wine is another example of what a cheap and uninspiring white wine can taste like. This wine is simply put, a pineapple, apple, peach juice wine. Nothing there, other than some bitterness and hints of grapefruit. Sad. Move On.