I am going to keep this post real short. I am catching up on some wines that I have tasted over the past month or more. Sadly, most of these are a mess or just good enough. Thankfully, there were six QPR (Quality to Price) Winners. That included the 2017 Carmel Riesling, Kayoumi Vineyards. I have said this a few times, Rieslings need time! 2017 is no different. It needed time to come around and now it is a solid QPR WINNER.

Roses are slowly trickling in and on kosher wine sites, you can see as many as 20 2020 roses. Sadly, it takes time for them to get to me, so I will start my usual procession of rose wines in a subsequent post, as they get to me here in California. So far, like 2019, they are a mess, and they feel like a total waste of my money.

In the end, the QPR WINNERS are no surprise! The 2020 Covenant Sauvignon Blanc is a solid wine and one that has lovely control and acidity. Having a wine like this with all that mother nature threw at California in 2020, I say Bravo to Covenant Winery! There are two Netofa Latour QPR WINNERS and OMG they are absolute ROCK stars. Please do me a favor and GET THEM! They will move fast! The 2016 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Riserva is another absolute Rock Star! Finally, the last QPR WINNER was the new vintage of the Flechas Gran Malbec a lovely wine that is not ready yet but will be nice when it is.

There were a few wines that were not winners:

1. The much-ballyhooed 2018 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib. I had it and it was a mess to mess. It was ripe from the start and while that ripeness did calm a bit it never really came around and for the most part, it was just OK.
2. I was not a fan of any of the Carmel Mediterranean Vats wines. The 2019 Mediterranean 2 Vats white wine was ok, but it felt to me like it has RS (Residual Sugar) and that does not fly with me at all.
3. The 2017 Marciano Terra Gratia was shockingly ripe and is probably the most elegant Date-juice driven wine I have ever tasted. I could be convinced, at gunpoint, to enjoy that wine, based solely on its elegance.
4. The 2018 Dalton Petite Sirah was nice enough, but for the price, and the overall quality, it was a miss for me.
5. Sadly, the 2018 Koenig wines continue to not impress, other than the lovely Riesling
6. I tasted a large number of Victor Wines and none of them were any good.

While these other wines were not WINNERS they were quite enjoyable:

1. I got to taste the new 2018 Dampt Freres Bourgogne. It is a much better version than the 2017 vintage. Sadly, the wine will probably sell for a price that does not let it be a QPR WINNER. I hope future wines will be priced lower. The sad truth is that there are few good QPR WINNER wines in the simple red wine category. It is a very hard nut to crack both in regards to making good wine and keeping it at the QPR price for that category, which is 20 or so dollars, at this moment.
2. There were two nice 2019 Vitkin Wines the 2019 Vitkin Pinot Noir and the 2019 Vitkin Israeli Journey. These wines are solid, both a 90 score, but the prices are still too high for such wines. They are both simple reds and they price above the 20 dollar price range for simple red wines. They punch MUCH higher in regards to quality. The median score for simple reds is 87, at this moment. Again, getting a red wine to score WINNER in the simple red wine category is really tough!
3. The Twin Sun white and Rose wines have been doing a great job, which is no surprise, as the Weiss Brothers know how to make great white and Rose wines. The 2018 Twin Suns Chardonnay-Viognier is a nice wine and at a very good price! Nice!
4. The famous Matar Sparkling wine was nice enough, but it is not nearly as good as the Yarden Sparkling wines and it is more expensive. The bottle is nice!
5. I had the chance to taste the 2017 Chateau Leoville Poyferre again, under less than perfect conditions, NO NOT the KFWV bottle, and I have revised notes, but the score stays the same.

The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:

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2020 Rose Wines

2020 Flam Rose – Score: 89+ (QPR: EVEN)
The nose on this wine is nice, with floral notes, with strawberry, flint, and red fruit. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, with good acid, nice mouthfeel, with a good fruit-focus, nice strawberry, currants, and good grapefruit. (tasted January 2021)

2020 1848 2nd Generation Rose – Score: 84 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose on this wine is nice enough with notes of rosehip, floral notes, citrus, and mineral The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, with good acidity, and not much else, with more citrus, grapefruit, currants, and strawberry. The finish is long, acidic, and more currants and flowers. (tasted January 2021)

2020 Herzog Lineage Rose (M) – Score: 80 (QPR: NA)
Sadly, this is off-dry, it has sweet notes and not my thing. The nose on this wine has a Muscat feel, with floral notes, pineapple, cooked cabbage, and red fruit. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine has no acid, is sweet, ripe, guava, melon, and no citrus, no acid, tropical, and not much else. (tasted January 2021)

2020 Shiloh Rose (M) – Score: 73 (QPR: NA)
The nose on this wine is tropical and ripe, with hints of mineral, and citrus. The mouth on this wine is where it all goes bad, sweet, unbalanced, bitter, a mess. (tasted January 2021)

Wines ordered in score order

2016 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Riserva – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This is one of the most balanced versions of the Riserva in a very long time. The Riserva is normally undrinkable for a few years, this one is far more accessible than any previous version – WOW! The nose on this wine is incredible, with mushroom, truffle, soy sauce, tar, with floral notes of violets, and earth, smoke, and rich dark fruit, WOW! The mouth on this full-bodied wine is incredible, tannic, gripping, earthy, smoky, and fruity, with lovely tart cherry, currant, plum, and ripe blackberry, with rich earth, loam, mushroom, intense saline, black olives, with intense acid, and mouth-drying and draping aggressive tannin, wow! The finish is long, black, green, and earthy, with umami, soy sauce again, with incredible floral notes, leather, tobacco, tar, and richness, wow! Bravo!! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted January 2021)

2017 Chateau Leoville Poyferre, Saint-Julien – Score: 93+ (QPR: EVEN)
The nose is beautiful and well-controlled with crazy pencil shavings, rich black, and blue fruit, followed by tar, earth, smoke, and licorice. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is closed to start with layers upon layers of currants, dark cherry, blackberry, with mouth draping tannin, crazy mineral, pencil shavings galore, with plush elegance that is plush, mouth-coating, yet the ripeness in the background is ripe and scary, but hedonistic and voluptuous, with layers of tar, earth, licorice, bell pepper, and loads of tannin galore, showing elegance and plushness, with clear hedonistic leanings and graphite/acid core that makes it all work. The finish is long, black, green, and tannic, with plush fruit and smoke, with tobacco, chocolate-covered coffee bean, and earth galore. Bravo!! Drink from 2028 until 2037 (tasted February 2021)

2019 Netofa Latour, White – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose on this wine is pure heaven, incredible, refined oak, with a refined approach to the fruit, straw, earth, pear, white apple, and smoke, with creme brulee, awesome! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is truly impressive, with layers of acidity, elegance, sweet oak, with oak tannin, but the creme brulee and smoke are beautiful, with green notes, pear, tart guava, and sweet apple brioche, wow! The finish is long, green, tart, with sweet fruit, mineral, slate, and more freshly baked goods. Bravo! Drink from 2023 until 2030. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Netofa Latour Red – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
I find this wine far more balanced than previous vintages and it shows in the score. This wine is closed at the start and needs time, but with a few hours of air, it starts to open. The nose on this wine is lovely, it shows blue and black fruit, sheer elegance and balance, with elegant smoke and toast, but also nice fruit, with loam, lovely violet, and floral notes, and good roasted herb. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is plush, rich, layered, and elegant, with nice fruit-focus, well balanced with great acidity, black pepper, roasted meat, blackberry, ripe boysenberry, mineral, saline, soy sauce, and mushroom, with mouth draping tannin. The finish is long, black and green, with foliage, smoke, graphite, tar, and coffee beans. WOW! This is incredible and needs time. Drink from 2024 until 2028. (tasted January 2021)

2017 Carmel Winery Riesling, Kayoumi Vineyard – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine has finally evolved it took two years to get here but we are finally here! The nose on this wine is far improved than in 2019, with a now lovely aroma of Petrol, with more green apple, crazy floral notes, honeysuckle, melon, the tropical notes have finally calmed down, showing passion fruit and gooseberry. The mouth and the wine are finally ready – this is drinking nicely now. The mouth is nice, well balanced, gone is the overly tropical notes, in their stead is now steely yummy petrol, fruit, and focus, with light melon notes, great acidity, nice mineral, lovely lemon/lime sorbet, with green apple, peach, and notes of smoke and flint. The finish is long, green, with a sense of sweetness, but that fades quickly, with more petrol, honeysuckle, honeyed notes, more citrus, a bit of Orange zest, and mineral. Lovely! Drink until 2023. (tasted February 2021)

N.V. Matar Blanc de Noir – Score: 91 (QPR: EVEN)
This is the first kosher version of the famous Pelter Winery Sparkling wines. The wine is made from 100% Pinot Noir. I would define this wine as refined and elegant, and it may not be what some want. The nose on this wine is elegant, overall, with notes of strawberry, lemon/lime, lovely saline, freshly baked goods, and almond notes. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, but this is not a wine for long holding, the acid hits you first, with layers of small mousse bubbles, bracing acidity, followed by earth, mineral, saline, strawberry, raspberry, red cherry, and more brioche. The finish is long, with a crazy acid backing, lemon/lime notes, but again, the almond paste and oxidation scares me. This is a wine for now! Drink now and enjoy! (tasted February 2021)

2018 Dampt Freres Bourgogne, Bourgogne – Score: 91 (QPR: EVEN)
I had the 2017 vintage of this wine, and I was not impressed, it felt tinny, green, and straightforward. The heat of the 2018 vintage has helped this wine and made it quite enjoyable – nice! The nose on this wine is classic, green, red, fruity, but well-controlled, with mineral, smoke, dirt, and nice loam. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is solid, this is no Domaine Chantal Lescure, but this is still quite a lovely wine, showing a lovely bite of acidity, followed by a well-balanced mouth-feel with currants, cherry, loam, lovely rosehip, rose petals, with an elegant mouth-draping tannin, good texture, and fruit-focus, nice! The finish is long, green, with nice foliage, freshly roasted coffee bean, and more petals and smoke. Lovely! Drink until 2025. (tasted February 2021)

2019 Baron Rothschild Flechas De Los Andes Gran Malbec – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This is ripe, the fruit is clear and present, with lovely smoky notes, very floral, with lavender, violet, and earth. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is nice, ripe, with strawberry, blackberry, plum, and currants, with mouth draping tannin, and lovely floral notes, with savory notes, bay leaves, and loads of earth and tar. The finish is long, green, ripe, sweet, and leather notes, with smoke, smoked meats, and graphite. Bravo!! Drink from 2024 until 2030. (tasted January 2021)

2020 Covenant Red C Sauvignon Blanc – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
Covenant Sauvignon Blanc is one of those simple white wines that can last more than 1 year on the shelf, and while this vintage may last more than a year, it is not as good as the 2019 vintage. The nose on this wine is tropical and lovely, with notes of classic gooseberry, rich passion fruit, wet grass, citrus, and honeysuckle. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, well made, with a good fruit-focus, a nice attack of gooseberry, followed by ripe Pomelo, guava, with a solid acid core, followed by orange peel and hints of nectarines. The finish is long, with green notes, garrigue, orange pith, and nice slate notes. Drink now. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Tinto (M) – Score: 90+ (QPR: GREAT)
The nose on this wine is fun, it is dirty, earthy, smoky, and a bit cooked, with notes of ripe fruit, saline, umami, and iron fillings. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine takes a bit of time to come together, but with an hour, the ripe notes fade, and what u get is loads of dirt, acidity, nice tannin, blackberry, cherry, blueberry, currants, smoke, and earth galore. The finish is long, smoky, earthy, mineral-based, with garrigue, green notes, foliage, herbs, and coffee, all wrapped in tannin, smoke, and roasted meat. Nice! Drink by 2024 (tasted January 2021)

2018 Flam Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve – Score: 90+ (QPR: EVEN)
This may well be the best Flam wine since 2011/2012, which is sad but a good sign, who knows. The nose on this wine shows like a classic Cabernet Sauvignon, with roasted herb, anise, tar, smoke, black and red fruit, followed by earth, and more ripe fruit. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is ripe, there is nowhere to hide on that fact, however, the fruitiness is controlled, which is different from previous vintages, with a plush mouthfeel, plum, and elegance, still, the ripeness concerns me and we will have to see how this wine evolves, with mineral, and more smoke. The finish is long, ripe, sweet, with dark chocolate, leather, gripping tannin, sweet oak, sweet smoking tobacco, and graphite. Nice! Drink from 2022 until 2030. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib, Flor de Primavera – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
When you open this wine it is sure to scare you if you do not like date juice, but with a few minutes that blew off and now it is ripe, but a bit more controlled. We will need to see how this wine evolves over the day. The nose on this wine shows far better than the mouth, with blue and black fruit, roasted herb, tar, smoke, bacon, black tea, and saline. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is layered, concentrated, almost elegant, the issue is the ripeness, this wine is too ripe at this point for me, showing blackberry, boysenberry, dark plum, clear ripe leanings, with fig, roasted herb, graphite, sweet oak, tobacco, and loam. The finish is long, too ripe, with gripping tannin, hints of elegance, plushness, cloves, cinnamon, more roasted meat, and sweet fruit lingering long. I hope this wine evolves over the day. (tasted January 2021)

2019 Vitkin Pinot Noir – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is nice, This is a well-balanced wine, made in the style of Pinot Noir. The wine needs 1+ hours of air, at this point, in Jan 2021, for it to be ready. The nose on this wine is ripe, with dark fruit, classic cherry, earth, smoke, toast, and hints of date. With time, AKA the 1 hour I recommended, the notes of date and ripeness blow off. The mouth on this medium-bodied shows correctly, with good fruit cranberry, pomegranate, dark cherry, cola, and toast, with garrigue, lovely black fruit, a great acid profile that is muted at the start, a nice tannic bite, and menthol. The finish is spicy and herbal, with good tannin, and green notes lingering. Nice! Drink by 2023. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Twin Suns Chardonnay-Viognier – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine continues a good trend of solid white wines from Twin Suns. The nose on this wine shows both fruits prominently, the sweet apple, pear, and oak are from the Chardonnay, and the peach and apricot are from the viognier. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice but the oak at this time is over-dominant, with notes of sweet oak, freshly baked apple, and pear pie, with brioche, and clear oak influence, followed by peach, and enough acidity to make it work. The finish is long, oaky, with sweet fruit, acidity, orange pith, nectarines, and rock. Nice! Drink by 2023. (tasted January 2021)

2019 Vitkin Red Israeli Journey – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose on this wine is unique, with notes of burnt strawberry, toast galore, tar, dried rosehip, lavender, floral, sweet spices, and dirt. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is ripe, with nice floral notes, followed by smoke, earth, strawberry, currants, good enough acidity, nice tannin, simple, but nice and unique. The finish is long, green, red, and smoky, with good grip, fruit-focus, and floral notes overpower. for a bit. Nice! Drink from 2022 until 2025. (tasted January 2021)

2018 ElviWines Vina Encina Blanco (M) – Score: 89+ (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is 100% Macabeo and it is an acid BOMB! The nose on this wine is the best part, it has lovely gooseberry, intense floral notes, along with citrus, honeysuckle, and nice slate. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice, it starts with a good front of pomelo fruit, with intense acidity, more honeysuckle, light tannin, along with mineral, nice fruit, tart apple, lemon, and a nice simple approach to an acidic white wine. The wine is not as much complex as it is fun, this is a wine I can enjoy and drink for the next year. Drink until 2023. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Dalton Petite Sirah – Score: 89 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is getting closer and I must say that Guy is trying, in relationship to all of his Israeli winery brethren, who have thrown in the towel. The nose on this wine is ripe, I would have loved to love this wine, but all I can hope for is alike, with notes of ripe black fruit, blue fruit, smoke, toast, and not much else. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is too ripe for me, it shows with blackberry, plum, boysenberry, earth, smoke, and a nice tannin attack, with enough acidity, but in the end, the ripeness of the fruit is too much for me. The finish is ripe and it lingers, with blackcurrant, leather, sweet smoking tobacco, menthol, and chocolate. Drink until 2023. (tasted January 2021)

2016 Ramon Cardova Rioja, Crianza (M) – Score: 88 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose on this wine is ripe, with raspberry, dirt, earth, and too much milk chocolate, with an overpowering sense of oak, and smoke. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is oaky, with a fruit-focus of sweet and ripe fruit, followed b blackberry, cassis, ripe strawberry, plum, all wrapped in searing tannin, overpowering oak, with nice extraction, good dirt, that gives way to more milk chocolate, with green notes, foliage. The finish is long, sweet/ripe, and herbal, with sweet fruit, and sweet spice, cloves, and cinnamon, milk chocolate again, and more gripping tannin. Drink by 2025. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Ramon Cardova Rioja (M) – Score: 87 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose on this wine is solid, with good notes of dark cherry, strawberry, earth, smoke, and nice roasted herb. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine shows nicely, it has a bit too much heat for me, the fruit is ripe, with plum notes, overpowering the cherry and strawberry from the nose, with mouth searing tannin and good acidity. The finish is long, ripe, and smoky, with anise, sweet fruit, tar lingering long. Drink by 2024. (tasted January 2021)

2017 Marciano Terra Gratia – Score: 87 (QPR: BAD)
This wine is elegant date juice, no denying it, this wine has crossed the line – passed 2016 and passed 2013. This is clear, present, and elegant plum liquor juice, sad! The nose on this wine is super ripe, scary ripe, this thing is plum juice, with hints of date, fig, smoke, tar, licorice, and psycho ripe fruit. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is ripe and has crazy extraction, layered, and incredibly concentrated, with intense tannin, this is a wine that can age for a long time, but this fruit will not fall off, this is a ripe Napa Cabernet Sauvignon that is the kind of stuff that people like, just not my cup of tea, I would enjoy a Chateau Riganes before this any day! The mouth is sweet liquor of plum, blackberry, smoke, toast, earth, and date. The finish is long, overly ripe, unbearable, and liquor, with leather, tobacco, rich milk chocolate, and tannin that is almost painful. Drink from 2028 until 2035. (tasted January 2021)

2019 Carmel Winery Mediterranean 2 Vats White – Score: 84 (QPR: POOR)
This wine is a blend of 41% Muscat, 29% Gewürztraminer, 18% Sauvignon Blanc, and 12% Colombard. This wine feels like it has RS (Residual Sugar), it is sweet, and it is not shy about it! The nose on this wine is sweet, showing pineapple, melon, honey, orange, and Orange peel, with hints of floral honeysuckle. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is sweet, it has good enough acidity, the issue here is that the fruit is too sweet, and the sugar or brown sugar notes are over the top, almost residual (it should be called off-dry), with honey, honeysuckle, and more melon. The finish is long, sweet, with a bit of acidity showing here, and not much else, above the Muscat fruit. Drink by 2022. (tasted January 2021)

2019 Carmel Winery Mediterranean 4 Vats – Score: 83 (QPR: BAD)
This wine is a blend of 25% Marselan, 25% Argaman, 25% Carignan, 11% Grenache, 10% Caladoc, and 4% Chardonnay. Sorry, this is a classic blueberry date juice wine from Israel, no thanks. The nose on this wine is pure date juice, followed by blueberry, smoke, and more crazy fruit. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is painful, it is pure fruit, without much balance, dates, figs, blueberry, smoke, and then I cannot tell too much date. Drink soon, if you can! (tasted January 2021)

2019 Carmel Winery Mediterranean 2 Vats Rose – Score: 80 (QPR: BAD)
This wine is a blend of 33% Tempranillo, 30% Grenache, 29% Marselan, 6% Caladoc, 2% Chardonnay. The nose on this wine is sweet and candied, with notes of candied cherry, apple, sweet strawberries and crème, and candied pear. I am sure this wine would have been more interesting 6 months ago, but now, this wine is soulless, it has no acid, no heart, the fruit is flat, showing a sweet fruit front of candied raspberry, dry strawberry, and not much else, along with rose petals, and that is it. Sad, Drink now if forced to. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Tulip Maia White – Score: 79 (QPR: NA)
Painful. Off-dry, sweet, no acid, sad. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Koenig Pinot Blanc (M) – Score: 78 (QPR: NA)
This is another wine without acid, without balance, sad. The nose on this wine is off-dry, and a mess, sad. (tasted January 2021)

2017 Tzafona Riesling – Score: 75 (QPR: NA)
This wine is also oxidizing and is not so fun. It has its moments with its funk and petrol notes, but after that, the oxidation makes it all fall apart. Drink NOW if you must. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Koenig Pinot Gris (M) – Score: 72 (QPR: NA)
I cannot drink it – sad. (tasted January 2021)

2016 Tzafona Nava Blanc (M) – Score: 60 (QPR: NA)
Sadly, this wine is dead – it is an oxidized and sweet fruit mess. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Joseph Zakon Winery Nature Screaming – Score: 45 (QPR: NA)
This wine is a blend of 95% Noiret & 5% Riesling. This is the 3rd of the current kosher wines to be released without added sulfites, and it is by far, the worst. The nose on this wine is oxidized date juice, which is not an easy combination to achieve, so that does deserve some credit if I say so myself. The nose is so off-putting that I could barely smell whatever else may exist and all I get is a perfume of oxidation, chocolate, and ripe black fruit. The mouth on this light-bodied wine is flat, yes, I too was shocked by the fact that I tasted it, but that is what I do, with blackberry, plum, and a whole mess of oxidized fruit, alcohol, and not much else. There is no finish, it is just more oxidation and that is a wrap. Please move on! (tasted January 2021)

Victor Wines from 2018 and 2019

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2018 Chateau du Vieux Puit – Score: 84 (QPR: BAD)
This is a wine I could drink if forced to. The nose on this wine is weak and Oak and not much there, but no real faults. Sad. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Chateau Haut Perdrias (M) – Score: 83 (QPR: BAD)
No major faults, not green, but boring and Oak juice, but could be interesting to some. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Chateau Camplay – Score: 82 (QPR: NA)
Water, cheap, and boring, with some cherry and plum, sad, ok tannin. (tasted January 2021)

2019 Chateau Haut Vallon (M) – Score: 75 (QPR: NA)
This is yet another cheap French wine, green, tinny, and not much else. (tasted January 2021)

2018 Secret de Haut Vallon (M) – Score: 73 (QPR: NA)
This wine is another tinny, cheap, boring, green wine, with no value, sad. (tasted January 2021)

2019 Chateau de Cor Bugeaud (M) – Score: 70 (QPR: NA)
Nasty. Ripe fruit disaster. Sad. (tasted January 2021)