Well, this is getting up later than I wished, but that is life. Life, shul, and so much more, got in the way. All good, just wine, and my blog had to be put on the back-burner for a bit. Thankfully, I am ready to post more often now.

So, we return to the story, I landed in Paris, bought lots of wines, and had even more wines shipped to my hotel, and other hotels as well! Long story, not for the blog. Was hilarious walking into a hotel and asking for a package from the concierge while he realizes you are not a guest – think of them as a local Post Office!!

But let us start with the roses and whites I enjoyed in the company of Menahem Israelievitch. These wines are almost all here, except for the three Burgundies that will get here eventually. My guess is that just like all shipping around the world is waiting on boats, or containers, at least they are getting what does arrive here off the boats quickly now.

At the tasting, we enjoyed many lovely wines, and you can read the notes below, I want to point out a few thoughts on them.

• The non-Mevushal versions of the roses I have had so far from Royal are much better. Mevushal does not work well for roses, at least from how Royal Europe is doing it.
• The 2021 vintage is OK, at least for non-mevushal roses, better than previous vintages, other than the original Roubine release.
• Royal has come back with some high-end Pinot Noir from Burgundy and they are showing well now but will improve with time for sure.
• As I explained in my previous post, the timing of my visit, along with supply chain issues meant that I was not able to taste all the wines that will be available soon from Royal. We are missing the oak-influenced, higher-end Chateau Roubine Inspire and Lion & Dragon wines. Along with all the 2021 white wines I missed. I hope to taste them when they come here to the USA.

In closing, all of these wines will get here eventually, other than the non-mevushal versions of the wines I have already posted here. I cannot say that for the vast majority of wines I will be posting over the next weeks. So many wines made in France either live and die in France and Europe, as a whole or are made JUST for Israel. This new phenomenon started with Shaked, and others have joined in. Either way, lots of French wine is not sold in France and lots of French wine never leaves the country – just the fascinating life of French wine. Most of it is made by very small producers or ones with horrible distribution, and as such, they are very difficult to find. Thankfully, as I stated all of these wines and a few of the Bokobsa wines, a post coming soon, should be available in the USA.

My thanks to Menahem Israelievitch and Royal Wines for hosting me and letting us taste the wonderful wines. The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here. The wine notes are in the order the wines were tasted:

2021 Chateau Roubine R De Roubine Rose, Provence (M) – Score: 83 (QPR: POOR)
The nose of this wine is almost flat while the mouth is a bit expressive with good pith and fruit but again it is missing acidity. Raspberry, strawberry, and flint, with loads of pith and not much else, drink now! (tasted May 2022) (in San Jose, CA & Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Chateau Roubine La Vie en Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 86 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is nice, showing orange blossom, orange marmalade, strawberry and crème, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine once again has some refreshing aspects but lacks the acidity, and fruit expression, with strawberry, raspberry, pomelo, orange, and a slightly short finish with nice flint. Drink now! (tasted May 2022) (in San Jose, CA & Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Sainte Beatrice Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This is the non-mevushal version of this wine and how lovely it is indeed. The nose of this wine is lovely, with strawberry and creme, orange blossom, gooseberry, minerality, flint, and mango, very nice! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is just lovely, well-balanced, with rich acidity, balanced with a lovely mouthfeel, strawberry, raspberry, orange blossom, orange notes, and citrus, all wrapped in salinity and minerality, lovely! The finish is long, tart, refreshing, and expressive with more flint, slate, and saline, on a long and fruity finish. Bravo!!! (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2021 J de Villebois Sancerre Rose, Sancerre – Score: 90.5 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is nice with ripe notes of strawberry, pomelo, orange, and melon. The mouth of the medium-plus-bodied rose, is creamy, richer than the Cotes de Provence style wines, with nice acidity, freshness, and nice fruit, with strawberry, ripe raspberry, dark cherry, saline, and rich orange notes. The finish is long, creamy, tart, and refreshing, with good saline, slate, saline, and green notes. Nice! Drink now! (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)

2021 Les Lauriers, des Barons Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Rose, Vin de France – Score: 89 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this rose is fruity, and ripe, with strawberry, pomelo, pomegranate, and plum. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe and fruity but balanced with good acidity, dark raspberry, pomegranate, dried red flowers, candied notes, and roasted herbs, with spice. The finish is long, spicy, herbal, and fruity, with candied notes, and sweet red fruit and floral notes lingering long. Drink now. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)

2021 Chateau Roubine Rose, Premium, Cru Classe, Cotes de Provence – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, classic Cotes de Provence style, with strawberry and crème, lemon blossom, well controlled, and classical, lovely! The mouth of this medium-bodied rose is with lovely acidity, more strawberry, raspberry, lovely fruit focus, intense acidity, saline, smoke, and herb, with lemon Fraiche, and tart lime. The finish is long, tart, refreshing, and herbal, with roasted mint, smoke, flint, and green notes. Lovely! Drink now. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Chateau Roubine Red, Cru Classe, Cotes de Provence – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The wine is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, and Cabernet Sauvignon, The nose of this wine is ripe, and bright, with black and blue fruit, hints of red fruit in the background, and sweet spices, The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, well balanced, with great acidity, rich smoke, tension, with nice strawberry, blackberry, boysenberry, mushroom, wet forest floor, nice gripping tannin, green notes, and rich spices. The finish is long, green, herbal, smoky, and fruity, with sweet spices, graphite, rock, unctuous mouthfeel, texture, and minerality. Drink by 2026. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)

2020 Domaine du Chateau Philippe le Hardi Beaune 1er Cru, Beaune 1er Cru – Score: 91.5 (QPR: GREAT)
The wine starts with crazy fruit and intensity that honestly freaked me out, with time it calmed down and showed beautifully. The nose of this 1er Cru wine is fruity, with candied plum, dark Kirche cherry, black fruit, at the start, and hints of blue fruit, with rich herbs, iris, rosehip, menthol, sweet spices, and loam. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, balanced, with good acidity, nice dark and brooding fruit, plush, layered, and extracted, with intense tannin that warps candied plum, dark strawberry, violet, boysenberry, sweet oak, saline, graphite, white pepper, and smoked meat. The finish is long, tannic, and fruity, but balanced with more tannin, scraping minerality, candied red fruit, lovely espresso, more floral notes, roasted herbs, spices, and toasty notes. Nice!!! Drink from 2025 until 2032. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)

2020 Domaine du Chateau Philippe le Hardi Gevrey-Chambertin, Les Crais, Gevrey-Chambertin – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine initially showed off ripe notes, but again, with time, it calms to show its true colors, give this wine time. The nose of this wine, once it calms down, shows lovely ripe notes of milk chocolate, cacao, espresso coffee, blue and red fruit, lovely roasted meat, smoke, violet, and sweet spices. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is tart, focused, but oaky now, with sweet spices, sweet dill, sweet oak, floral notes of violet, rosehip, smoke, tart strawberry, raspberry, and white pepper, wrapped in mouth-draping tannin, and intense fruit focus. The finish is long, ripe, smoky, dirty, and earthy, with more floral notes, intense strawberry, cocoa, milk chocolate, sweet oak, coffee in the background, and pepper, really fun and intense. Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Domaine du Chateau Philippe le Hardi Chambolle-Musigny, Les Athets, Chambolle-Musigny – Score: 93.5 (QPR: GREAT)
This has to be one of the first kosher Chambolle-Musigny Burgundies – really fun, well-balanced, and precise, a truly enjoyable experience. The nose of this lovely Burgundy wine is much like what I desire from a Burgundy, fruity, but controlled, earthy, dirty, smoky, with white pepper, dark cherry, raspberry, tart, and fresh red fruit, with green notes, loam, and sweet spices. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, layered, balanced, tart, dense, and concentrated, but not overly fruity, with intense balance, precision, tart raspberry, dark cherry, intensely refreshing, rosehip, incredible salinity, mineral, sweet spices, and dense loam, with hints of mushroom. The finish is long, tart, refreshing, expressive, and extracted with tart red fruit, rooibos tea, tart cranberry, sweet smoke, pepper, and roasted notes lingering long! Bravo!!! Drink from 2026 until 2035. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)