I hope you all had a wonderful Jewish Holiday season! We are now back to the grind and I have a bunch of wines that need to be posted. As usual, my QPR posts are a hodgepodge of wines but thankfully we have some nice QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wines.

QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines

It has been two months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post and many people have been emailing me about some unique wines I have tasted and some lovely wines that are worth writing about.

Thankfully, no matter how much garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with quite a few wonderful QPR wines out there. This post includes some nice wines and some OK wines with the usual majority of uninteresting to bad wines.

The story of 2021 Israel whites and roses is very unfortunate, it started with a bang. Matar and a couple of others showed very well. Sadly, after that, every other white and rose wine from Israel was not as impressive. They all show middling work and product, very disappointing indeed. Thankfully, this round has one Israeli WINNER and it is from the 2021 vintage.

We have a nice list of QPR WINNERS:

1. 2021 Shirah Rose, Central Coast, CA (A nice solid rose)
2. 2021 Covenant Israel Rose, Blue C, Israel (lovely color and great acidity)
3. 2018 Allegory Pinot Noir, Duvarita Vineyard, Santa Barbara, CA (Another nice Pinot from Cali)
4. 2020 Chateau Montviel, Pomerol (Perennial winner)
5. N.V. Drappier Carte d’Or, Champagne (Best of the 4 Drappier Champagne)
6. N.V. Drappier Brut Nature, Zero Dosage, Champagne (Lovely but drink now!)
7. 2020 Chateau Piada, Sauternes (Not their best but solid)
8. N.V. Drappier Rose de Saignee, Champagne (Nice brut rose, hard to find outside of Yarden)

There were also a few wines that are a slight step behind with a GREAT or GOOD QPR score:

1. 2021 Shirah Bro.Deux, Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, CA (A nice wine just missing a bit)
2. 2021 Yatir Mount Amasa Rose, Judean Hills (Not bad)
3. 2021 Or de la Castinelle Rose, Cotes de Provence (Another solid vintage for this new rose)
4. 2021 Vitkin Israeli Journey, Red, Israel (Simple but nice)
5. 2021 Laufer Tokaji Late Harvest, Tokaji – Simple but balanced
6. 2018 Allegory Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford (too ripe for me but good)
7. 2019 Vitkin Grenache Blanc, Galilee (A step back on this vintage sadly)
8. 2018 Ma’ayan Cabernet Franc, Shomron (A lovely wine just too Israeli for me)

There are a few wines that got a QPR Score of EVEN – meaning expensive or average:

1. 2019 Shirah Nebbiolo, Paso Robles, CA (A bit too ripe for my tastes)
2. 2021 Flam Camellia, Judean Hills (Less interesting than previous vintages)
3. 2018 Allegory Meritage, Paso Robles, CA (weakest of the Allegory wines)
4. 2021 Laufer Tokaji Ice Wine, Tokaji (Not enough acidity to make it work)

The others are essentially either OK wines that are too expensive, duds, or total failures:

1. 2021 Jezreel Valley Rose, Sharon (Not very good)
2. 2020 Yatir Darom, Red, Israel (Just trying too hard with so little)
3. N.V. Drappier Rose, Brut Nature, Champagne (Not a good idea IMHO)

Wine sets that I tasted

This tasting includes three sets of wines.

1. Shirah Rose and white wines
2. Allegory and Ma’ayan wines (from The Cellar wine store in Lakewood)
3. Four newly disgorged Drappier Champagne
4. The rest of the assorted wines I tasted over the last 1+ months. I tasted more but I am waiting to post them later.

Some things that made me stand up and take notice (AKA QPR WINNERS):

The largest WINNER group of the sets of wines I had came from the Drappier Champagnes. Three of them were dead on and the fourth, the brut nature rose, is just a bad idea, IMHO.

The other two sets are all made by the Weiss brothers from Shirah wines. The Shirah Wines are made under the Shirah brand and the Allegory wines are Cali wines made for the Cellar wine store in Lakewood.

The Shirah Rose and the Allegory Pinot Noir, two wines made by the Weiss brothers are solid to lovely wines.

Covenant keeps popping out lovely wines and the 2021 Israeli Rose is another example of what care brings you!

The other two wines are the 2020 Piada and Montviel, two more WINNERS for Royal Wines. The Montviel is sheer joy and the highest-scoring wine of this post while the Piada, while nice enough, is a step back from previous vintages.

Other wines of note (AKA QPR GREAT or GOOD):

This group is not a group of wines I would buy and some are not even wines I would drink if given the chance. They are Ok wines but there are far better options out there. The one that did surprise me was the 2018 Ma’ayan Cabernet Franc, Shomron. It is a wine that was close and nice but still too Israeli for me.

Wines that are either good but too expensive or average (AKA EVEN):

This list is also boring, the only real wine to call out, is the 2021 Laufer Tokaji Ice Wine. It should have been a better wine but the wine is a mess, it is all over the place and lacks acidity, sad.

The rest of the wines are not interesting to me and are on this list because of either quality or price.

Wines that are either OK but far too expensive or bad wines (AKA POOR/BAD):

This round this list is just duds and I will just leave you to peruse the names and scores down below.

Roundup

Overall another nice list of QPR WINNERS. I can always look at these kinds of lists and say there are only 7 or 8 wines I would want to buy from this entire list, but that would be a defeatist attitude. The correct way to classify this list is we have 7 or 8 more wines available to us and in the end, as I have stated many times now, I cannot buy all the WINNER wines even if I wanted to. There are just too many good wines out there and that is what we should be focused on!

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

2020 Chateau Montviel, Pomerol – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The nose of this wine is incredible, this is what I dream about when I smell wine, dirt, earth, smoke, loam, elegance, fruit, and mushroom, yum!!! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is balanced and soft, it comes at you in layers, showing raspberry, plum, rich loam, earth, sweet spices, and forest floor, all wrapped in a silky and elegant plush mouthfeel, with lovely acidity. It is a silky seductress. The finish is long, green, herbal, dirty, loam, and more forest floor that really comes out, with sweet tobacco, dry meat, and lovely green notes. Bravo!!! Drink from 2025 until 2034. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

N.V. Drappier Carte d’Or, Champagne (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine was disgorged on 7/22. The nose of this wine is yeasty, with lovely baked goods, freshly baked apple and kumquat pie, ripe quince, lemon curd, pear, honeysuckle, and pleasant minerality. This has to be the best version of this wine they have made kosher, IMHO. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe, balanced, elegant, but persuasive, with lovely layers of small bubble mousse, some nice tannin, citrus, lemongrass, dried apricot, melon, more minerality, slate, and lovely baked pie with yeasty notes commanding your attention. Lovely! Drink until 2024. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

2020 Chateau Piada, Sauternes – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe, a bit riper than previous vintages, with lovely funk, ripe pineapple, ripe and juicy guava, mango, and many other tropical fruits, chamomile, sweet honeysuckle, honeyed notes, with some balance of nice tart citrus fruit. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is balanced, the mouth shows much more balance and elegance than the nose, with a lovely plush and oily mouthfeel, with the aforementioned funk, sweet honeyed melon, honeyed guava, and mango, sweet peach, tart and balancing grapefruit, tart yellow plum, and nice minerality, even a bit of saline, nice! The finish is long, mineral, sweet, and not ripe, with hints of pith, graphite, saline, more funk, and honeysuckle lingering long. Nice! Drink from 2028 until 2040. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

N.V. Drappier Brut Nature, Zero Dosage, Champagne (M) – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This is a Blanc de Noir, made from Pinot Noir, with zero dosage, and a label of Brut Nature. This wine was disgorged on 7/22. The nose of this wine is tart, clean, and green, yet fruity, there is no red fruit here, just peach, apricot, intense yeasty notes, lovely baked goods, followed by minerality, slate, honeysuckle, and notes of wax and marzipan. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice but it is not long for this world, like most brut nature wines it is good for maybe 8 months, max, so drink up! The bubbles are already starting to fade, but when it is first opened, here in late September, the mouth shows an attack of lovely small bubble mousse, baked goods, tart yeasty notes, nice tannin, waxy notes, marzipan, lemongrass, grapefruit, lemon pith, and brioche. The finish is long, and tart, with great acidity, slate, mineral, and fruit focus, but the mousse is fading in the mouth, enjoy soon! Drink up!! (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

N.V. Drappier Rose de Saignee, Champagne (M) – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine has a disgorgement date of 7/22. The nose of the sparkling rose is quite lovely, showing notes of rich yeast, mineral, great rhubarb, raspberry, dried currants, anise, rosehip, and more red berries. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is quite enjoyable, with end-to-end small mousse bubbles, ripe red apples, tangy raspberries, rhubarb, dried rose petals, and lovely orange peel. Elegant and luxurious. The finish is long, tangy, and beguiling, with light tannin, lovely baked rhubarb pie, and lovely slate/graphite, bravo! Drink until 2024. (tasted October 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

2018 Allegory Pinot Noir, Duvarita Vineyard, Santa Barbara, CA – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, ripe fruit, balanced, red, and hints of black fruit, sweet oak, vanilla, rosehip, heather, loam, minerality, and roasted meat. The mouth of this medium to full-bodied wine is balanced, and nice, with good fruit focus, plus acidity, with a nice plush mouthfeel, first green notes come at you with mint, basil, and garrigue, followed by tart sour cherry, raspberry, hints of blackberry, sweet spice, sweet oak, heather, loam, and charcoal. The finish is long, green, herbal, charcoal, mineral, and loamy, with dry tobacco, and more mint. The sweet and sour cherries with rosehip linger long. Drink by 2025. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.1%)

2021 Covenant Israel Rose, Blue C, Israel – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine takes a bit of time to open, do yourself a favor for the next month or so, and maybe open it an hour before you enjoy it. Heck decanting a rose like this would be fun! Once the wine is open, the nose of this wine is nicely balanced, with good bright fruit, nice strawberry, ripe raspberry, ginger, white pepper, green notes, honeysuckle, and peach. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is balanced, tart, fruity, and refreshing, with good fruit focus, a nice weighty mouthfeel, ripe strawberry, raspberry, nice saline, minerality, and quince. Bravo! The finish is long, tart, and refreshing, with good salinity, mineral, slate, and lovely fruit focus. Nice! Drink now! (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 10.7%)

2021 Shirah Rose, Central Coast, CA – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of Nebbiolo, Grenache, and Pinot Meunier. The nose of this wine is a bit flat with the Nebbiolo taking over, I crave a Grenache rose nose, flinty, ethereal, fleeting but ever present, here the nose is just lacking, maybe the Pinot Meunier is not a rose wine, who knows.
With time the nose opens to classic strawberry and creme, saline, and orange blossom. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, with screaming acidity, the ph here is off the charts (I mean under the floorboards), clearly real, this is not chemically altered, but wow, it is intense even for me, with intense acidity, balancing good fruit focus of cranberry, plum, rhubarb, watermelon, and grapefruit, nice! The finish is long, tart, green, refreshing, shocking, yet really lovely wine with nice flint, rock, and sweet fruit, balanced by intense acidity, and fruit. Bravo! Drink now. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Or de la Castinelle Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
I really was hoping for another winning vintage from this winery, it is close but it is not a QPR WINNER. The nose of this lovely wine is ripe, well balanced, and very grenache in style, showing nice minerality, notes of orange blossom, orange marmalade, strawberries, and crème, with saline, and green notes. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine shows a nice weight, but what is missing is the intense acidity, it has enough, but it lacks that real refreshment, with a nice fruit focus of grapefruit, strawberry, raspberry, gooseberry, rich orange, almost nectarines, some minerality, and lovely green notes. The finish is super long, with more nectarines, orange juice, orange blossom, and pith. Drink now. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Shirah Bro.Deux, Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, CA – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is slow to open so give it time. The nose of this wine is nice enough, very tropical and new world in style, akin to a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, with ripe gooseberry, cat pee, and guava, but also a bit riper with more weight, orange blossom, rose water, and mineral. Enjoy this wine a bit colder than other whites. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe, with a drop too little in acidity, a nice round mouthfeel, and refreshing with orange notes, gooseberry, guava, honeysuckle, honeydew, and smoke. The finish is long, tart, and ripe, with weight, flint, and a nice finish. Drink now. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.1%)

2021 Yatir Mount Amasa Rose, Judean Hills – Score: 89 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is a blend of 70% Grenache & 30% Mourvedre. The nose of this wine is classic in nature with the Provence-style blend showing strawberry & creme, peach, honeysuckle, and rosehip, with too much bitter pith notes. The mouth of this wine is nice, with good acidity, and nice fruit, but the bitterness is off-putting with some minerality, loads of pith, strawberry, raspberry, peach, green notes, and smoke. The finish is long, bitter, green, and fruity. Drink now. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.5%)

2019 Vitkin Grenache Blanc, Galilee – Score: 90.5 (QPR: GOOD)
These wines need a year to come together, the 18 is screaming great now. The nose of this wine is less ripe and less bright than previous vintages, while I like this wine, it feels a bit less full and a bit more hollow, with lovely white blossom, honeysuckle, honeyed fruit, and melon. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine lacks the draping mouthfeel of the past, this one is more tart, acidic, and focused, lither, with ripe melon, citrus, green apple, salinity, nice enough minerality, pear, tart yellow grapefruit, some straw with slate. The finish is long and green, with more saline, honeysuckle, and enough acidity on the finish. Drink until 2024. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Laufer Tokaji Late Harvest, Tokaji – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is nice enough, it does not blow you away, but it has nice honeysuckle, ripe mango, peach, and honeyed lychee. The mouth of this medium-plus bodied wine is nice, the acidity is good, it is balanced, with a nice weight, an almost oily texture, with sweet notes, but it lacks the punch to really handle desert, with honeyed notes, lychee, mango, honeysuckle, and sweet peach. The finish is long, sweet, and balanced. Drink until 2026. (tasted October 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 11%)

2021 Vitkin Israeli Journey, Red, Israel – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is a blend of 55% Carignan, 25% Grenache, 10% Cabernet Franc, & 10% Syrah. The nose of this wine is nice, juicy, and controlled, with red and blue fruit, and nice hints of floral notes, but the nose is dominated by the fruit. This medium-bodied wine’s mouth is refreshing, focused, and enjoyable, with good acidity, balance, soft tannin, smoke, ripe and juicy boysenberry, raspberry, strawberry, nice smoke, good loam, nicely sweet and ripe fruit, wrapped in tannin and lovely acidity. Nice! The finish is long, ripe, balanced, and fruity. Nice! Drink by 2024 (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2018 Allegory Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Rutherford, Napa Valley, CA – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is more controlled than the Meritage with nice red and black fruit, nice bright fruit, herbal, spicy, with mint, green notes, licorice, anise, and lovely fruit. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is clean, balanced, and ripe, with loads of sweet oak, sweet dill, sweet spices, blackberry, raspberry, plum, and rich smoke, with a plush mouthfeel, nice sweet tannin, and sweet spices. The finish is long, ripe, sweet, tart, and a bit round, with good herbal notes, mint, sweet spices, milk chocolate, and sweet tobacco. Drink by 2026. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.8%)

2018 Ma’ayan Cabernet Franc, Shomron – Score: 89.5 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine opens to a heavy sweet attack of Israeli fruit, if you let this rest opened, for a few hours, or a good decant, the wine loses its baby fat and shows a more accessible wine. The nose of this wine, once fully aired, shows nice Cab Franc fruit, and green notes, still showing spikes of brooding fruit, waxy notes, lanolin, and heather. The mouth of this full-bodied wine will work well for those that like big fruity wines, this is a wine that I could drink, just not quite a wine I would buy showing a bit too much fruitiness without a place to put it, with a weighty and plush mouth, good blackberry, the plum is a bit too ripe, nice cranberry, dark brooding fruit still throws me, but overall, the fruit, sweet oak, and mouthfeel work for those that like it.| The finish is long, dark, green, herbal, fruity, and smoky. Drink until 2025. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2019 Shirah Nebbiolo, Paso Robles, CA – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is ripe, very much like a Nebbiolo, ripe to start, it calms over time, showing this wine has time, the issue I have is that there is too much milk chocolate and sweet oak on the nose, it feels more pushed than I would have liked classic Cali issues. Showing notes of milk chocolate, dark cherry, plum, and more sweet oak. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, rich layered, and extracted, with loads of oak, sweet dill, gun powder, cigar smoke, sweet blackberry, plum, nice acidity, intense tannin, scraping mineral, and more smoke. The finish is long, with too much oak influence for me, with more vanilla, sweet dill, hickory, allspice, sweet notes, caramel, hazelnut, and milk chocolate. Drink from 2024 until 2028. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.7%)

2021 Flam Camellia, Judean Hills – Score: 88 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is the best part with lovely caramel, butterscotch, sweet oak, yellow apple, quince, melon, Asian Pear, and sweet baking spices. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lacking a bit of acidity, when you taste it the wine is fine, but with food, the wine shows lacking, with a fair amount of sweet dill, sweet oak, oak tannin, smoke, baked Asian Pear, butterscotch candy, sweet apple, and loads of toast. The finish is long, sweet, toasty, and oaky, with green notes, too much vanilla, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. Drink by 2025. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2018 Allegory Meritage, Paso Robles, CA – Score: 87 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 17% Merlot, & 16% Malbec. The nose of this wine is ripe, somewhat balanced, and hot, with blue, red, and black fruit, smoke, toast, loam, ginger, and roasted meat, and ripe. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, and to me, it lacks the acidity to bring this around, with blackberry, plum, raspberry, boysenberry, and sweet oak, with a nice mouthfeel, and some earth. Ripe, and tannic but not much else. The finish is long, dark, brooding, ripe, and toasty, with sweet baking spices, cloves, vanilla, and nutmeg, with juicy fruit, yet not enough acidity to bring it around. Drink until 2025. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15%)

2021 Laufer Tokaji Ice Wine, Tokaji – Score: 87 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a classic example of an overworked wine, one that shines to those that like big red wines, it is the sweet wine for over-the-top red wine lovers, I think you know where this note is going. The nose of this wine is nice, showing some brightness, but mostly ripe, with almost tropical notes, big, bold, and over the top, with sweet sugar that hits you hard, almost like the wine was chaptalized with plain old sugar, the residual sugar is so over the top, followed by honeyed, bruised and overripe stone fruit. The mouth of this wine is where it loses me for good, this is so unbalanced, I cannot come to drink it, the wine is an extreme exaggeration of dessert wine, with not enough acidity to make it work, it feels clawing, flat, and flabby,  almost like a drunk toddler, with candied and honeyed peach, apricot, honey, hints of ginger, and overall sugary, in a rich and dense and cloying (yes repeated) mouthfeel. The finish is long, cloying, and too much for me. I am sure some will like this, but I pass. Drink by 2029. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

N.V. Drappier Rose, Brut Nature, Champagne (M) – Score: 88 (QPR: POOR)
I always worry about Brut Nature, and this wine was disgorged on July 2022, only a few months ago. The wine opens nicely enough but the acidity is lacking and while the fruit is there the mousse is lacking and the overall refreshment of it is lacking. The nose of this wine show strawberry, raspberry, intense yeast, mineral, slate, rosehip, lime, citrus, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is not long for this world, the bubbles ran out shortly after opening, with notes of tannin, sweet cherry, strawberry, raspberry, more floral notes, lemon/lime, a nice mousse when it is there, and drying graphite. Drink up!!! (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

2021 Jezreel Valley Rose, Sharon – Score: 84 (QPR: POOR)
This wine is a blend of 60% Syrah, 30% Carignan, & 10% Gewurztraminer, This is another Israeli rose/white wine blend that uses Gewurztraminer in all the wrong ways. It is such a lovely grape but in this blend and others, it pulls all the interest to it and makes the wine unbalanced and uninteresting. The nose of this wine is ripe, and again, the Gewurztraminer takes over, with banana and pineapple notes, followed by some red fruit. Still, it is fully overshadowed by the Gewurztraminer. The mouth of this wine is ripe and has nice acidity, but again, the Gewurztraminer is too fruity, there is no red fruit, it is behind the wall of pineapple and mango, followed by some green notes. The finish is long, green, and ripe, and too much pineapple to make this wine fun. Drink now if you must. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.5%)

2020 Yatir Darom, Red, Israel – Score: 78 (QPR: N.A.)
This wine is a blend of 61% Shiraz, 20% Zinfandel, 12% Marselan, & 7% Grenache. The wine is another vapid, empty, ripe wine with no soul, it shows a bit of life in the nose but the mouth is soulless, it has no acidity, it has no balance, and it is all about showing with red fruit, but cooked in style, with a ripeness that does not fit the wine’s profile, again, showing off without the assets to back it up. Drink now if you must! (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)