As always, I am happy to taste wines that are sent to me or that I buy, I do not normally call them out, per se, unless they are at a tasting, like with Royal, IDS, M&M, and others. This is one of those examples, where Kosherwine.com (KW) sent me 24 wines to taste. I have also added some that I bought, exclusive to KW, the Slight of Hand, and Doubleback wines. There were also, the Harkham wines that KW started to bring in, I also bought those, but I just have not had the time to taste those yet. I remember well my time in Australia when I was one of the first people to post about the incredible Harkham Azziza Shiraz! WOW! So much fun! Even more enjoyable was hanging out with Richie at the tasting in L.A., I truly hope KW will start to import the Semillon as well soon!

Kosherwine.com’s Exclusive wines

I have spoken about exclusive wines, exclusive wine clubs, and the sort in the past. While I have no issue with them, per se, they do tend to drive up pricing. They do not drive up the price because the exclusive merchant makes a bigger cut, the prices go up because of smaller production and exclusivity.

When you make lots of small wine runs or work with small producers that are OK with exclusivity, it tends to lead to higher prices because of how the product is made. Whether it is wineries in Israel like Shiran, Ghito, Mia Luce, or Slight of Hand from Washington State. They are all small wineries with small productions or one-off runs and that leads to higher prices.

In the end, the way I define QPR (Quality to Price Ratio), still revolves around price! So, whether the price is higher because of small production, single runs, or exclusivity, the end goal for QPR is to get a wine that meets the quality and the price of its competitors.

You will see some nice wines below, wines that I would drink, but given the pricing, I could not put the QPR WINNER tag on them. Nonetheless, if you remove the exclusive thing and just stick to the fact that these are a bunch of wines that are nice to well, Israeli reds, the tasting was fun! In the end, that is what matters.

Fun Options

Top Scoring wines

If I was a betting man, and I am not, I would wager that most people will find the Ghito whites to be highly enjoyable. I only had two of them to taste the Uphaz and the Soreqa, but I may well get some other 2021 whites to try.

The Mia Luce white was also quite enjoyable, along with the Yaacov Oryah Chardonnay.

For red wines, the Doublback was quite nice, it had green notes that threw me but overall a very nice wine.

Seven 90 or 90+ scored wines

There were also seven 90 or 90+ scored wines. These included another Ghito white, the Shiran Chardonnay, Mia Luce Syrah, a pair of Domaine Herzberg red blends, along with a Sheldrake sweet wine, and the 2019 Slight of Hand Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Magic.

Closing Thoughts

Overall not a bad lineup of good wines, the prices, as described above keep the QPR scores lower than I would have liked. Still, there are options here for those that want to try new wines, new blends, or unique stories. In the end, KW has done its homework, I hope that as they work on the overall product line, they can maybe also work with their partners to get the prices down.

My sincerest thanks to Dovid Riven for sharing their wonderful wines with me. The wines are listed in the order I tasted them. The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

2021 Festa d’Estate Pinot Grigio, Provinicia di Pavia (M) – Score: 87 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is correct with green grass, straw, quince, yellow apple, and herbs. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine feels stunted, less vibrant than it should be, the apple is bruised, the pear is browning, the fruit is not crisp, and a bit sweet, and there is good acidity, but it is just not refreshing, with some citrus, and herb. The finish is long, balanced, and with good acidity. Drink now. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

2021 Shiran Winery Chardonnay, Gush Etzion – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is the best part of this wine with some muted fruit, not as crisp as I would hope, apple blossom, muddled red apple, muddled pear, and flint. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine feels all over the place, it has acidity but feels hollow in the middle, with red apple, pear, some citrus, and flint. The finish is long, not as refreshing as it should be as the muddled fruit detracts from the overall effect. Drink now. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Yaffo Image White, Judean Hills – Score: 88 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine feels muted with more muddled apple and pear, peach, some smoke, and flint. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is balanced, it feels almost refreshing, with good acidity, but the fruit is where things take a step back, the muddled peach, pear, and apple, are nice enough, but what I want is crisp and refreshingly tart fruit and I feel this is a bit lacking there. The finish is long, balanced, and fruity, with pith, flint, and some smoke. Drink now. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

2020 Mia Luce Blanc, Galilee – Score: 91 (QPR: EVEN)
The 2020 vintage in Israel was tough, this wine has fresh fruit, the issue is there is very little of it, which is shocking for me to say about an Israeli wine! The nose of this wine is fresh and bright with tart green apples, flint, hay, funk, tart pink quince, and peach. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine has a lovely weight, even a bit elegant, with refreshing and fresh fruit, and lovely acidity, I wish there was more fruit, with peach, yellow apple, quince, nice funk, and lovely flint. The finish is long, refreshing, and almost oily, with nice acidity, and some elegance. Drink by 2024. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

2021 Yaacov Oryah Chardonnay, Singe Vineyard, Yaacov’s Playground, Judean Hills – Score: 91(QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a bit closed to start it needs a few hours to fully open up. The nose of this wine is fresh and refreshing with good apple, pear, grapefruit, citrus blossom, a hint of wood, and tart pink quince. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has lovely acidity, with a lovely mouthfeel, good citrus, quince, lemon/lime, and a nice mouthfeel, crème Fraiche, sweet oak, and nicely refreshing! The finish is long, tart, and refreshing with loads of citrus, oak, and sweet spices lingering long. Drink until 2026. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

2021 Ghito Uphaz, Galilee – Score: 91+ (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. The nose of this why is a bit shy to start, it opens to straw, hay, white pepper, apple blossom, slate, peach, green apple, and smoke.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is rich, and intensely acidic, with a good fruit focus, lovely fruit, and minerality work together with an almost creamy yet refreshing texture, apple, smoke, straw, hay, yellow plum, kiwi, and gooseberry. Lovely!
The finish is long, tart, bracing, and refined, with more slate, acidity, rich saline, and white pepper lingering long. Nice! Drink until 2024. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Ghito Soreqa, Judean Hills – Score: 90+ (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a blend of French Colombard, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay. The nose of this wine is ripe, almost round, with not as fresh notes as other Ghito whites, showing notes of baked apple, straw, rosehip, pineapple, and green notes. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is intensely acidic, with rich saline, but this one feels a bit of balance, as if the acidity is not real, with baked apple, pear, Asian pear, orange zest, pineapple, and Orangina. The finish is long, tart, and somewhat refreshing, but still out of whack, with slate and more lingering orange notes lingering long. Drink now. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

2020 Ghito Dudaim, Galilee – Score: 89 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a blend of 50% Marselan and 50% Touriga Nacional. The nose of this wine is ripe, it comes in at 13% ABV and is an unusual blend, but it cannot hide its fruit-forward characteristics, with pomegranate, plum, dark cherry, and dirt. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, and while it has some acidity it does not hide its overripe characteristics, with more pomegranate, dark plum, prune, sweet spices, roasted herb, chunky tannin, and smoke. The finish is long, and unrefreshing, with smoke, tobacco, and earth. Drink by 2026. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Yotam L’esprit de Yotam, Galilee – Score: 85 (QPR: POOR)
This wine is a blend of 60% Marselan, 30% Syrah, & 10% Carignan. The ripe wine shows red fruit, blueberry, smoke, earth, and loads of bramble, with green notes in the background. With time, the fruit calms a bit to show heat, green notes, jalapeno, and white pepper. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is too ripe for me, it continues the theme of 2020 reds, with ripe cranberry, blueberry, over-the-top pomegranate, searing tannin, and sweet cedar, all wrapped in a not-so-refreshing expression. The finish is long and ripe, and the ripeness gets in the way of the potential of the fruit. Drink until 2026. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Yotam Cuvee Vera, Galilee – Score: 87 (QPR: POOR)
The wine is a blend of 45% Carignan, 45% Syrah, and 15% Mourvedre. The nose of this wine does not come across as ripe as its cheaper brother, the L’esprit de Yotam, still, it has the ripeness in the bones with more cranberry, root beer, less blueberry, more dirt, more elegance, but the ripeness throws me. With time, the wine does not get better, the heat rises, with rosehip, floral notes, green notes, jalapeno, and intense oak. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, with cranberry, pomegranate, ripe and juicy strawberry, boysenberry, citrus, watermelon, and ripe notes of red berries, cedar, tannin, and smoke. The finish is long, and the wine has good enough acidity, but the wine is still too pushed to bring it all together. Drink by 2027. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Mia Luce Syrah & Stems, Galilee – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this Syrah is ripe but under some control with green notes, bramble, blueberry, smoke, baked blueberry & almond pie, earth, and rosehip. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, but the acidity helps, with enough fruit focus, to start, ripe blueberry, nice strawberry, candied plum, and roasted meat, all wrapped in a smoke-driven and tannin-wrapping mouthfeel. The finish is long, refreshing, and nice, with good acidity, bright red and blue fruit, sweet tobacco, leather, and sweet baking spices. Drink by 2026. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.5%)

2020 Mia Luce C.S.M., Galilee & Judean Hills – Score: 88 (QPR: POOR)
This wine is a blend of Carignan, Syrah, and Marselan. The nose of this wine is ripe, it has nowhere to hide from its inner ripeness, with prunes, plum, blueberry, candied fig, and oak. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is a ripe and fruit-forward bruiser, with cranberry, dark plum, candied boysenberry, candied meat, and smoked pomegranate. The finish is long, lacking the acidity to help, and candied, with aggressive tannin, and sweet tobacco. Drink until 2025. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

2021 Yaacov Oryah Chenin Blanc, Alpha Omega, Israel – Score: 88 (QPR: POOR)
This is an orange wine, and by now, I would have expected more, this is a good vintage, and Oryah has been at this for 5 years or so now. The wine is not evil, it is just there. The nose of this wine shows a bit of oxidation, with almonds, walnuts, green apples, chamomile, honeysuckle, and pears. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine needs to be enjoyed at room temperature, it shows nice enough almonds and walnuts, with some tannin, apple, pear, Asian Pear, and chamomile. The finish is long, and tart, but it feels a bit hollow, and while the fruit is there, it feels lacking. Drink now. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 10.5%)

2021 Yaacov Oryah Roussanne, Alpha Omega, Israel – Score: 88 (QPR: POOR)
This is an orange wine, and by now, I would have expected more, this is a good vintage, and Oryah has been at this for 5 years or so now. The wine is not evil, it is just there. The nose of this wine shows a bit of oxidation, with almonds, almond blossoms, sweet spices, cloves, cinnamon, sweet vanilla, peach, and apricot. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine needs to be enjoyed at room temperature, it shows nice enough almonds, with some tannin, pear, and floral notes, not enough acidity, and peach/apricot jam. The finish is long, and tart, but it too feels a bit hollow, and while the fruit is there, it feels lacking. Drink now. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

2021 Yaacov Oryah Gewurztraminer, Alpha Omega, Israel – Score: 89 (QPR: POOR)
This is an orange wine, and by now, I would have expected more, this is a good vintage, and Oryah has been at this for 5 years or so now. This varietal, unlike the other two, is nicer in the nose and mouth, but it still lacks the refreshing aspect I crave from a white/orange wine. The nose of this wine shows a bit of oxidation, with almonds, almond blossoms, sweet spices, cloves, pineapple, peach, apricot, sweet ginger, honeycomb, and honeysuckle. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine needs to be enjoyed at room temperature, it shows nice enough almonds, with some tannin, pineapple, apricot, and honeyed notes of honeycomb, ginger, and floral notes. The finish is long, and tart, this feels less hollow but still not refreshing, and while it is better, I leave wanting more. Drink by 2024. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2019 Domaine Herzberg Village, Coteaux de Sitrya, Judean Hills – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is a blend of 34% Malbec, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, & 33% Merlot. The nose of this wine is ripe and herbaceous with notes of menthol, mint, red berries, white flowers, loam, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is solid, it has good fruit focus, a nice mouthfeel, a bit too green for me, not tinny, but the herbaceous notes take too much of my attention, with raspberry, cherry, mineral, saline, mushroom, and anise.
The finish is long, a bit too green, balanced, with good acidity, refreshing, and tart, with red berries, vanilla, cedar, pencil shavings, and smoke lingering long. Drink by 2025. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.5%)

2019 Domaine Herzberg Reserve, Coteaux de Sitrya, Judean Hills – Score: 90+ (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is a blend of 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Malbec, & 30% Merlot. The nose of this wine is ripe like the Village, but the green notes do not dominate as much, with notes of menthol, mint, red berries, hints of black fruit, loam, smoke, and anise.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is solid, it has a good fruit focus, with a nice mouthfeel, not as herbaceous as the Village, raspberry, cherry, dark plum, nice balance and acidity, mineral, saline, mushroom, iron shavings, smoke, and menthol.
The finish is long, balanced, with good acidity, refreshing, and tart, with red berries, sweet cedar, iron shavings, and smoke lingering long. Drink by 2025. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Louis Blanc Julienas, Gamay (M) – Score: 88 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is violet, rosehip, red berries, dirty, earthy, and smoky. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, a bit fruity, but still, well balanced, with nice acidity, earth, smoke, and loam. The finish is long, dirty, earthy, and floral, nice enough! Drink now. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Yaacov Oryah Up We Go, Israel – Score: 77 (QPR: N.A.)
This wine is a blend of Syrah (30%), Mourvedre (29%), Chardonnay (21%), Semillon (10%), and Gewurztraminer (10%).
The nose of this wine is all over the place and while I want to give the man credit for taking a big swing, IMHO, this was a miss.
The nose of this wine is strange but nothing like the mouth with crazy white flowers, pineapple, lemon/lime, and red berries.
The mouth of this wine is where the wine falls apart, it has the acidity, but there is no direction, it is not a red wine, white wine, or a rose, it is literally in the middle of nowhere land.
Some will like this wine. For me, it is too unbalanced, all over the place, without a plan, gutsy but not a wine I can appreciate. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2018 Yaffo Heritage, Judean Hills – Score: 83 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon & 30% Shiraz. The nose of this wine is ripe, with milk chocolate, blue and black fruit, roasted herbs, sweet spices, oregano, smoke, and sweet oak. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lacking acidity, and is not balanced, ripe, and fruity, with sweet oak, milk chocolate, sweet herbs, and mouth-draping tannin. The finish is long, fruity, and not refreshing, drink by 2026. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2018 Nevo Petit Verdot, Judean Hills – Score: 84 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is balanced, not bright, but enough, with blue and red fruity, bramble, sweet spices, nutmeg, cardamom, and earth. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe but somewhat balanced with blueberry, raspberry, earth, strawberry, roasted meat, and nice graphite. The finish is long, ripe, unbalanced, milky, and oaky. Drink by 2026 (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Shiran The Conductor, Judean Hills – Score: 84 (QPR: POOR)
The wine is a blend of 77% Petit Verdot & 33% Petite Sirah. The nose of this wine is unbalanced, with candied bacon, roasted meat, and blue and red fruit. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, over the top, and unbalanced with plum, blackcurrants, and over-ripe fruit. Painful! The finish is long, ripe, unbalanced, and smoky, drink soon! (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 Sheldrake Point Gewurztraminer, ice wine, Finger Lakes, NY – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is ripe, sweet, and cloying with guava, lychee, mango, brown sugar, sweet fruit, sweet notes, and orange notes. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, and round, without enough acidity, with mango, guava, lychee, orange notes, pineapple, and hints of banana, with notes of sweet sugar, with a nice plush mouthfeel, ginger, and cantaloupe. The finish is long with dried fruit, sweet pineapple, orange, lychee, and smoke, lingering long. I wish this had more acidity to balance it all out. Drink until 2026. (tasted February 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 8.2%)

—————————————————- Extras from KW —————————————-

2019 Slight of Hand Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Magic, Walla Walla, WA – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is ripe and while it is fun it lacks the terroir and complexity to overcome the ripeness. The nose of the wine is ripe, and spicy, with rich vanilla, milk chocolate, green notes, Jalapeno, a bit hot, and black/red fruit. The mouth of this full-bodied wine has good acidity, ripe and round, though the acid helps, with some loam/minerality, the Jalapeno throws me, as do the green notes, but there is some complexity with roasted herb, plush mouthfeel, black pepper, blackberry, plum, loam, and sweet spices. The finish is long, ripe, green, and herbal, with roasted mint, Jalapeno, and milk chocolate. Drink by 2027. (tasted January 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2019 Doubleback Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla, WA – Score: 91 (QPR: BAD)
The wine is good enough but for the price, the wine is not worth the glass it is put in. The nose of this wine starts too ripe, over the top, and unenjoyable, but with some time, that changes to, you guessed it – Jalapeno (what is with Jalapeno and Walla Walla Cabernet), Milk Chocolate, lavender, elegant black and red fruit, sweet spices, saddle, leather, and tar. Thankfully, after another day or so, the Jalapeno finally goes but in its place is nothing really, and the wine becomes less interesting. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is nice, even somewhat layered, controlled, with green notes, Jalapeno, tar, ripe blackberry, cassis, plum, smoke, leather, earth, and plush mouthfeel, but the green/Jalapeno throws me, with bitter almond notes, and aggressive green notes. Even after the Jalapeno falls off, the mouth is still hot and the green notes linger, with nice tar, it is complex enough but there are far better options. The finish is green, herbal, smoky, and elegant with mineral, loam, earth, and graphite, but the green notes and Jalapeno linger longer than I desire. In the end, the wine is not worth the money at all, for this money I would go with the Covenant Lot 70 all day. Drink from 2024 until 2030. (tasted January 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.4%)

2020 Slight of Hand Shazam Syrah, Walla Walla, WA – Score: 89 (QPR: BAD)
I have good and bad news, the good news is we have a Walla Walla wine without Jalapeno notes. That is where the good news ends. This wine is almost Israeli ripe and it does not add to the world of kosher Syrah for me, unfortunately. The nose of this wine starts unbearable, it calms a bit with time, but the nose is ripe, mostly milk chocolate, blue and black fruit, sweet vanilla, candied brown sugar, and maple syrup, yeah this is ripe. Fortunately, with time the ripeness calms down and shows a simple blue and black fruit monster. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, too much for me, but to be fair, it is professional, it has some acidity, and it has some balance, with ripe blackberry, juicy boysenberry, roasted meat, and tar. With time the ripeness comes into focus and the fruit shines but the brown sugar still throws me. The finish is ripe, long, herbal, smokey, dirty, and sweet, still balanced, with more acidity, but the ripeness is too much for me, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Drink until 2026. (tasted January 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)