In my last post, I was clear that Israeli wine is the best option for us to support Israel. In many ways that is still the case, as it supports our brothers and sisters who are in desperate need of support in Israel. With only one airline flying to Israel, and hundreds of thousands of men and women on the front lines or in supporting roles, the economy of Israel is suffering. The families of those brave protectors are bearing the brunt of the load to support and manage their own lives. The entire country seems to be both at a standstill and also thriving to keep their country moving. It feels from afar like a story of two lives. Those in the war or near it and those who know people in the war. Companies are trying to stay afloat with their employees on the front or supporting them. My brother was there and the stories are gut-wrenching.

From afar, we see the stories of the war, we see the terror and the suffering, we see the strength and resilience. What we continue to see is a story of the Jewish people, sadness and strength, happiness and sadness. One of my dearest friends lost his father half a world away just a day after his grandson was born in Israel. How does a person even come to grips with that? How does a family get their heads around such a tragedy and such happiness? Getting a ticket into Israel last minute is not as easy as it used to be and yet the airport is practically empty. The pictures of Lod Airport are both depressing and yet exhilarating as those who come are always bringing more and more support to those who are suffering.

I am not posting this to be depressing, my purpose is to show that while I am reeling from the suffering and sadness, I am also living a world away. The readers, mostly, are also a world away. While I still feel that posting anything would seem like a slight to those who are suffering, we can bifurcate our lives as Jews. We can feel the suffering and we can also feel the happiness that one gets from friends and family. So, with a heavy heart, I will start to catch up on the hundreds of notes that people have been asking for. I am not proud of myself at this moment, I still feel I am letting people down, but I also feel that I am helping others. With that, let’s try to put some words together about the wines.

I am months behind on posting

At this point, I am 6 to 7 months behind – which is a world away from where I want to be. Most of that is still on me and the last two months. I wish I could try to give some of these wines a bit more background but I am also very cognizant of the number of posts I need to do to get anywhere near where I want to be. So, to be blunt, these next few posts will essentially be without a theme. I will throw in a couple of Winery-themed posts, here and there. They will essentially be wine note dumps, in order of the tasting dates. There are many great wines in each of these upcoming dumps but they will still be just that. I will order them as always, in regards to their scores, the QPR scores will not be an ordering mechanism.

The sad part, aside from the world within which we live at this moment, is that I never got to do a Rose post this year. Rose wines will be posted over these next posts. My overall take on the 2022 roses is that they improved from the past vintages but the overall appetite for them from the public is waning, it feels like 2021 was the peak Rose and we are now on the downhill, the end of fad. Time will tell.

With that – let the floodgates open and here is a month’s worth of wine notes. The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

BAM Wines & Spirits

I was at a food and wine event in NJ and the folks from BAM Wines and Spirits were there and these are the wines I tasted. Listed in the order I tasted them.

2021 Palavani Saperavi (M), Kakheti, Georgia – Score: 81 (QPR: POOR)
The nose is ripe, dark, and brooding, with chocolate, smoke, hot, with black fruit. The mouth of this wine is cooked and the tannin is soft with blackberry, and cooked plum. Drink now.

2021 Palavani Merlot (M), Kakheti, Georgia – Score: 84 (QPR: POOR)
The nose is ripe but more controlled showing ripe plum,  raspberry,  soft tannin,  smoke, and earth,  nice enough.

2021 Palavani Kakheti (M), Kakheti, Georgia – Score: 83 (QPR: POOR)
The nose of this wine starts with plum, smoke, green notes, herbs, boysenberry, loam, cooked plum notes, and sweet spices, nice enough. All three have great acidity,  Drink now.

2019 Shimon and Company Saperavi (M), Kakheti, Georgia – Score: 81 (QPR: POOR)
The nose of this wine is ripe,  plum,  blackberry,  sweet spices,  herbs,  Candied fruit, and Candied rhubarb. The mouth is cooked and really not for me,  blackberry plum and herbs.  Drink by 2024

2019 Shimon and Company Saperavi, Kakheti, Georgia – Score: 86 (QPR: EVEN)
This is fun, ripe, balanced, and controlled, with dark plum, smoke, roasted animal, black fruit, and roasted herbs.
The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe than the nose shows, still controlled with rhubarb,  pomegranate, plum, blackcurrant, smoke, lovely acid, loam, and dirty.
Long finish with tobacco and more currants.

2018 Badagoni Saperavi, Kakheti, Georgia – Score: 89 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose is ripe but controlled,  a bit closed, brooding, plum, blackberry, currants, blueberry, and earth. 
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is fun, and controlled, with great acidity, blackberry, plum, boysenberry, intense tannin, and nice mouthfeel, rich but a bit unidimensional, with nice loam and minerality.
The finish is long, tart, ripe, and fruity. Drink by 2026.

2020 Georgian Royal Wine Tsinandali, Kakheti, Georgia – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose is lovely and funky with white flowers, slate, honeydew, honeyed apple, melon, and a spike of sweet orange, and spice.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, funky, and tart, with great acidity, ripe yellow plum, yellow flowers, lovely tension, nice texture, layered, fun wine, and feels like a chenin blanc. Nice! Drink now!

2020 Georgian Royal Wine Saperavi, Kakheti, Georgia – Score: 85 (QPR: EVEN)
The wine is nice enough a bit simple, still solid, with nice acidity, nice dark fruit, plum, smoke, light to medium body, very much like a Gamay,  simple enough. Drink now.

NV Pinord Clos 15, Cava, Brut Nature (M) – Score: 88 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose is nice with apple, quince,  smoke, flint, and white flowers. 
Nice medium bubble mousse, nice approach, clean lines, refreshing, great acidity, Nice!

2021 Pinord Anfiteatro, Priorat – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
This is a ripe but fun wine, with black and blue fruit, smoke, roasted animal, and sweet spices. 
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is very nice, layered, concentrated, and complex, with blackberry,  boysenberry, plum, candied raspberry, roasted herbs, lovely acidity, sweet oak, sweet dill, and nice mouth-coating tannin. A bit too ripe for me but many will like this.
The finish is long, and ripe, with more sweet oak, sweet tobacco, dark chocolate, and more roasted animal,  and black pepper. Drink until 2027. (ABV = 13.5%)

2021 Marco Abella Daleah Shomer, Priorat – Score: 89 (QPR: POOR)
This is a blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Carignan.
The nose is ripe with blackberry, plum, boysenberry,  rich oak,  roasted animal,  tar, and heat.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is nice but lacks the acidity, with, smoke dirt, rich and ripe, the fruit follows the nose, with dark plum, and boysenberry, and the finish is long. (ABV = 14.5%)

2015 Pinord Clos de Torribas Crianza, Penedes – Score: 87 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose is ripe, classic tempranillo, with bold sweet spices, black and red fruit, smoke, tart, soy sauce, and loam.
The mouth of the full-bodied wine has loads of acidity but the fruit is too ripe for me, smoked and a bit hollow, it is OK, nice enough, with leather and sweet spices. Drink until 2026. (ABV=13%)

2015 Pinord Chateldon Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserva, Penedes – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
The wine is solid, bright, herbal, smokey, and fruity, with roasted animal, black and red fruit, tar, herbs, and rich saline. Nice!
The mouth is full-bodied, with good acidity, and overall nice wine, with nice mouth-draping tannin, soy sauce raspberry, currants, dark cherry, herbs, oak, and smoke.  Drink until 2025.

2021 Casa al Vento, Aria, Chianti Classico – Score: EVIL (QPR: N/A)
The only word I wrote was no.

2021 Casa al Vento T’amo, Toscano Rosso – Score: 83 (QPR: POOR)
Average enough, not evil, red fruit, earth, smoke, and tannin, nice enough.  Drink now.

Other wines I tasted including the INSANE I Sodi

2019 Castellare di Castellina I Sodi di S. Niccolo, Toscana – Score: 95 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose is lovely with ripe blackberry, raspberry, dark cherry, soy sauce, earth, smoke, mushroom, ripe currant, menthol, and mint. The nose is intoxicating, rich, and redolent.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, rich, layered, earthy, extracted, dense, and elegant, with rich mushroom, soy sauce, lovely blackberry, raspberry, dark cherry, smoke, and lovely smoking tobacco, with a mouth-draping curtain of elegant tannin.
The finish is long, earthy, and dirty, showing dried tobacco, soy sauce, and sweet vanilla, just lovely. Incredible! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted July 2023) (in New York, New York) (ABV = 14%)

2019 Castellare di Castellina Chianti Classico Riserva, Chianti Classico Riserva – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine’s nose is epic, dirty, earthy, and smoky, with roasted meat, bacon, tar, red fruit, roasted herb, and lovely licorice. The mouth of this medium-plus bodied wine is rich, layered, not overly extracted, elegant, refreshing, and so well balanced, with rich acidity, salinity, mineral, rich cranberry, dark raspberry, cherry, candied currant, loam, smoke, sweet cedar, sweet tobacco, and minerality that lifts the entire sense of the wine. The finish is long, dirty, earthy, and mineral-laden, a true joy, with garrigue, tar, more bacon, dark coffee, tar, and acidified red fruit that lingers long. Bravo!!! Drink until 2030. (tasted July 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

2019 Chateau Rollan de By, Medoc (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and 10% Petit Verdot. The nose of this wine is lovely, with a bit of brett, nice fruit, smoke, earth, lovely mineral, graphite, intense tar, really nice!! The mouth of this medium to full-bodied wine is nice, ripe, and tart, with lovely acid, rich smoke, tar, minerality, blackberry, plum, tart raspberry, tar, lovely rich and draping elegant tannin. Lovely! The finish is long, dark, ripe, layered, and tannic, with beautiful minerality, smoke, and roasted herbs. Lovely!! Drink until 2027 (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 Gendraud Patrice Sancerre, Sancerre – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely with nice cat pee, fresh-cut grass, bright lychee, passion fruit, and lemongrass. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, showing incredible acidity, great fruit focus, precise, and tart with rich smoke, slate, flint, lovely lychee, passion fruit, lime, lemon, lemongrass, honeydew, and lovely smoke. The finish is long, tart, smokey, herbal, and grassy. Nice! Drink by 2025. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 13%)

2018 Engel Wines Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, Alexander Valley, CA – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
As always, I fear flabby, flat, boring wines. Still, I buy wines as I hope to find that diamond in the rough. I think this wine is that kind of find! The nose of this wine is classic Cali, this is not a Bordeaux, but it shows control, and nice elegance, with ripe red and black fruit, great minerality, nice sweet oak, sweet spices, roasted herbs, smoke, earth, loam, and nice control, very cool! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, and well-balanced, showing great acidity, gripping tannin, rich smoke, earth, blackberry, raspberry, sweet oak, sweet spices, cacao, loam, lovely graphite, with mouth-draping and drying tannin, very nice! The finish is long, ripe, tannic, and elegant enough, with nice complexity, more cacao, sweet tobacco, sweet spices, cinnamon, rich leather, graphite, loam, and bitter almonds that linger long. Very impressive. Sadly, this wine does fall apart after a day or more. Drink by 2025. (tasted July 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2021 Chateau Hauteville, Saint-Estephe – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine has improved since I last had it, with nice sweet red fruit, herbs, nice minerality, good spice, green notes, with herbs, dirt, earth, mint, menthol, and toast. The mouth of light to medium-bodied wine is nice with good acidity, and a nice mouthfeel, but lacking a bit for me, with nice roasted herbs, dark cherry, raspberry, tart red berry, nice toasted oak, and rich minerality. It is showing nicer than originally, with good fruit focus brett, mushroom, and almost refreshing. The finish is long, tart, fruity, herbal, and smoky, with green notes, and scraping minerality. Nice! Drink until 2027. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 13%)

2022 Shirah Rose, Santa Barbara, CA – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, showing ripe strawberries, raspberries, smoke, yeasty notes, and peach. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is balanced, and well made, with lovely acidity, smoke, yeast, slate, candied plum, strawberry, raspberry, and nice saline. It is refreshing but the bitter notes on the finish bugs me a bit. The finish is long, and a bit bitter, with lovely fruit, smoke, slate, and floral notes. Drink now! (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 12.8%)

2022 Gendraud Patrice Chablis, Chablis (M) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is nice with saline, apple, rich quince, lovely minerality, slate, rock, and yellow flowers. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine shows nice weight, and a nice fruit focus, and is nicely refreshing, with ripe and tart yellow apple, quince, lovely minerality, smoke, graphite, slate, and very crisp, well balanced, and almost elegant. Nice! The finish is long, tart, fruity, with nice minerals, and smokey, lovely!! Drink by 2025. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 12.5%)

2021 Masseria Frattasi Falanghina Taburno, Falanghina del Sannio DOC – Score: 90.5 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is maddening, it shows nicely to start and it falls apart, I have had this wine twice and it has fallen apart both times when trying this with even simple foods. The nose of this wine is lovely, with notes of apple, quince, mango, saline, sea spray, orange blossom, and lovely minerality. At the start, the mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, with bracing acidity, rich salinity, green notes, green apple, peach, melon, lime, and orange, refreshing and enticing, with minerality, slate, smoke, and more blossom. Sadly, with food, the wine feels less acidic and while it is nice enough, I cannot love it like I do when tasting it alone. The finish is long, spicy, and mineral-driven, with slate, rock, saline, and intense acidity, that drives the lime, and citrus on a long lingering path. Bravo! Drink now! (tasted July 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Kamantarena Xynisteri, Yamas, Paphos (Pafos) – Score: 90.5 (QPR: GREAT)
I cannot remember seeing a kosher version of Xynisteri and the overall style of this wine does not ring a bell. Still, its characteristics are akin to a ripe Chenin Blanc or Vermentino. The nose of this wine is ripe, and not as expressive as I would hope, still while it feels warm, it shows nicely, with warm spices, Asian pear, rich floral notes of heather and lavender, peach, and bruised yellow apple. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is fun, showing nice salinity, acidity, lovely balance, and an almost oily weighty mouthfeel, with bruised apple, white peach, nutty notes, almonds, orange pith, hints of citrus, and more sweet spices. The finish is long, spicy, and balanced, with nutmeg, cinnamon, lavender, bruised peach/apple, lovely acidity, and a mouthfeel that lingers long. Nice! Drink now. (tasted May 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)

2022 Gendraud Patrice Petit Chablis, Petit Chablis (M) – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is classic with quince, apple, peach, minerality, saline, and nice smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is quite nice for a Mevushal Chablis, with great acidity, nice balance, and nothing out whack, a simple, uni-dimensional Chablis, but refreshing and balanced with apple, peach, quince, slate, and nice saline. Drink now. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 12.5%)

2021 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is a blend of 95% Sangiovese & 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose of this wine is dark cherry, smoke, oak, bramble, tar, and minerality. With time the nose turns hot, the alcohol comes out more, and green notes also come forth, and the wine becomes unbalanced. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is nice, showing lovely acidity, and more control than previous vintages, still very ripe, with dark cherry, raspberry, smoke, sweet oak, earth, tar, mouth-coating tannin, and rich loam. The finish is long, dense, and ripe, with coffee, leather, cranberry, graphite, smoke, and more tannin that lingers long. With time, the wine becomes out of balance with alcohol and green notes. Drink by 2025. (tasted May 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2021 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib, Montsant – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a blend of 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Carignan, and 26% Grenache. To me, this feels riper than the 2020 vintage which was one of the better vintages since 2014. The nose of this wine is ripe, a bit too ripe for me, it shows too much oak and sweet dill, ripe fruit, licorice, tar, root beer, heat, and loads of smoke. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is nice, and it has enough acidity, again, the acidity falls off after some time, like in 2020, I just find the fruit too much/ripe, with a good mouthfeel, a bit too alcoholic/hot, less oak than in 2020, less refreshing, showing dark plum, dark cherry, boysenberry, sweet dill, astringent tannin, and again, too much ripe fruit. The finish is long, ripe, tannic, and spicy, with cloves, sweet dill, sweet oak, sweet tobacco, drying leather, and milk chocolate. Drink until 2026. (tasted May 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

N.V. Claudio Quarta Vignaiolo Jacarando Brut Blanc de Blancs, Italy – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine was made from fermented Falanghina and then underwent the Charmat Method. The nose of this Falanghina Brut is unique to start, almost chemically, but that quickly blows off to show peach, orange blossom, nice fruit, smoke, almond notes, and lemon curd. The mouth of this medium-bodied sparkling wine is nice, the mouth is simple, with almond, citrus, great acidity, orange blossom, a nice medium-bubble mousse, refreshing, tart, peach, pink grapefruit, and rich salinity. Nice! The finish is long, lingering with more grapefruit, saline, slate, and minerality. Nice. Drink up! (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 11%)

2020 Binah Blanc de Blanc, Lehigh Valley, PA – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is ok with apples, yeast, quince, and some minerality. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine shows nice smoke, apple, quince, nice acidity, saline, and good minerality, and the medium-mousse bubbles are quite nice. Drink now! (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 12%)

2021 Vallepicciola Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose starts ripe and strange, with time it opens to cherry, smoke, loam, and raspberry. The mouth of this medium-bodied is nice, and balanced, with great acidity, smoke, tart, nice. It is too simple for me, but it has no flaws. The finish is long, tart, green, dirty, and smoky. Drink by 2026. (tasted July 2023) (in New York, New York) (ABV = 13%)

2022 Chateau Roubine Premium Rose, Cru Classe, Cotes de Provence (M) – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
This is the Mevushal version of the Rose, sold predominantly in the U.S.A. The nose of this wine is lovely, showing less minerality than I liked in the La Vie, but also more precise and fresher/riper fruit, with red berries, grapefruit, floral notes, and sweet herbs. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine shows a rounder, almost oily mouthfeel, but less complex than the non-mevushal version, showing sweet herbs, good acidity, some minerality, candied raspberry, ripe strawberry, and some nice citrus, but with too much bitterness. The finish is long, herbal, and bitter with some slate and more ripe red fruit Drink now. (tasted July 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2022 100 Tropez Rose, Cotes de Provence (M) – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is nice, with bright fruit, minerality, green notes in the background, no bitterness, and freshness you can smell, with red fruit, lemon blossom, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, tart, and refreshing, but simple, with watermelon, strawberry and creme, nice lemon/lime, grapefruit, and good enough fruit focus. The finish is long, with green notes, fresh lemon Fraiche, strawberries and crème, some minerality, hints of bitter notes, and citrus lingering Drink now. (tasted July 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

2021 Masseria Frattasi Falanghina Donnalaura, Falanghina del Sannio DOC – Score: 89.5 (QPR: POOR)
The nose of this wine is pure oak, it is a true oak bomb and it removes some of the freshness from the wine, with some salinity, peach, apricot, apple, and melon. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is too oak-focused, IMHO, it also seems to create a slight hollow, it is more of a sensation of an actual lack of acidity, still the oak’s focus is all you feel with sweet peach, apricot, and melon, and orange. If I was tasting blind I would have said oaked Viognier. The finish is oak, more oak, vanilla, sweet spices, herbs, and oak. The fruit is almost nuked with the acidity showing well at the end. Drink by 2025. (tasted July 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2022 Caves d’Esclans Whispering Angel Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 89.5 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is the baby brother of the insanely expensive Garrus rose – which is a waste of money for anything other than 2021 (which I do not know if one exists), and even then, I doubt it would be worth the money. The nose of this wine is nice enough, with clean lines, no overly pithy notes, orange blossom, red fruit, peach, and flint. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is where things go boring, with good enough acidity, saline, smoke, flint, peach, tart pink grapefruit, strawberry, and raspberry, with enough refreshment. The finish is long, with more saline, flint, and red fruit. Drink now! (tasted July 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2020 Les Roches De Yon-Figeac, Saint Emilion Grand Cru (M) – Score: 89.5 (QPR: GOOD)
This is the Mevushal version sold in the USA. As you will see the wine is OK, but not as balanced or focused as the non-Mevushal. This wine is a blend of 81% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, & 6% Petit Verdot. The nose of this wine is ripe, earthy, sweet herbs, black and red fruit, and minerality, with some nice forest floor, and good smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe, though the Mevushal version shows a better mouthfeel, to start, then it thins out, with ok minerality, graphite, cedar, a plush mouthfeel, and sweet plum, earth, blackberry, cassis, nice tannin, and scraping graphite. The Mevushal version is far more accessible, though the non-Mevushal was equally so as I found most of the 2020 vintage, still, the fact that it thins as quickly as it did, means drink soon, if you must! The finish is a long, spicy, ripe, nice smoke, with graphite, leather, and sweet herbs. Again, as stated this all thins out so I cannot like this. Drink by 2026. (tasted May 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

N.V. Herzog Rose, Brut, Special Reserve, USA (M) – Score: 89 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is nice with notes of peach, apricot, yeast, melon, lavender, and citrus.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice enough with enough acidity, a lovely medium-sized mousse, with good texture, mouthfeel, refreshing, bright, with peach, apricot, and hints of cherry, citrus, mango, nice baked bread notes, and flint. The finish is long, bright, tart, and fruity. Nice! Drink now. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 11%)

2020 Barons Edmond & Benjamin de Rothschild, Haut-Medoc (M) – Score: 89 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is a blend of 85% Merlot & 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose of this wine starts with lovely notes of ripe red berries followed by rich loam, funk, rich mineral, wet dirt, tar, roasted herb, and green notes/foliage. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is less weighty than the 2019 vintage with a hole in the middle, notes of smoke, dirt, loam, dark raspberry, currants, foliage, lighter in body and concentration, mouth-coating tannin, a bit too green, with not enough acidity, sadly. The finish is long, dirty, earthy, and mineral-driven, with graphite, more green notes, and a bit flat, bummer. Drink until 2026. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 Château des Muraires Les Excellence des Muraires Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 88 (QPR: POOR)
Nice enough for wine, but it lacks the pop. It has some acidity, but no focus or freshness and it is not refreshing. Drink now! (tasted June 2023) (in Teaneck, NJ)

2022 Château des Muraires Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 87 (QPR: POOR)
The nose is nice enough with strawberry, and raspberry, but not very bright and smoky.
The mouth of this wine lacks the acidity I crave, it shows with spice, herbs, and red fruit, Drink now! (tasted June 2023) (in Teaneck, NJ)

2020 Chateau de Parsac, Montagne Saint-Emilion (M) – Score: 87 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is green, herbal, and smoky, with notes of cherry, mint, rosemary, and tar. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lacking, with no acidity, and the green notes are overpowering, almost tinny, with mint, cloves, sweet raspberry, cherry, and nice minerality. The finish is long, herbal, and green, with nice mineral notes, tobacco, dry basil, and dill. Drink by 2025. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 12.5%)

2022 Padre Bendico Rose, Yecla (M) – Score: 87 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is clean, with no cooked notes, no bitter notes, and nice strawberry, smoke, peach, apricot, cherry, and roasted herb. The mouth of this medium-bodied rose has nice acidity, smoke, dirty strawberry, tart cherry, lemon, grapefruit, and lychee. The finish is long, tart, and almost refreshing. Drink now. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 12%)

2022 Memorias Del Rambam Rose, Utiel-Requena (M) – Score: 87 (QPR: GREAT)
After all the horrible Memorias Del Rambam wines, I was happy to find this one enjoyable enough. The nose of this wine is clean, with cooked notes, but not obvious, showing ripe strawberry, lychee, peach, citrus, yellow flowers, and herbs. The mouth of this wine is a step back from the nose, it has good enough acidity, but lacks what I need, with strawberry, candied cherry, lychee, bitter notes, and orange pith. The missing acidity and pith throw me. Drink now. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 12.5%)

2022 Domaine de L’allamande Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 86 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is quite nice with notes of peach, orange, strawberry, lychee, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice enough, the acidity is good enough, with nice fruit, but the pith throws me, with smoke and strawberry. Drink now. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 13%)

2022 Chateasu Josephine Rose, Yecla (M) – Score: 83 (QPR: N.A.)
Not an evil rose and for 6 bucks some will be OK with it but the cooked notes are there, not a lot of bitter ones, and also, not a lot of fruit, just wine. Boring, next! (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 12%)

N.V. Gandola Brut Blanc de Blancs, Italy (M) – Score: 83 (QPR: GOOD)
While the rose brut was a hard pass this is not evil, it has some redeeming qualities, and I can see some drinking this. The nose of this wine is bitter, with notes of peach, apple, apricot, lemon, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice enough, not overly offensive, it is just a sparkling white wine, with sweet apple, peach, lemon/lime, and hints of candied quince. The finish is where things go off the rails with bitter and cooked notes that linger a bit, but overall, not horrible. Drink now! (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 11%)

2021 Bartenura Ovadia Estates Chianti Colli Senesi, Chianti – Score: 82 (QPR: POOR)
The nose of this wine shows green, cooked, and herbal, with some red fruit, The mouth is short, cooked, and herbal, and while it has some acidity, it is just boring, cherry, and too much green. The finish is a bit short and green. Drink now. (tasted May 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 Twin Suns Rose, Reserve, Willamette Valley, OR – Score: 82 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is fine showing strawberry, slate, candied fruit, and some floral notes. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has good enough acidity, but the RS is evil, the fruit is candied and not my thing. Next! (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 13.5%)

2017 Teperberg Merlot, Essence, Ella Valley, Judean Hills – Score: 81 (QPR: N.A.)
This wine is a classic example of what I dislike in Israeli wine, it is ripe, overripe, prune, date, heavy tannin, and heavy oak, all the things that are the opposite of what I want in a wine, tart, layered, balanced, acidic, and fruit-focused. The nose of this wine is painful, prune, date, smoke, oak, herbs, spices, and some fruit that is also overripe. The mouth is overripe, with no acidity, balance, pure pain, over-the-top oak, overripe fruit, date, tannin galore, and no fun. The finish is no better, oak, smoke, more ripe fruit, and no joy. Drink if you must! Drink by 2025. (tasted June 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2022 Memorias Del Rambam Blanc, Utiel-Requena (M) – Score: 80 (QPR: N.A.)
Once again, we have a cooked, bitter, mostly flat with a bit of acidity, boring wine, that is a hard pass. The bitter notes and cooked flavors cover up whatever happiness was there to start. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 11%)

2021 Memorias Del Rambam Cava, Brut, Cava (M) – Score: 79 (QPR: N.A.)
The nose of this wine is cooked and boring, it lacks fruit, vibrancy, and brightness, just boring and lifeless. The mouth of this medium-bodied sparkling wine is bad, and flat, it does not have enough acidity, candied and cooked. Pass. (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 11.5%)

2021 Ovadia Vermentino, Umbria – Score: 78 (QPR: N.A.)
I will keep this short – do not drink this wine, it is a hard pass. Cooked, muddled fruit, some acidity, and all over the place. Like a dazed class of kindergarten kids. Move on! (tasted May 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.5%)

N.V. Gandola Brut Rose, Italy (M) – Score: 75 (QPR: N.A.)
Pass – and move on… (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 11%)

2022 Padre Bendicho Chardonnay, Spain (M) – Score: 65 (QPR: EVIL)
All I will say is that I took one sniff and wanted to throw the wine out of the hotel room to ensure its evilness did not permeate any part of my life. Next!!! (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 12%)

2021 Binah Aura, Pennsylvania – Score: 60 (QPR: N.A.)
This wine is oxidized and off-dry, next! (tasted June 2023) (in Teanek, NJ) (ABV = 12%)