In May 2020 I wanted to drive home the need for QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wines. So I set out to create what I thought a QPR metric should be! Gone were arbitrary price ranges and such. Instead, I let the market define what the QPR price range should be. I did this by grouping the wines by their type (white, red, rose, sparkling, and dessert) and then further refined the grouping by age-ability within the white and red wines. This gave me the following groups:

• Drink “soon” White Wine (Simple whites)
• Rose Wine (always drink soon)
• Drink “soon” Red Wine (Simple reds)
• Mid-range aging Reds (4 to 11 years)
• High-end Red wines (11 and more years)
• High-end White wines (7 and more years)
• Sparkling Wine (No need here for extra differentiation)
• Dessert Wine

I then made the mistake of trying to create an Orange wine range/group – that was a HUGE mistake. Again, the wines themselves were not the issue, the issue revolved around trying to group such a small sample set into its group. They will go into their respective white wine category, next year.

Throughout the year, I posted many QPR posts, for almost all of the main categories. I will continue down this road until I find a better way to categorize and track wines that are QPR WINNERS. Talk about WINNERS, that secondary QPR score was a 2.1 revision to my QPR scoring, and that is explained in this post. All the wines listed here are QPR WINNERS from my tastings in 2023.

Let us discuss the approach

I have heard from a few of you. I do not understand your QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) scoring. So, let us take another shot at this! Every time a customer comes into a shop or goes online to buy kosher wine they have a choice of a few thousand wines, online, or many hundreds in a store. The question is how does a buyer differentiate one wine from the next?

If they like Terra di Seta wines, as I do, and it costs 30 dollars then he/she will compare other wines to that wine, in regards to the wine and the price. That is the same for any wine they like and any wine they are looking at buying. Price matters! Now, the real question is how can you compare two wines to each other. Any two wines in the world of kosher wines? What characteristics can you use to compare them?

Let us say they like the 2018 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah, the 2022 wine of the year (AKA best-priced QPR wine). It is a red wine from Montsant, Spain. OK, what other wine can you compare with it? You can compare other Montsant kosher wines, like the Cellar Capcanes wines. However, the Cellar Capcanes wines have an issue – they have been poor for many years! As the ratio states it is QUALITY to price! Quality is primary; once you have a good wine, you can attempt to compare it with similarly good wines.

OK, so we need equal or comparably equal quality and that is it??? So, let us say there exists a rose from Montsant that scores the same quality score as Clos Mesorah are they comparable? What about a white wine – same? Can/should compare them? I will tell you that no one would act in such a manner. People will compare similar items. OK, so are we then forced to compare Montsant wines with Montsant wines – again I will tell you no! People will compare like-scored red wines with like-scored red wines. Further, there are literally SIX Monstant Kosher red wines on the market. How can one compare six wines to each other? It has no value.

OK, but what is “like” – that is the body of work that my QPR approach works to answer. If you agree that people will attempt to compare items that are similar in nature but not locale, region, or price, what is that characteristic that they will use to compare two arbitrary kosher wines? Price IS NOT the answer.

So, let us recap – we have two similarly scored wines (AKA quality) but they are very different in many ways. Let us look at three of the wines below, two of which are from the greater Medoc region:

1. 2020 Chateau Clarke, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Listrac-Medoc – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
   Drink from 2025 until 2032.
2. 2020 Chateau Fourcas Dupre, Listrac – Medoc – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
   Drink from 2024 until 2035. 
3. 2019 Chateau Royaumont, Lalande de Pomerol – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
   Drink from 2024 until 2032.

These wines priced were between 38 dollars to 55 dollars. The question you need to ask is are they comparable? I would state they are and I would further state that wine buyers compare them every time they read my lists and other lists that like these wines. Again, the primary requirement is quality – and these all scored the same quality score.

So, next, would you at least compare two Listrac-Medoc wines to each other? The Chateau Fourcas Dupre and the Chateau Clarke? I would say yes for sure. Well, why is the Royaumont any different? They are very different wines, of course, but in the end, what do oenophiles buy such wines for?? To store them and share them at a later date, meaning that wine buyers classify wines by regions but ultimately they classify them by their ability to age gracefully or not! This means some wines age beautifully and many are good to enjoy in the coming years.

So, now you see the logic to the categories I use to compare wines – this is the list once again:

• Drink “soon” White Wine (Simple whites)
• Rose Wine (always drink soon)
• Drink “soon” Red Wine (Simple reds)
• Mid-range aging Reds (4 to 11 years)
• High-end Red wines (11 and more years)
• High-end White wines (7 and more years)
• Sparkling Wine (No need here for extra differentiation)
• Dessert Wine

Essentially, ignoring sparkling, rose, and dessert wines, there is white wine and red wine. Each of those two major categories is broken into their age-ability. Red wines have three age ranges while white wine has two. Then there are the other three aforementioned groups, rose, sparkling, and dessert wines.

Once you have scored a wine – IRRELEVANT to the price – this is KEY you are then required to place that wine into one of the 8 categories listed above. Once you have done that any wine in that category is available for comparison. Using the median approach wines are stacked and ranked by their price, within that category, and some rise above others, by having an equal or better quality for a lower or equal price. Please read more about this here and here.

The Summary

Before we get to the list of the best QPR wines for this past year – I wanted to give some raw stats. I tasted more than 1200 wines this past year. In actuality, it is probably far more, I just did NOT care to write notes on hundreds more because all it would have said was NO. I made sure to taste all the Israeli wines at three KFWE and almost none of them were worthy of a wine note. The pain was all I remember. In the end, of the actual number of wines I noted, 155 of them were scored with a QPR score of WINNER.

I have stated it over and over again now, there is no way we can buy all the good wines out there unless you have a local warehouse to store them and you drink two or more bottles a day. That is the great news about Kosher Wine today! I hope we have not yet hit peak QPR Winner. Remember, this INCLUDES the 2021 Bordeaux season which was a total failure on all accounts.

This year, the list came to a total of 28 names, and none had to dip below 93 in the scores, which is a large number and better scores overall than last year, but again, the pool from where they are culled continues to grow, and the diamonds in the rough are getting harder and harder to find. There are 28 or so QPR WINNER who scored 93 this year but not in a single area.

The 4 regions that encompass the 28 WINNERS are in order of size, France (11), USA (9), Italy (5), and Spain (3). Within France, it is not all Bordeaux! You have 6 from Bordeaux, Sancerre, Alcase, Burgundy, Languedoc, and Chateauneuf du Pape.

Of the 28 WINNER, 5 of them are white and 23 are red. However, at the lower price and quality QPR WINNERS (think 20 dollars 91 scoring wines), you will find that white wines are the majority!

This year there are no cross-WINNER scores. Meaning, a WINNER in Europe but not the USA. Many of the wines that are WINNER are not available in Europe, but I do not denote that.

Sadly, there were no new Sparkling or Rose wines to make it to the score of 93 and to meet its counterpart pricing. To me this is a HUGE issue in the kosher wine market! The kosher wine market has lifted up one of the previous sad wine categories, white wine! Which is HUGE! Sadly, we have not moved from there. We have a dominating red and white kosher wine scene. What is lacking sorely, is quality, sparkling wines! The rose wines will never reach the upper echelons, at least in the Kosher wine markets! But Sparkling wines – there is real demand there and sadly the products being sold are pathetic!

Maybe, Avi Davidowitz, from Kosher Wine Unfiltered, can create a list like that for Israel, this year, a bunch of wines became available there, and a proper QPR list would be worthwhile!

The wines on the list this year are all available here in the USA, and in Europe, and a few can be found in Israel, as well. The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

2018 Elvi Wines Herenza Rioja, Reserva, Rioja – Score: 94+ (QPR: WINNER)
I crave this in wine – balance, complexity, elegance, and all bottled for a price that makes it a WINNER! The nose of this wine is beautiful, balanced, and complex, showing a drop hotter than in 2017, but still bold, rich, and expressive, with soy sauce, umami, rich mushroom, loam, spices, blue and red fruit, and sweet star anise, lovely!
The mouth on this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, balanced, juicy, elegant, herbal, smoky, and dirty, with intense acidity, juicy and ripe boysenberry, plum, spiced raspberry, and sweet spices that give way to a mouth-draping tannin structure, plush, nicely extracted, elegant, with soy sauce, sweet nutmeg, and cinnamon, beautiful. The finish is long, and balanced, with leather, root beer, sweet baking spices, cloves, cinnamon, sweet cedar, milk chocolate, soy sauce, and lovely acidity that brings this wine all together. Bravo!! Another smash! Drink from 2025 until 2032. (tasted May 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5.%)

2021 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Reserve, Alexander Valley, Alexander Valley, CA (M) – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This may well be one of the best Alexander Valley wines in the past 10 years, better than 2014, just impressive. The 2021 vintage has been a blessing for California. The nose of this wine is ripe, it is even riper after a few hours as well, showing notes of ripe and juicy boysenberry, squid ink, black fruit, anise, white pepper, cocoa liqueur, sweet oak, milk chocolate, smoke, and nice minerality. The mouth of this ripe but balanced full-bodied wine has nice acidity, blackberry, ripe and juicy boysenberry, plush, rich, concentrated, extracted, and elegant, all at the same time, with nice tension, sweet oak, milk chocolate, elegant and draping tannin, and a plushness that helps to balance the extraction, with salinity and lovely minerality. The finish is long, ripe, extracted, balanced, and earthy, with nice loam, and smoke but the finish shines with its ribbons of graphite, saline, and tense tannin that lingers long. Bravo!! Drink until 2034. (tasted December 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2021 Chateau Olivier Blanc, Grand Cru Classe, Pessac-Leognan – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is stunning, captivating, redolent, and elegant, with rich fruit, grapefruit, minerality, saline, dry grass, gooseberry, and passion fruit, a beautiful wine that hits the mark! BRAVO! The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is stunning, layered, complex, plush, and concentrated with rich acidity, minerality, slate, flint, and saline wrapping the gooseberry, grapefruit, peach, orange peel, and passion fruit, showing an impressive complexity. The finish is long, mineral-driven, dense, weighty, and plush, with rich salinity, flint, wet rock, and slate, and extremely refreshing and mouthwatering. BRAVO!!! Drink by 2027. (tasted November 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%)

2018 Tassi Aqua Bona, Bettina Cuvee, Montalcino – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, bright, tart, and very expressive, with notes of bramble, dirt, loam, graphite, bright red sour cherry, dark red berry, rosehip, rose petals, rich and very expressive toasted cedar, sandalwood, mushroom, and more minerality. Lovely!! The nose is so expressive from the opening and only gets better with time, impressive! The umami-centric nose is incredible with soy sauce, mushroom, and cedar notes that really take your breath away.
The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, dirty, earthy, smoky, and precise, with good fruit focus, nice dark cherry, raspberry, tart plum, scraping minerality, loam, dirt, rose petals, and lovely mushroom. With time it opens to a rich toasted cedar expression and it overtakes the mouth with beautiful fruit, intense mushrooms, forest floor, plush body, and intense dirt and minerality. Lovely! With even more time the lovely cedar calms down and the ripe fruit, intense acidity, mushroom, and smoke linger long on this full-bodied wine.
The finish is long, tart, bright, and layered, with rich minerality, intense graphite, lovely soy sauce, umami notes, loam, lovely truffle, and mushroom, loam, and dirt linger long. BRAVO! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted February 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

2020 Chateau Fayat, Pomerol – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is well balanced, with roasted herbs, smoke, licorice, tar, mint, intense graphite, rosehip, savory herbs, and black and red fruit. The mouth of this medium plus-bodied wine is lovely, layered, plush, and extracted, while being elegant, smoky, dirty, and herbal, with loam, and rich saline, all coming together beautifully with sweet oak, dark raspberry, dark cherry, plum, draping elegant tannin, and roasted herb, beautiful! BRAVO! The finish is long, herbal, smoky, tart, and beautiful, with dark chocolate, scraping graphite, and more loam, mushroom, and rich smoke. BRAVO! Drink by 2035. (tasted February 2023) (in New York, NY, and San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

2017 Elvi Wines Herenza Rioja, Reserva, Rioja – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This is what I crave in wine – balance, complexity, elegance, and all bottled for a price that makes it a WINNER! This is showing a bit better than when I had it in late 2021!
The nose of this wine is beautiful, balanced, complex, and shows less oak than in 2016, but still bold, rich, and expressive, with soy sauce, umami, rich mushroom, loam, spices, blue and red fruit, and sweet anise, lovely!
The mouth on this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, balanced, juicy, elegant, herbal, smoky, and dirty, with intense acidity, juicy and ripe blueberry, plum, spiced raspberry, and sweet spices that give way to a mouth-draping tannin structure, plush, not overly extracted, elegant, with clay, and earth, beautiful.
The finish is long, and balanced, with leather, root beer, sweet baking spices, cloves, cinnamon, sweet cedar, dark chocolate, soy sauce, and lovely acidity that brings this wine together. Bravo!! Another smash! Drink from 2024 until 2030. (tasted May 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2021 Château La Baronne Piece de Roche, Vin de France – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a Carignan from the Languedoc, but the “official” region from where it comes is the global Vin de France. It is like saying a Napa wine comes from California. But leave it to the stupidity of AOC rules. Whatever!
This wine is not to be opened, tried, or enjoyed for 5 years. If you do, it comes with an alarm that will ring in Nathan Grandjean’s office, and he will never sell you these wines again. This wine is so young, so closed, and so not ready for prime time, it is stupid, at the same time, this wine is ripe, the 14% ABV on this bottle feels, to me, more like a 15% ABV that I feel in Cali, Still, the acidity, minerality (less graphite more tar/earth/asphalt), and precision makes it work. Still, this wine needs time, and no amount of decanting this wine will help, at this time.
So, after opening this wine for a day, these are my notes: The nose of this wine, at this point, after a day of air, shows ripe notes of blackcurrant, boysenberry, roasted animal, asphalt, tar, rock, green notes, roasted herb, garrigue, and loads of smoke.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is dense, extracted, rich, and layered, showing incredible tension, mouthfeel, almost plush, with bracing acidity, mouth-scraping minerality, tar, asphalt, and dense rock layers, that give way to blackberry, dark plum, dark cherry, boysenberry, and green notes/graphite that balances this unique wine together beautifully.
The finish is dry, tart, precise, and focused, with a sense of tension and minerality that I have not seen before. This is a very unique wine to put for 5 years, see it evolve for the next 8 years after that. Bravo! Drink from 2028 until 2033. (tasted May 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2021 Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf du Pape, Vieilles Vignes, Chateauneuf du Pape – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, with intense soy sauce, hoisin sauce, mushrooms, sweet spices, black and blue fruit, licorice, tar, cholate-covered coffee, and smoke. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, layered, concentrated, and elegant, with intense acidity, great balance, power, and elegance, with graphite, charcoal, sour cherry, blackberry, boysenberry, dark cherry, juniper berry, with an elegant mouth-draping tannin. Bravo! The finish is long, balanced, smoky, herbal, and rich, with espresso beans, tar, smoked meat, and tart acidity/fruit that linger forever! Bravo! Drink from 2027 until 2035. (tasted May 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2021 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre, Grand Champs, Sancerre – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
RESCORED. The nose of this wine is ripe while also showing green and mineral notes, white pepper, orange, orange blossom, gooseberry, white flower, jasmine, and white oolong tea, a truly unique nose. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is uniquely layered, and ripe, with sweet and ripe gooseberry, orange, nectarines, intense minerality, dense slate, and flint, intense acidity, expressive but the acidity takes front stage, incredible honeysuckle, honeydew, the minerality, and floral notes take over with crazy mineral and acid, what a lovely mouthfeel and fruit focus, wow! The finish is long, tart, ripe, layered, and expressive, with intense minerality, slate, and flint that goes on forever, a Sancerre like this is really unique, wow! Drink by 2030. (tasted May & November 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2021 Gustave Lorentz Riesling, Alcase Grand Cru, Alsace – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is a baby, the petrol will come, for now, honeysuckle, honeydew, the intense minerality of flint and rock, peach, yellow plum, gooseberry, and smoke.
The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is layered, focused, and expressive, with intense minerality, gooseberry, rock, smoke, grapefruit, lemon/lime, graphite, and sweet herbs.
The finish is long, tart, herbal, and mineral-driven, honeysuckle, and honeydew, with slate, fruit, and rock. Drink by 2030. (tasted May & November 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)

2020 Chateau La Tour de By Cuvee Heritage, Medoc – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
The wine is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon & 25% Merlot. The nose of this wine is lovely, black, herbal, smokey, and dirty, with mushroom, black and red fruit, intense minerality, and lovely roasted herbs. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is layered, dirty, and smokey, with incredible acidity, mouth-draping tannin, a rich mouthfeel, plush, and dense, all wrapped in blackberry, plum, raspberry, and graphite that balances the dense and extracted fruit, really nice! The finish is long, dirty, and herbal, but intensely mineral, with graphite, and pencil shavings, and impressive. WOW! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted May & November 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Chateau la Tour de By Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon, Medoc – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This is 100% Cabernet and wow! This one shows more roasted herbs, more minerality, less ripe fruit, and more graphite and loam, Cabernet in Medoc is a joy, with dense anise, menthol, garrigue, and sweet herbs. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, dense, and layered with intense minerality, with rich concentration, with blackberry, cassis, raspberry, anise, herbal, and smokey, with scraping graphite, loam, and lovely green notes. Bravo!! The finish is long, green herbal, smokey, and dense, with a minerality that scrapes and lingers long. Bravo!!! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted May & November 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2020 Elvi Wines Clos Mesorah, Montsant – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is ripe to start, with black and blue fruit, smoke, savory notes, herbal, soy sauce, milk chocolate, sweet oak, and intense sweet baking spices.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, well-balanced, smoky, earthy, and savory, with milk chocolate, sweet oak, and elegance, layers of deeply riveted mineral, blackberry, dark plum, boysenberry, intense spices, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sweet plum liqueur.
The finish is long, spicy, tart, ripe, balanced, and smoky, with sweet vanilla, sweet tobacco, great acidity, minerality, and a fruit focus that brings this all together – lovely! Drink from 2026 until 2033. (tasted May 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 15.5%)

2018 Famiglia Cotarella (Falesco) Marciliano, Rosso Umbria – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This Cabernet starts ripe, but you can see it has potential, and it needs time to come around. The nose of this wine, as it opens, is ripe with mushroom, blue and black fruit, smoke, loam, earth, lovely minerality, iron shaving, tar, licorice, and rich smoke. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, layered, and concentrated, with lovely acidity, blackberry, boysenberry, dark cherry, candied blackcurrant and raspberry, mushroom, loam, rich dirt, loads of mineral, graphite, elegant mouth-draping tannin, and intense smoke. The finish is long, dirty, ripe, refreshing, acidic, balanced, and just lovely, the minerality, earth, and smoke balance the fruit until it calms, with leather, and smoking tobacco, just lovely! Drink from 2028 until 2034. (tasted April 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.3%)

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%)

2020 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, Special Reserve, Alexander Valley, CA (M) – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
We are back to an even year and we once again have an Alexander Valley worthy of the name! This is beautiful, though the 2019 vintage was not bad, this is just so much better! The nose is what I want, green, herbal, smoky, dirty, fruity, with impeccable balance, tart, dark chocolate, oak, mint, basil, and savory. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, dirty, balanced, and rich, with blackberry, plum, dark cherry, and licorice, with a great fruit focus, plush, complex, showing herbal notes, mint, menthol, nice tannin, nice! The finish is long, dirty, herbal, smoky, and waxy, with tar, smoke, and ripe blackberry, nice! Bravo! Drink from 2024 until 2034. (tasted February 2023) (in Los Angeles, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2021 Four Gates Pinot Noir, Santa Cruz Mountains, CA – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is beautiful, fruity, earthy, dirty, and smoky, with red fruit, loam, funk, coffee, minerality, roasted animal, and graphite.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, layered, not concentrated, not big and bold, but fruity, and balanced, with lovely cherry, and ripe raspberry, showing great acidity, minerality, red plum, lovely saline, mouth-draping tannin, and smoke. Bravo!
The finish is long, funky, smoky, and dirty, with milk chocolate, loam, sweet spices, and fun. Drink from 2026. This is a really light wine for Benyo and I am not sure about its longevity. (tasted December 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.9%)

2022 Four Gates Chardonnay, Santa Cruz, CA – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe, and tart, with lovely orange, sweet spices, cloves, nutmeg, red apple, peach, lovely orange blossom, and rich sweet oak.
The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, concentrated, and balanced, with smoke, sweet apple, light yeasty notes, sweet elegant oak, orange, sweet apple, sweet yellow plum, Asian pear, and rich salinity. Bravo!!!
The finish is long, and spectacular, with rich minerality, saline, flint, smoke, earth, sweet spices, nutmeg, cloves, and richly refreshing. Bravo!!! Drink until 2033, but best to leave it alone for 9 years and then revisit, especially if you bought the max allotment. Drink until 2033 (tasted December 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15%)

2021 Four Gates Cabernet Franc, Santa Cruz, CA – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is beautiful, so elegant, ripe, and tart, with exquisite raspberry, rich rosehip, rose, so floral and tart with intense ribbons of minerality, raspberry coulis/gastrique. Stunning!
The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, layered, and concentrated with blueberry, raspberry, rich salinity, lovely minerality, intense acidity, balanced, with rich blackcurrant, lovely gripping tannin, smoke, and richly elegant. wow!
The finish is long, balanced, smokey, and tart with cocoa, and rosehip. WOW! Drink from 2027 until 2034. (tasted December 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.9%)

2021 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Chalk Hills, Special Edition, Sonoma County, CA (M) – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
If it is hot in your area, PLEASE chill your red wines, these big reds need to be cooled down! Twenty to twenty-five min in the fridge will do the trick! The nose of this wine is a bit ripe at the opening, but that calms, from the start the wine is big, bold, black, earthy, dirty, and mineral-driven, with green notes, licorice, smoke, toast, hints of oak, tar, ripe black and blue fruit, and lovely loam, lovely! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, rich, ripe, layered, concentrated, and nicely extracted, with great acidity, lovely and almost elegant mouth-draping tannin (right now a bit too astringent), with intense tannin, blackberry, cassis, ripe boysenberry, dark currants, plum, loam, roasted herbs, sweet oak, vanilla, hickory, sweet dill, sweet spices, and lovely minerality, Nice! The finish is long, spicy, ripe, balanced, and bold, with lovely fruit, and some green notes, while it is not jammy and fat, it is a bit ripe, this should calm more, with more tar, sweet spices, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, and some great earth. The wine does calm down and becomes plush, ample, and enjoyable. Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted September 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2021 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Reserve, Napa Valley, Napa Valley, CA (M) – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The 2021 vintage from California is helping wines I do not normally buy. This wine is balanced and ripe, but also tight and closed to start. The nose of this wine starts a bit closed as does the wine, it took a day to come around, showing lovely fruit, balance, black and blue fruit, nice floral notes, blue and yellow flowers, chocolate, anise, mineral, and loam, very nice! The mouth of this full-bodied wine took time to open fully, showing some tension, and verve, with black plum, blueberry, blueberry, freshness, roasted herbs, cocoa, sweet oak, all wrapped in draping and elegant tannin, and a plushness and elegance that I have never had in this wine. The finish is long, plush, elegant, and not extracted, with ribbons of graphite, floral notes, anise, smoke, and rich fruit. Bravo! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted December 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2021 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Edition, Rutherford, Rutherford, CA (M) – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe and while I had hoped it too would be balanced, sadly, it lacked that balance to start. To start it was flat and uninteresting. With time that changes and improves. The nose of this wine is ripe, with round notes of ripe fruit, chocolate, ripe black and red fruit, with some cooked notes of plum, anise, and pepper. With time the cooked and round notes do calm and show a bit more finesse. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, without enough acidity to handle this massive body, showing black plum, blackberry, raspberry, sweet cassis, cocoa liqueur, nice tannin, and some tension, but overall not as refreshing as I hoped. With time that changes to a beautiful balance, with lovely acidity and complexity, to balance the mouth and show the better features and its plushness, along with lovely sweet oak, elegance, and tart balanced fruit, impressive. The finish is long, ripe, candied, and lingering with more ripe fruit, tannin, and nice minerality on the finish. Drink until 2032. (tasted December 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2021 Jean Luc et Paul Aegerter Pouilly Fuisse, Premier Cru, Vers Cras, Pouilly Fuisse – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is crazy, intense, bright, redolent, expressive, elegant, and incredible, with dense fruit, ripe apple, pear, peach, quince, sweet flint, matchstick, graphite, and sweet spices. Some may be bothered by the clear lack of filtering but I could care less.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is incredible, layered, elegant, and precise, with intense apple, peach, pear, mineral, flint, and lovely expression, with a minerality that is deep and grabs your attention, an intense attack of acidity, ripe fruit, all wrapped in minerality and smoke. WOW!!
The finish is long, expressive, focused, and intense, with deep ribbons of flint, slate, matchstick, and ripe fruit, all perfectly balanced! Drink until 2030. (tasted May & November 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

2019 Chateau Teyssier, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, crisp, earthy, dirty, and smoky, with ripe fruit, showing red, blue, and hints of black fruit, all wrapped in black tea, anise, rich menthol, lovely minerality, coffee grinds, and loam, nice! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, balanced, and tense, with lovely blackberry, raspberry, ripe blueberry, loam, roasted herbs, mouth-draping and elegant tannin, with sweet oak, lovely tension, scraping minerality, loam, and more smoke. The finish is long, ripe, and balanced, with more tannin, ripe blueberry, plum, leather, dark chocolate, menthol, rich graphite, and minerality, and loam lingering long. Bravo! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted December 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

2019 Tenuta Monchiero Barolo, Barolo – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
Ignore the wine’s color this is normal for Barolo, it will shock you. Also, the label on this vintage is sticking, let’s wait another 9 years and see if that is still the case. This is the 2nd vintage since 2010 and while this is not as epic as that vintage, still, this wine is lovely, it will need loads of time to come around, still, it is far more accessible than the 2010 vintage and can be enjoyed with just a few hours of decanting, but I would wait. After tasting 4 Israeli wines with a 14.5% ABV this 14.5% ABV wine is a TRUE joy to taste! The nose of this wine is beautiful, dirty, earthy, fruity, balanced, and old-world, with rich soy sauce, saline, cherry, raspberry, smoke, rosehip, nice tar, loam, and mushroom. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, balanced, and refreshing, with bracing acidity, tart cherry, fruity/juicy raspberry, hints of plum, loam, saline, sea salt, with lovely oak, mouth-draping tannin, and more tar, just lovely! So refreshing with great fruit focus and balance! The finish is long, tart, refreshing, balanced, fruity, earthy, loam, smoke, tar, black tea, and more soy sauce! Bravo!! Drink from 2026 until 2033. (tasted October 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

2019 Clos Lavaud, Lalande de Pomerol – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is a beast showing pure minerality, dark fruit, smoke, and rich herbs. The nose of tar, mineral, graphite, rock, loam, and rich smoke, covers and wraps the rich fruit. Bravo!
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is intense, layered, rich, dense, and rich tannin, with incredible acidity, and crazy precision, showing blackberry, plum, dark cherry, rich smoke, and incredible extraction showing an expression that is just insane.
The finish is long, and extracted, with scraping graphite, rich loam, roasted herb, loam, clay, and rich green/black fruit. Wow, this cannot happen without a deep balance between the fruit, acidity, and minerality. Drink from 2025 until 2032. (tasted November 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

2018 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Assai, Gran Selezione, Chianti Classico – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This vintage is not as elegant as the 2016, at first I thought this was a few steps behind, but with time it shows to be a slight step behind. The wine shows ripe fruit, roasted meat, soy sauce, red and black fruit, tar, smoke, violet, and some loam. With time the mushroom, dirt, and umami appear as well. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is ripe and concentrated, but well controlled, with ripe plum, dark blackberry, dark strawberry, candied raspberry compote, menthol, licorice, and baking spices, all wrapped in dense sweet oak, sweet tannin, smoke, and green notes. With time, mushrooms, elegant concentration, and plushness appear. A lovely wine! The finish is long, dense, dark, rich, layered, concentrated, with lovely balance, espresso coffee, mineral, graphite, and star anise. Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted November 2023) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)

2021 Covenant Syrah, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley, Santa Barbara County, CA – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This is one of the most famous vineyards in Santa Barbara County, very difficult to get into and even tougher to keep. This is another proof of how good the 2021 vintage is, at 15.4% ABV this wine feels balanced, concentrated, and alive. The nose of this wine is ripe, dense, fruity, earthy, smoky, and rich, with loam, roasted beef, sweet spicy fruit, big red and black fruit, sweet spices, intense black pepper, and sweet herbs. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, concentrated, layered, and rich, but well-balanced, with ripe fruit, blackberry, boysenberry, sweet strawberry, sweet fruit, mouth-draping tannin, but balanced with lovely acidity, rich meaty notes, intense black pepper, sweet but balanced, bravo!! The finish is long, spicy, with intense black and white pepper, layered, complex, smoky, earthy, sweet, balanced, and refreshing, Bravo! Drink until 2030. (tasted December 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15.4%)