This is my first post in some time, and my apologies for that, but I hope all is well with all of you. Until all the Jews around the world are safe, I often feel these posts are trite. Still, it is our duty to support those in need, and it seems that these posts help others. With all that said, expect changes in the near future for this site, but until then, let us get to the subject at hand!

ESSA Wines is helmed by the married duo of Josh and Chana Rynderman. I have spoken and written about my friends often. The ESSA Wine group produces a diverse list of great wines and was worthy of this year’s Winery of the Year award.

The history of ESSA and Kos Yeshuos can be found on this blog; however, I will repeat it here for completeness.

Kos Yeshuos History

It’s incredible to think that Kos Yeshuos started “unofficially” in 2015! I was not even scoring wines with numbers back then! Ten years ago, Kos Yeshuos made a lovely Vin Gris from Cabernet Sauvignon, and the game was afoot! From there, Josh made wine for sale in 2016, the first “official” vintage of Kos Yeshuos, with two reds, a Syrah and a Grenache (I had just turned over to numerical scores and started to dabble with QPR). The 2016 Syrah was excellent last year!

Then came the 2017 wines, a Viognier and a Syrah. We flew in for the wedding in January 2018 and suffered through some horrible wines for that Shabbat. Joburg in the “winter” (AKA glorious Summer) was not bad at all. The lack of good wine was unacceptable! Thankfully, that is no longer an issue for those who seek good wine!

In 2018, Kos Yeshuos evolved to more playful labels, with a woman’s touch to say it correctly. We had the California Kid and another Viognier. The move to whites was required to make the dual-hemisphere dream a reality. In 2018, ESSA Wine came to life, and the 2018 ESSA Malbec was sold here in the USA!

Then, in 2019, Kos Yeshuos released four white wines, including a Joburg Girl! Then, miraculously, we survived the world’s curse, and its reward was one more year with Josh and Kos Yeshuos, along with more new 2019 ESSA wines! The Orange Sidewinder was nice enough, but the Viognier was indeed on point. ESSA was now in full sprint, producing top-notch wines like the 2019 Cabernet Franc and the 2019 Emunah. I am sure Josh was happy to not be flying back and forth, and the dual-Hemisphere thing had run its course. With the added time, ESSA evolved and added the Altira, and then more red wines followed.

Current day Lineup

Today, ESSA stands at 10 wines, at least from my count. The Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Emunah, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Riesling, Essa Liv & Luv Rose, Franschhoek Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot, Fume Blanc, and Altira. A few new wines are coming, and I have a bottle of one of them here, the Semillon.

As you will see in the wine notes below, ESSA is excelling, almost across the board. Look, I may not love wines like the Petit Verdot, given their fruity style, but that does not mean it is a bad wine. The same can be said for Malbec. They are just grapes that rarely excite me. However, the classic grapes are doing very well under the care of Josh and Chana (yes, I know PV and Malbec are Bordeaux classic grapes, but who cares? They are rarely used, and when they are, it is a rounding error).

No matter the fact that Josh is a friend, he makes good wines, guys, and that is plain to see. What confuses me is why the red wines do not sell as well as they should. You have the big red wines (PV and Malbec) for that kind of folks. You have a crazy QPR with the Cab/Merlot mix. Then you have the higher-end reds with the Emunah, Cabernet Franc, and so on. Let alone the crazy white wines – each of them is a CRUSHING WINNER! Folks, taste the wine and tell me what I am missing!

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 ESSA Emunah, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, with notes of dirt, earth, and smoke, followed by mushroom, loam, and dense smoke, all complemented by black and red fruit, which is lovely and elegant, evoking an old-world approach.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine reveals great acidity, accompanied by a funky and earthy character and lovely mouth-draping tannin. It is elegant, not overly extracted, and features a nice focus on fruit, complemented by notes of raspberry, blackberry, and plum. Bravo! The finish is intense, with great acidity, funk, smoke, and toasty notes. The tannin lingers forever, accompanied by lovely minerality. Bravo. Drink by 2028. (tasted February 2025) (in KFWE, NJ) (ABV = 13.5%)

2023 ESSA Blanc Fume, Cape South Coast – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
Given all the hype this wine has, justifiably, received, I came into this tasting with a clear desire to see the truth. In my opinion, after one whiff, all the hype is real. This wine starts closed – it needs time. Finally, this wine should be consumed at 60 degrees. DO NOT drink it at refrigerator temperature.
The nose of this wine is elegance in a glass, redolent with sweet oak, lemon, lime, smoke, flint, rich yellow flowers, honeysuckle, ripe yellow plum, and lovely funk. Nice! The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is not French, nor could it be confused with one. Still, the wine is lovely, but the lack of intense minerality and terroir tells you this is a new-world wine. The mouth is ripe and layered, with incredible acidity, a bracing brightness, tart lemon, lime, ripe grapefruit, guava, nectarines, apricot, intense saline, and a nice plush mouthfeel. This wine is ripe, tart, refreshing, and exciting.
The finish is long, with some funk, almond paste, dried flowers, more nectarines, more saline, very light bitter notes, drying tannin, and a nectarine pit. Bravo! Drink until 2027. (tasted February 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2024 ESSA Semillon, Cape South Coast – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine starts closed – it needs time. Finally, this wine should be consumed at 60 degrees. DO NOT drink it at refrigerator temperature. The nose of this wine is tart, refreshing, funky, and fun. The nose screams of funk, saline, grapefruit, lemon, yellow plum, crazy yellow flowers, flint, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, exciting, and captivating, with the kind of acidity and pop that pulls you in, followed by bracing grapefruit, intense yellow plum, sweet honeysuckle, rich funk, saline, flint, and dried apricot. This is an enjoyable wine. It is light, lithe, but captivating. The finish is long, tart, and smoky, with more of that minerality bite, flint, smoke, saline, and refreshing fruit. Bravo! Drink until 2028. (tasted February 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%) (NOT yet released)

2023 ESSA Seaside Riesling, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is just incredible, on point, and very captivating. The nose of this wine is just nuts, showing petrol, gooseberry, rich grapefruit, honeysuckle, and yellow flowers.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is incredible; all I get is crazy fruit, incredible acidity, rich petrol, rich and incredible tension. It is one of the best white wines I have had, tension-wise, with notes of honeysuckle, lovely grapefruit, lemongrass, wet rock, smoke, and saline, bravo! The finish is endless and epic. Drink by 2027. (tasted February 2025) (in Brooklyn, NY) (ABV = 13%)

2023 ESSA Altira, Cape South Coast – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
Another ESSA Altira and another WINNER, this is a lovely, fruity, tart, smoky, honeysuckle, mineral-driven joy!
The nose of this wine is bursting with bright fruit, funk, saline notes, and all that I love in white wine, followed by citrus, lychee, passion fruit, and hints of smoke. Bravo!!
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has nice weight and mouthfeel, with bracing, fresh, natural acidity. Notes of lychee, orange, grapefruit, lemon, and honeydew melon make this a wine that evokes thoughts of Bordeaux.
The finish is long, tart, funky, fresh, and mineral-driven; the notes linger forever. Bravo!! Drink by 2027, maybe later. (tasted August 2024) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)

2022 ESSA Cabernet Franc, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
This is a re-score; the wine has evolved beautifully.
The nose of this wine is lovely, featuring red and green fruit, excellent balance, subtle floral notes, a hint of smoke, and some green notes, as well as menthol and jalapeno.
The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, layered, and assertive, with great acidity, lovely blackberry, raspberry, and candied cherry notes, and an attack that does not let up, complemented by sweet oak and incredible floral and more acidity.
The finish lingers forever. Bravo! Drink by 2029. (tasted February 2025) (in KFWE, NJ) (ABV = 13.5%)

2023 ESSA Essa Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot, Franschhoek , Franschhoek – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is ripe with dark fruit, rich dirt, loam, smoke, tar, and Bordelaise notes, cacao, and roasted animal. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is dirty, with hints of floral notes, lanolin, and Violet, showing great acidity, great smoke, mouth-draping tannin, black currant, ripe plum, and raspberry, with ripe blueberry and smoke. The finish is long, herbal, and floral, which is a nice touch. Drink by 2028. (tasted February 2025) (in KFWE, NJ) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 ESSA Malbec, Stellenbosch – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is ripe yet balanced and easygoing, with good acidity and a nice structure. The nose of this wine is ripe, with nice fruit, ripeness, black and blue fruit, sweet tobacco, tar, and smoke. The mouth of this full-bodied wine has intense extraction, tannin, nice acidity, and good structure, with blackberry, dark plum, juicy boysenberry, and pomegranate, refreshing, easygoing, juicy, and simple. The finish is long, tannic, and nice enough. Drink until 2026. (tasted September 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.8%)

2022 ESSA Cabernet Sauvignon, Franschhoek – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is greener than I would have expected; if asked, I would have guessed it was a Chilean wine, but overall, it’s a nice enough wine. The nose is nice, with greener notes, quince/passion fruit, foliage, red fruit, hints of black fruit, minerality, smoke, herbal notes, menthol, and tar. The mouth of this wine reminds me of an Israeli/Australian Cab/Syrah blend, with good acidity, green notes, intense blackcurrant, raspberry, nice tannin, and good fruit structure, but it is a bit disappointing. The finish is long, herbal, smoky, black, and red, with roasted herbs, tar, and graphite. Drink until 2027. (tasted September 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)

2022 ESSA Petit Verdot, Stellenbosch – Score: 88 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is ripe, and while it shows some promise, the wine overall, at opening, feels unidimensional. The nose of this wine is characterized by black and blue notes, ripe fruit, oolong tea, green notes, passion fruit, star fruit, and rich smoke.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, lacking a bit of acidity, with notes of ripe blackberry, ripe boysenberry, smoke, green notes, oolong, and tropical notes, as well as lovely green notes.
The finish is long, featuring notes of black, blue, and smoky flavors, with intense ripeness, tar, and root beer lingering for a long time. Drink until 2026. (tasted September 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)