Category Archives: QPR Post
The Top 24 QPR Kosher Wine WINNERS of 2022
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 ageability 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 2022.
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 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.
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:
- 2020 Chateau Clarke, Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Listrac-Medoc – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
Drink from 2025 until 2032. (tasted November 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13.5%) - 2020 Chateau Fourcas Dupre, Listrac – Medoc – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
Drink from 2024 until 2035. (tasted November 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%) - 2019 Chateau Royaumont, Lalande de Pomerol – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
Drink from 2024 until 2032. (tasted December 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15%)
These wine price from 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! Meaning 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
This year, the list came to a total of 24 names, and none had to dip below 92+ 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 24 or so WINNER that scored 92+ this year but not in a single area.
Like last year, we return with QPR for France, the prices for many wines there, are dirt cheap! There is also QPR for the USA, which is the default. Finally, some wines are QPR here in the USA but not in France.
Of course, the first wine on the list is the 2022 Wine of the year! Elvi Wines is a perennial producer of QPR WINNER wines and a most deserving winner of the 2021 Winery of the year!
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 Clos Mesorah, Montsant – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine shows more black fruit than the 2019 vintage, with lovely blackberry, smoke, root beer, and roasted animal, more than 2019, with some red fruit, a bit bluer, with white and pink flowers that emerge after time, raspberry, and mineral. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is rich, layered, elegant, and a bit riper than 2019, with rich salinity, sweet oak, black olives, blackberry, plum, boysenberry, root beer, dark currants, anise, and rich mouthfeel and fruit structure, that gives way to saline, roasted herbs, and graphite. The finish is long, dark, brooding, smoky, earthy, forest floor, and blackcurrants, with dirt, loam, clay, leather, and rich spices. Bravo!! Drink from 2027 until 2036. (tasted November 2021) (in Montsant, Spain) (ABV = 15.5%)
2020 Château Olivier Grand Cru Classe, Pessac-Léognan – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER (France), GOOD (USA))
The nose of this wine is quite nice, a wine I would drink, with a bit of soy sauce, rich salinity, mushroom, earthy, and dirty, like a rich and redolent mud pen, with a bit of heat, and lovely smoke. With time, the heat drops off, ripe, muddy, mushroom haven, lovely! The mouth of the full-bodied wine is dense, layered, rich, and concentrated, with rich extraction, dark and brooding, with juicy blackberry, ripe strawberry, mushroom, forest floor, wet leaves, rich salinity, soy sauce, umami, just a fun, ripe, savory, and dirty wine. The finish is long, dark, and brooding, but well controlled, one of those rare ripe/dirty/earthy controlled monsters, with dense minerality, scraping graphite, ripe fruit, and leather, Bravo! Drink until 2035. (tasted November 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)
2019 Chateau Tour Seran, Medoc – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER (France))
This is one of the best wines of our blind tastings here in the hotel. The nose of this wine is lovely, and perfectly balanced, with licorice, smoke, black and red fruit, char, toasty oak, loam, lovely mushroom (that comes out after a few hours), and forest floor. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is dense, ripe, layered, and rich with good acidity, richly extracted, but savory, not overly ripe, a real joy, with blackberry, ripe raspberry, currants, dense loam, forest floor, with scraping minerality, graphite, tar, and rock, this is too much fun! The finish is long, and mineral-driven, with good fruit focus, great graphite, and rock. Drink until 2036. (tasted November 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)
2019 Clos Mesorah, Montsant – Score: 93.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is beautiful with lovely floral notes of rosehip, violet, tisane tea, and red and blue fruit, with roasted herb, smoke, roasted animal, rhubarb, dried cherry, and lovely forest floor notes. The mouth on this medium-plus bodied wine is lovely with screaming acidity, lovely dark raspberry, plum, tart currant, mouth-draping tannin, rhubarb, dark cherry, with lovely green notes, rich saline, mineral, spice, roasted herb, lovely blackberry, smoke, and rich graphite. The finish is long, green ripe, blackberry, with saline, smoke, blueberry, leather, cloves, cinnamon, and sweet oak, bravo!!! Drink from 2026 until 2034. (tasted November 2021) (in Montsant, Spain) (ABV = 15.5%)
2020 Chateau Lafon-Rochet, Saint-Estephe – Score: 93.5 (QPR: WINNER (FRANCE), USA(EVEN))
This wine is a blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon & 45% Merlot.
The nose of this wine is a less ripe wine, with savory notes, lovely green and red fruit, elegant redolence, minerality, lovely iron shavings graphite, beautiful pencil shavings, with incredible raspberry, cherry, and rich smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, elegant, extracted, rich, and beautiful with ripe and juicy cherry, elegant tart/juicy raspberry, beautiful smoke, intense and elegant charcoal/graphite, just lovely, with red fruit, loam, and mouth-scraping tannin. The finish is long, red, ripe, and smoky, with great tobacco, rosemary, savory notes, dark chocolate, loam, leather, and lovely smoke. Drink from 2023 until 2033. (tasted November 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2016 ElviWines Herenza Rioja, Reserva, Rioja – Score: 93.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This is what I crave in wine – balance, complexity, elegance, and all bottled for a price that makes it a WINNER! The nose of this wine is beautiful, balanced, complex, and lighter than 2014, but still bold, rich, and expressive, soy sauce, umami, rich mushroom, loam, spices, blue and red fruit, and sweet anise, lovely! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is not as bold as the 2014 and it starts a bit ripe, with time the wine opens to show balance, dark blueberry, plum, candied/spiced raspberry, and rich sweet spices give way to a mouth-draping elegance, sweet tannin, plush mouthfeel, and rich loam, clay, and earth, beautiful. The finish is long, and balanced, with leather, sweet tobacco, root beer, sweet baking spices, cloves, cinnamon, sweet cedar, dark chocolate, and rich searing acidity that brings this wine altogether. Bravo!! Another smash! Drink from 2024 until 2032. (tasted November 2021) (in Montsant, Spain) (ABV = 14.5%)
Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, Four USA QPR WINNERS (two more for France)– January 2023
I hope you all had a wonderful Gregorian Calendar New Year! This will be my last post for my blog’s Calendar year. As usual, my QPR posts are a hodgepodge of wines but thankfully we have some nice QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wines.
For all those asking for my yearly Four Gates Winery post – that will have to wait till after my year-end posts. No worry, the sale will end in 14 minutes so get your wines, everyone!!
QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines
It has been three months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post and many people have been emailing me about some unique wines I have tasted and some lovely wines that are worth writing about.
Thankfully, no matter how much garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with quite a few wonderful QPR wines out there. This post includes some nice wines and some OK wines with the usual majority of uninteresting to bad wines.
The story of 2021 Israel whites and roses is very unfortunate, it started with a bang. Matar and a couple of others showed very well. Sadly, after that, every other white and rose wine from Israel was not as impressive. They all show middling work and product, very disappointing indeed. Since then, there have been more hits and misses, but overall the 2019 and 2021 vintages look good enough.
My thanks to Ari Cohen for helping me again with some of these wines! The 2007 Chateau Peyrat Fourthon La Demoiselle D’Haut Peyrat, 2013 Porto di Mola Aglianico Roccamonfina, Aglianico, and the 2021 Domaine Bousquet Alavida, Mendoza were all thanks to him!
We have a nice list of QPR WINNERS:
- 2021 Domaine Bousquet Alavida, Mendoza – Fun, cheap, and enjoyable wine! Bravo!
- 2013 Porto di Mola Aglianico Roccamonfina, Aglianico – Maybe this was the first kosher Aglianico ever!
- 2007 Chateau Peyrat Fourthon La Demoiselle D’Haut Peyrat, – this has been popping up all over Paris – DRINK UP!
- 2019 Chateau Royaumont, Lalande de Pomerol — A little too ripe for me but solid, BEWARE there is no 2020
- 2019 Barons Edmond & Benjamin de Rothschild – Another solid wine!
- 2020 Netofa Tel Qasser, Red, Galilee – A lovely Rhone-style wine that shows finesse
There were also a few wines that are a slight step behind with a GREAT or GOOD QPR score:
- 2021 Chateau de Cor Bugeaud, Blaye-Cotes de Bordeaux (M) – A nice 2021 wine that is mevushal
- 2021 Barkan Chardonnay, Galilee (M) – A good Barkan Classic
- 2019 Gush Etzion Cabernet Franc, Lone Oak Tree, Judean Hills – A solid Cab Franc, with balance and a bit of elegance
- 2022 Rimapere Baron Edmond de Rothschild Sauvignon Blanc, Malborough – A sad shadow of the 21 vintage
- 2021 Pescaja Solei’ Arneis, Terre Alfieri (M) – A nice wine but the acidity is lacking
- 2019 Rocca di Frassinello Le Sughere di Frassinello, Maremma Toscana – Nice enough wine but lacking acidity
- 2021 Bat Shlomo Sauvignon Blanc, Israel – Nice but expensive and simple SB
- 2021 Dalton Sauvignon Blanc, Fume, Galilee – A nice enough SB
- 2021 Eola Hills Wine Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon – A nice enough New-World Pinot
- 2021 Rothschild Flechas de Los Andes Gran Malbec, Mendoza – A ripe mess but many will like it
- 2019 Domaine du Castel Raziel, Judean Hills – A solid wine but too expensive
There are a few wines that got a QPR Score of EVEN – meaning expensive or average:
- 2021 Vitkin Pinot Noir, Judean Hills – A simple Pinot Noir
- 2020 Chateau Le Crock, Saint-Estephe (M) – One of those bad years for the Crock, such is life!
- 2020 Netofa Tel Qasser, White, Galilee – It is here because of the price, nice wine but too expensive
- 2021 1848 Winery Cabernet Franc, Judean Hills – A ripe wine that will make some happy
- 2017 Capcanes La Flor Del Flor Samso, Montsant – A ripe but controlled wine that is too expensive
- 2021 Chateau Le Petit Chaban, Bordeaux (M) – A simple enough but pleasant wine
The others are essentially either OK wines that are too expensive, duds, or total failures:
- 2021 Cantina Cignozza il Generoso, Toscana – A poor wine that is also expensive
- 2021 Raziel Rose, Judean Hills – A good enough rose that is crazy expensive
- 2017 Villa Mangiacane Magnificus, Toscana – A Super Tuscan that is oaked and overripe
- 2020 Domaine Du Castel Grand Vin, Judean Hills – An average wine that is far too expensive
- 2019 Flam Noble, Israel – Another Israeli wine that is simple enough but crazy expensive
- 2021 Tzora Shoresh, Blanc, Judean Hills – Another Israeli wine that is too expensive for its quality
Some things that made me stand up and take notice (AKA QPR WINNERS):
In this group, the best wine is the Chateau Royaumont, though this vintage is ripe, and will take a long time to calm down. There is no 2020 Chateau Royaumont, FYI.
The 2020 Netofa Tel Qasser, Red, is a lovely wine and one that will be here for a while.
The 2019 Barons Edmond & Benjamin de Rothschild, Haut-Medoc is the mevushal version they sell here in the USA and is quite lovely, with great balance and enough complexity.
The 2021 Domaine Bousquet Alavida, Mendoza is the TRUE WINNER to me, it is available in a few places here in the USA and it is lovely! Throw in the fact that it can be found for 12 dollars here in the USA and BRAVO!
The other two wines, 2013 Porto di Mola Aglianico Roccamonfina, Aglianico, and 2007 Chateau Peyrat Fourthon La Demoiselle D’Haut Peyrat, are in France, popping up here and there in shops, nice wines, drink NOW!
Other wines of note (AKA QPR GREAT or GOOD):
This group is not a group of wines I would buy and some are not even wines I would drink if given the chance. They are Ok wines but there are far better options out there. The two that did surprise me were the 2019 Gush Etzion Cabernet Franc, Lone Oak Tree, and the 2019 Domaine du Castel Raziel, Judean Hills, both were solid wines that I did not expect.
Wines that are either good but too expensive or average (AKA EVEN):
Three wines need a comment here. The 2017 Capcanes La Flor Del Flor Samso, Montsant, finally had a decent vintage, it is a nice wine but I would buy limited to none and drink it soon.
The 2020 Netofa Tel Qasser, White, Galilee is a lovely wine, nothing like the 2017 or 2018 vintages, but the price lands the wine here.
Sadly, the 2020 Chateau Le Crock, Saint-Estephe is just an average wine and that is why it is here.
The rest of the wines are not interesting to me and are on this list because of either quality or price.
Wines that are either OK but far too expensive or bad wines (AKA POOR/BAD):
This round this list is just duds and I will just leave you to peruse the names and scores down below.
Roundup
Overall another nice list of QPR WINNERS. I can always look at these kinds of lists and say there are only 6 wines I would want to buy from this entire list, but that would be a defeatist attitude. The correct way to classify this list is we have 6 more wines available to us and in the end, as I have stated many times now, I cannot buy all the WINNER wines even if I wanted to. There are just too many good wines out there and that is what we should be focused on!
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2019 Chateau Royaumont, Lalande de Pomerol – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 70% Merlot & 30 % Cabernet Franc. At the opening, the wine shows its femininity, with lovely floral notes, violet, and ripe fruit, shortly after it shows a far riper expression with an intense perfume of fruit, nice loam, dirt, green notes, eucalyptus, roasted mint, and minerality. This shows you that some wines can be fruity but you can see the reality of the makeup and understand its final place. This contrasts Israeli wines whose nose and mouth are so over the top that it never comes around. With even more time the wine does return to its feminine side with lovely floral notes, still, the ripeness is there and while it is controlled it does worry me, with plum, rich loam, smoke, earth, mint, eucalyptus, and lovely fruit. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe and balanced, yet also lovely and feminine with expressive floral notes, violet, plum, cherry, rich and dense mouthfeel, not extracted yet complex, somewhat layered, mouth-drying tannin, elegant, and complex, nice sweet oak, menthol, more mint, basil, and lovely smoke. The finish is long, dirty, earthy, smoky, and ripe, with more tannin, mineral, scraping graphite, green notes, violet, and leather. BRAVO! Still, the ripeness abounds and takes over the mouth and nose it is scary. Drink from 2024 until 2032. (tasted December 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15%)
2020 Netofa Tel Qasser, Red, Galilee – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, it starts a bit slow but with some air, the wine opens to show bright fruit, herbs, smoke, roasted meat, tar, blue and red fruit, and a lovely floral bouquet, jasmine, violet, bravo! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, and controlled, with lovely acidity, ripe boysenberry, juicy strawberry, raspberry, and rich saline, with lovely sweet oak, mouth-draping tannin, and nice minerality, nice! The finish is long, tart, ripe, balanced, and refreshing, with watermelon, root beer, floral notes, and coffee. Drink by 2028. (tasted December 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)
2019 Barons Edmond & Benjamin de Rothschild, Haut-Medoc (M) – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 85% Merlot & 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. The nose of this wine starts with lovely notes of ripe red and blue berries followed by rich loam, funk, rich mineral, wet dirt, tar, and green notes/foliage. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is less weighty than the 2018 vintage with lovely notes of smoke, dirt, loam, dark raspberry, currants, blueberry, Elderberries, rich funk, foliage, lovely mouth-coating tannin, a bit too many green notes, and searing acidity. The finish is long, dirty, earthy, and mineral-driven, with lovely smoke, toast, pencil shavings, graphite, more green notes, dark chocolate, and lovely tension. Drink until 2028. (tasted December 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)
2021 Domaine Bousquet Alavida, Mendoza – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is floral, ripe, balanced, and enjoyable, with violet, rosehip, saline, green notes, dark cherry, raspberry, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-plus bodied wine is very fun, floral, ripe, well balanced, fun, with good mouthfeel, organic and without added sulfites, showing ripe plum, blackberry, raspberry, with nice mouthfeel, great acidity, balanced and fun, with lovely ripe and jammy fruit. The finish is long, ripe, balanced, and good, with smoke, mineral, roasted meat, and more floral notes. Lovely! Drink by 2024. (tasted November 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)
2013 Porto di Mola Aglianico Roccamonfina, Aglianico – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER: France)
This wine is crazy, it has almost no fruit on the nose or the body but it has fruit in the structure to keep it alive with rich acidity and a lovely mouthfeel. The nose of this wine is lovely, dirty, earthy, smoky, with lovely barnyard, and rich mushroom, with hints of violet and rose. With time the wine opens to a new world. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe, with dark fruit, blackberry, raspberry, smoke, elegance, rich tannin, smoke, mushroom, and lovely tea. The finish is lovely, tannic, and herbal, with lovely barnyard and floral notes, lovely. Drink now!!! (tasted November 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12%)
2007 Chateau Peyrat Fourthon La Demoiselle D’Haut Peyrat, Haut-Medoc – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER: France)
This wine is 15 years old and it does not evoke happiness in me, sure it is a perfectly good wine, it is not dead, not oxidized, but it has also not evolved. This reminds me of a recent post by my friend, Avi Davidowitz, where he said something I said often to Benyo about the early day Baron Herzog wines, they survive, but they do NOT evolve as time passes. The wine is enjoyable, but I would prefer another option.
The nose of this wine is perfectly balanced, well made, and professional, but also just OK, at this point, showing little to no evolution into tertiary notes, there are mushrooms, and there is no barnyard, but the tertiary is more in the background.
The nose is nice with good mushrooms, nice dirt, earth, with red fruit, and nice smoke. To me, the nose is dominated by dirt and the surprising fruit, and the rest is in the background.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is where things become far less interesting, sure the acidity is impressive, and the mouthfeel and tannin cover the palate with the aid of good acidity, but the wine is just there, it has not evolved, the raspberry and cherry are nice, with good minerality, and more rich loam.
If one was, to sum up, this wine, dirt, and mushroom with some fruit would be a solid descriptor. The tannin is devolving. The finish is long, and green, with enough tannin to keep it interesting, with nice mushroom, and graphite. Drink now!!! (tasted November 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, Eight QPR WINNERS – October 2022
I hope you all had a wonderful Jewish Holiday season! We are now back to the grind and I have a bunch of wines that need to be posted. As usual, my QPR posts are a hodgepodge of wines but thankfully we have some nice QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wines.
QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines
It has been two months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post and many people have been emailing me about some unique wines I have tasted and some lovely wines that are worth writing about.
Thankfully, no matter how much garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with quite a few wonderful QPR wines out there. This post includes some nice wines and some OK wines with the usual majority of uninteresting to bad wines.
The story of 2021 Israel whites and roses is very unfortunate, it started with a bang. Matar and a couple of others showed very well. Sadly, after that, every other white and rose wine from Israel was not as impressive. They all show middling work and product, very disappointing indeed. Thankfully, this round has one Israeli WINNER and it is from the 2021 vintage.
We have a nice list of QPR WINNERS:
- 2021 Shirah Rose, Central Coast, CA (A nice solid rose)
- 2021 Covenant Israel Rose, Blue C, Israel (lovely color and great acidity)
- 2018 Allegory Pinot Noir, Duvarita Vineyard, Santa Barbara, CA (Another nice Pinot from Cali)
- 2020 Chateau Montviel, Pomerol (Perennial winner)
- N.V. Drappier Carte d’Or, Champagne (Best of the 4 Drappier Champagne)
- N.V. Drappier Brut Nature, Zero Dosage, Champagne (Lovely but drink now!)
- 2020 Chateau Piada, Sauternes (Not their best but solid)
- N.V. Drappier Rose de Saignee, Champagne (Nice brut rose, hard to find outside of Yarden)
There were also a few wines that are a slight step behind with a GREAT or GOOD QPR score:
- 2021 Shirah Bro.Deux, Blanc, Santa Ynez Valley, CA (A nice wine just missing a bit)
- 2021 Yatir Mount Amasa Rose, Judean Hills (Not bad)
- 2021 Or de la Castinelle Rose, Cotes de Provence (Another solid vintage for this new rose)
- 2021 Vitkin Israeli Journey, Red, Israel (Simple but nice)
- 2021 Laufer Tokaji Late Harvest, Tokaji – Simple but balanced
- 2018 Allegory Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford (too ripe for me but good)
- 2019 Vitkin Grenache Blanc, Galilee (A step back on this vintage sadly)
- 2018 Ma’ayan Cabernet Franc, Shomron (A lovely wine just too Israeli for me)
There are a few wines that got a QPR Score of EVEN – meaning expensive or average:
- 2019 Shirah Nebbiolo, Paso Robles, CA (A bit too ripe for my tastes)
- 2021 Flam Camellia, Judean Hills (Less interesting than previous vintages)
- 2018 Allegory Meritage, Paso Robles, CA (weakest of the Allegory wines)
- 2021 Laufer Tokaji Ice Wine, Tokaji (Not enough acidity to make it work)
The others are essentially either OK wines that are too expensive, duds, or total failures:
- 2021 Jezreel Valley Rose, Sharon (Not very good)
- 2020 Yatir Darom, Red, Israel (Just trying too hard with so little)
- N.V. Drappier Rose, Brut Nature, Champagne (Not a good idea IMHO)
Wine sets that I tasted
This tasting includes three sets of wines.
- Shirah Rose and white wines
- Allegory and Ma’ayan wines (from The Cellar wine store in Lakewood)
- Four newly disgorged Drappier Champagne
- The rest of the assorted wines I tasted over the last 1+ months. I tasted more but I am waiting to post them later.
Some things that made me stand up and take notice (AKA QPR WINNERS):
The largest WINNER group of the sets of wines I had came from the Drappier Champagnes. Three of them were dead on and the fourth, the brut nature rose, is just a bad idea, IMHO.
The other two sets are all made by the Weiss brothers from Shirah wines. The Shirah Wines are made under the Shirah brand and the Allegory wines are Cali wines made for the Cellar wine store in Lakewood.
The Shirah Rose and the Allegory Pinot Noir, two wines made by the Weiss brothers are solid to lovely wines.
Covenant keeps popping out lovely wines and the 2021 Israeli Rose is another example of what care brings you!
The other two wines are the 2020 Piada and Montviel, two more WINNERS for Royal Wines. The Montviel is sheer joy and the highest-scoring wine of this post while the Piada, while nice enough, is a step back from previous vintages.
Other wines of note (AKA QPR GREAT or GOOD):
This group is not a group of wines I would buy and some are not even wines I would drink if given the chance. They are Ok wines but there are far better options out there. The one that did surprise me was the 2018 Ma’ayan Cabernet Franc, Shomron. It is a wine that was close and nice but still too Israeli for me.
Wines that are either good but too expensive or average (AKA EVEN):
This list is also boring, the only real wine to call out, is the 2021 Laufer Tokaji Ice Wine. It should have been a better wine but the wine is a mess, it is all over the place and lacks acidity, sad.
The rest of the wines are not interesting to me and are on this list because of either quality or price.
Wines that are either OK but far too expensive or bad wines (AKA POOR/BAD):
This round this list is just duds and I will just leave you to peruse the names and scores down below.
Roundup
Overall another nice list of QPR WINNERS. I can always look at these kinds of lists and say there are only 7 or 8 wines I would want to buy from this entire list, but that would be a defeatist attitude. The correct way to classify this list is we have 7 or 8 more wines available to us and in the end, as I have stated many times now, I cannot buy all the WINNER wines even if I wanted to. There are just too many good wines out there and that is what we should be focused on!
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2020 Chateau Montviel, Pomerol – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. The nose of this wine is incredible, this is what I dream about when I smell wine, dirt, earth, smoke, loam, elegance, fruit, and mushroom, yum!!! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is balanced and soft, it comes at you in layers, showing raspberry, plum, rich loam, earth, sweet spices, and forest floor, all wrapped in a silky and elegant plush mouthfeel, with lovely acidity. It is a silky seductress. The finish is long, green, herbal, dirty, loam, and more forest floor that really comes out, with sweet tobacco, dry meat, and lovely green notes. Bravo!!! Drink from 2025 until 2034. (tasted September 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)
An uninspiring list of new wines from France, Israel, and the U.S.A
The past 10 days have been sheer hell in California and I should have posted these wines already as mountains are not an option to climb in these temps. These 11 wines are not QPR WINNER wines, they all fell short for many differing reasons, but the ultimate issue continues to revolve around a lack of balance and a lack of acidity. Even the vaulted Pacifica Riesling, a wine I have liked over many iterations fell short with the 2021 release, which was unfortunate.
As usual, my QPR posts are a hodgepodge of wines and normally we have some nice QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wines. This post sadly highlights no new QPR WINNER.
If there was a wine to kvell about I would happily do it but sadly there is none among these 11. Please look forward to my next post – that one will have a wonderful list of QPR WINNER and all 91+ wines, coming from a winery we all know well here in California.
Sadly, this was the new full release of the 2021 Chateau Riganes, with the usual white, rose, and blend. This year they added single varietal bottles, of Malbec and Cabernet Franc. IMHO, this was the least interesting release of these wines in some years.
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 Zion Rose, Imperial, Israel (M) – Score: 86 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is made of Grenache and is off-dry. The nose of this wine is nice, it shows sweet notes, and clear RS, with raspberry, jasmine, peach, guava, cherry, and sweet fruit. The mouth of this medium-bodied rose is sweet, with balancing acidity, ripe fruit, sweet cherry, raspberry, guava, peach, and nice honey. The finish is long, sweet, but balanced with fruit, and not much else. (tasted August 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)
Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, Seven QPR WINNERS – August 2022
OK, with all the Paris wine notes posted, the latest roses posted, and Herzog’s wonderful wines, I am finally at the finish line. This last batch of notes catches me up just in time before the next round of wines shows up. As usual, my QPR posts are a hodgepodge of wines but thankfully we have some nice QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wines.
QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines
It has been two months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post and many people have been emailing me about some unique wines I have tasted and some lovely wines that are worth writing about.
Thankfully, no matter how much garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with quite a few wonderful QPR wines out there. This post includes some nice wines and some OK wines with the usual majority of uninteresting to bad wines.
The story of 2021 Israel whites and roses is very unfortunate, it started with a bang. Matar and a couple of others showed very well. Sadly, after that, every other white and rose wine from Israel was not as impressive. They all show middling work and product, very disappointing indeed. Thankfully, this round has three Israeli WINNERS and two from the 2021 vintage. There is an 8th WINNER here but it is here for documentation purposes and not for advice on what to buy, as it is not available anymore. That being the 2012 Chateau Serilhan.
We have a nice list of QPR WINNERS:
- 2012 Chateau Serilhan Cru Bourgeois, Saint-Estephe (Posted as I have never posted this yet, strange)
- 2021 O’Dwyers Creek Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough – A perennial WINNER
- 2021 Castel La Vie Blanc Du Castel, Judean Hills – Finally a 100% Sauvignon Blanc and it is lovely!
- 2021 Sheldrake Point Riesling, Dry, Finger Lakes, NY – A lovely 2nd vintage
- 2021 Sheldrake Point Gewurztraminer, Finger Lakes, NY – Another lovely 2nd vintage as well
- 2021 Golan Heights Winery, Yarden Sauvignon Blanc, Galilee – A nice wine
- 2019 Netofa Latour, Red, Galilee
- 2020 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico – Perenial winner
There were also a few wines that are a slight step behind with a GREAT or GOOD QPR score:
- 2021 Cape Jewel Chenin Blanc, Reserve Collection – one of two wines that shocked me as I expected PAIN
- 2021 Unorthodox Sauvignon Blanc, Paarl – the 2nd shocking wine in this tasting
- 2020 Dalton Sauvignon Blanc, Reserve, Galilee
- 2021 Golan Heights Winery Sauvignon Blanc, Gilgal – not as good as his bigger brother
- 2021 O’Dwyers Creek Chardonnay, Marlborough
- 2021 Capcanes Peraj Petita, Montsant – one of the best Petita since 2015, still not a WINNER like in 2015
There are a few wines that got a QPR Score of EVEN – meaning expensive or average:
- 2021 Vitkin Israeli Journey, White, Israel
- 2021 Gush Etzion Gewürztraminer, Judean Hills
- 2021 Yaffo White, Judean Hills
- 2019 Ramon Cardova Rioja, Rioja
- 2020 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib, Montsant – nothing interesting but better than previous vintages
- 2020 Domaine du Castel Lavie, Rouge du Castel, Jerusalem Hills
- 2016 Vitkin Cabernet Franc, Galilee – Drink up!
- 2018 Vitkin Carignan, Judean Hills – Drink up!
The others are essentially either OK wines that are too expensive, duds, or total failures:
- 2016 Vitkin Shorashim, Israel – a nice enough wine but the price is crazy
- 2020 Flam Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, Galilee
- 2020 De La Rosa Taryag Gruner Veltliner, Burgenland
- 2020 De La Rosa Chai 18 White Welsch Riesling, Burgenland
- 2021 Unorthodox Chenin Blanc, Coastal Region
- 2021 J. De Villebois Pouilly Fume, Loire Valley – so sad after last year’s lovely vintage
- 2021 Odem Mountain Chardonnay, Volcanic, Galilee
- 2016 Laufer Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Reserve, California – ripe oak juice
- 2021 Golan Heights Winery Mount Hermon White, Galilee
Some things that made me stand up and take notice (AKA QPR WINNERS):
The real WINNER here, from the entire list, is the 2012 Chateau Serilhan Cru Bourgeois, Saint-Estephe (posted as I have never posted this yet, for some strange reason), but of the available wines that would be the 2021 O’Dwyers Creek Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough. The 2020 O’Dwyers Creek Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough ran out very quickly, I guess that there was not much available or made, as it was right at the start of COVID! The crazy story of how it all came together.
So happy to see Castel finally dropped the Gewurztraminer from their La Vie Blanc Du Castel the solo Sauvignon Blanc is lovely!
Talking about Gewurztraminer, the 2021 Sheldrake Point Riesling and Gewurztraminer from the Finger Lakes shows one can make lovely and reasonably priced wines from the Finger lakes. Bravo Ari!
Nice to see a Yarden wine on this list again, other than the LOVELY sparkling wines, the 2021 Golan Heights Winery, Yarden Sauvignon Blanc hit on all marks.
The last two wines are red and while I loved the 2019 Netofa Latour, Red at the start, it seemed to fall off a bit and that is unfortunate. Finally the 2020 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico is not as good as the 2019 vintage but still a solid wine.
Other wines of note (AKA QPR GREAT or GOOD):
The fascinating wines from this list were the South African wines, the 2021 Cape Jewel Chenin Blanc, Reserve Collection, and the 2021 Unorthodox Sauvignon Blanc, Paarl. I had zero expectations for these wines, so they were a nice find.
The rest are just good enough wines, mostly well priced but not interesting to drink.
Wines that are either good but too expensive or average (AKA EVEN):
This list is also boring, the only real wine to call out, is the 2020 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib, Montsant, nothing interesting but better than previous vintages. The same for the Peraj Petita in the category above.
The rest of the wines are not interesting to me and are on this list because of either quality or price.
Wines that are either OK but far too expensive or bad wines (AKA POOR/BAD):
Like on previous versions of these lists there will always be a nice scoring wine that is so expensive it falls into this QPR list. That would be the 2016 Vitkin Shorashim, Israel – a nice enough wine but the price is crazy.
There are also, many duds to losers and I will just leave you to peruse the names and scores down below.
Roundup
Overall another nice list of QPR WINNERS and some GREAT options as well. I can always look at these kinds of lists and say there are only 7 or 8 wines I would want to buy from this entire list, but that would be a defeatist attitude. The correct way to classify this list is we have 7 or 8 more wines available to us and in the end, as I have stated many times now, I cannot buy all the WINNER wines even if I wanted to. There are just too many good wines out there and that is what we should be focused on!
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
Older Wines that I have not posted (or revising):
2012 Chateau Serilhan Cru Bourgeois, Saint-Estephe – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 57% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Cabernet Franc, The nose of this wine is lovely, deeply mineral-driven, with intense rock, graphite, charcoal, ripe black fruit, balancing tart raspberry, red plum, sweet spices, and sweet oak.
The mouth of this medium-plus bodied wine is rich, layered, and well-balanced with great acidity, freshly tilled earth, mineral, smoke, hints of barnyard, mushroom, and truffle, followed by ripe blackberry, plum, dark tart raspberry, smoke, and beautiful fresh wine approach – bravo!
The finish is long, dark, green, ripe, but well balanced, with smoke, tobacco, dark chocolate, and lovely mushroom, with tertiary notes soon approaching. This wine was opened too early, such is life, still very lovely and a wine I would open again in 4 years. Drink until 2029. (tasted July 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)
2012 Chateau Cheval Brun, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 91+ (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is a blend of 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc.
The nose of this wine is another giant Brett bomb, with crazy mushrooms, rich green notes, earth, red fruit, smoke, and nice tar. The mouth of this wine is layered, ripe, and lovely, with nice elegance, showing blackberry, raspberry, mineral galore, graphite, earth, mushroom, and forest floor, The wine’s extraction has calmed down but the Brett and barnyard are in full gear.
The finish is long and earthy, with mushroom, barnyard notes, rich tobacco, and tar. Bravo! Drink till 2025, maybe longer. (tasted July 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)
Four Summer wines from ElviWines – including two more QPR WINNERS!
When I was in Paris I asked Moises Cohen, from Elvi Wines to ship the new 2021 wines to my hotel. I have written many times about Elvi Wines, including giving them the Winery of the year award for 2021. Moises was so very kind to send them, but then I moved hotels, crazy story for another time. Thankfully, I was not far from the hotel and I rolled in twice to get my wines. As I hinted in my previous post, it was humorous to ask the Concierge for my boxes when I was not a hotel guest. He understood the situation and was more than happy to help.
As I stated in my year in review when I gave Elvi Wines the winery of the Year award, Elvi is not just about big expensive wines. The majority of their wines garner QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) scores regularly. Even the most expensive wines, other than the Sublim, are all in the QPR range.
These four wines are a great example of how diverse and yet wonderful Elvi Wines is. As I posted, in one of my earliest posts on Elvi Wines, more than ten years ago, Mr. Cohen wanted the winery to “sojourn” all around Spain to develop a range of wines, from local grapes, that reflect their respective terroir. The logo on the bottle draws from this inspiration, a Mediterranean boat, with which they can travel across Spain, to harvest and bottle the best of what Spain has to offer. The winery consults with many vineyards and wineries, which allows them to select from many wineries all around Spain where they can make the best wine for the value.
The four wines summer wines hail from regions as diverse as Alella, La Mancha, and Rioja! Three very different regions of Spain, all separated by hundreds of miles in each direction. Still, with all the work required to make this dream a reality, the wines show their terroir and the quality that Elvi Wines has come to be synonymous with. A true joy.
This year, the Cohens have made wine from a new kosher varietal, at least for me, Xarello! I am not an idiot, I know Xarello is used in Cava production, but this is the first still version of Xarello that I have seen made kosher. It is funky, fun, and a true treat! I hope it comes to the USA soon! The main issue with these wines is that they are not available here in the USA yet, other than maybe the 2021 Herenza rose. Which I think is in stock now at Royal.
As usual, the 2021 version of Herenza White is lovely, and one wine that will last a bit longer than the other three. The blend of Pansa Blanca and Sauvignon Blanc just screams with brightness and refreshing notes. Not as funky as the Xarello but also a wine with a richer mouthfeel and lovely minerality. The two roses are solid to nice.
I hope they will come soon and be for sale, these wines are not for long holding, other than the Herenza white, as such I hope they are for sale soon here in the USA.
Many thanks to Moises and Anne for sharing their wonderful wines with me and shipping them to Paris! 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 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Blanco, Alella (M) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This is one of the first ever kosher Xarello kosher wines that I know of. The nose of this wine is fun, with loads of saline, lime blossom, ginger, peach, and smoke, fun! The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is refreshing and very tart with impressive texture, and funk. almond paste, Kaffir lime, smoke, peach, ginger, and more lime, lovely, tart, and flinty – refreshing and lovely! The finish is long, green, herbal, flinty, and fun! Drink now. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12%)
2021 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Rosado , La Mancha (M) – Score: 88.5 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this rose is riper than I like but it is also a bit funky and dirty. The mouth of this medium-bodied rose, shows good acidity, funk, strawberry, raspberry, flint, and orange flavors, but it is a bit simple and rustic, with a nice pith. The finish is long, rustic, and pithy. Drink now. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2021 Elvi Wines Herenza White, Alella – Score: 91.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 60% Pansa Blanca & 40% Sauvignon Blanc. The nose of this lovely wine is screaming with gooseberry, lychee, pink grapefruit, orange blossom, and nice minerality. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine shows lovely acidity, lovely precision, good fruit focus with more acidity, minerality, saline, gooseberry, lovely tension, honeyed citrus, lemon/lime, and minerality. The finish is long, green, tart, and mineral-focused, with great saline, slate, flint, and sweet/tart fruit. Lovely! Drink until 2024. (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12%)
2021 Elvi Wines Herenza, Rose, Rioja – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine shows nice red fruit, with orange blossom, citrus, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, with good acidity, mouth-filling, with fruit focus, strawberry, raspberry, blossom, and more good minerality. Quite refreshing and enjoyable. The finish is long, tart, and mineral-driven, with rock, flint, saline, Orangina, and slate. Enjoy! Drink now! (tasted May 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, Nine QPR WINNERS – May 2022
A side note before we get to the QPR list. I just returned, B”H, from Paris and I know many are interested in my notes from the trip, along with all the roses that are NOT on this list. So, for full disclosure, I will be posting the rose list next and then I will be getting to the wines I enjoyed and suffered in Paris. The good news, there are lots of wonderful wines from the Paris tastings and many will be making their way here. Sadly, the rose list is not that interesting at all. Now on to the QPR list, which will catch me up to almost all the wines before my Paris trip, other than the roses.
QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines
It has been a few months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post and many people have been emailing me about some unique wines I have tasted and some lovely wines that are worth writing about.
Thankfully, no matter how garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with quite a few wonderful QPR wines out there. This post includes some nice wines and some OK wines with the usual majority of uninteresting to bad wines.
I had the fortune of going to Hagafen Wine Cellars with Neal and Elk and the 2018 and 2019 vintages continue to impress. The prices are a bit high but with the price of land and fruit in Napa Valley, the fires, the lack of water, and so much more, the price is what it is. Still, the two QPR winner wines were lovely as were the vast majority of all the wines we enjoyed.
I also had the chance to go to Marciano Estates Winery and the wines showed beautifully there as well. The same can be said about Marciano, in regards to the pricing, both at the price and the reasons for them, so read the notes and make up your minds.
The story of 2021 Israel whites and roses is very unfortunate, it started with a bang. Matar and a couple of others showed very well. Sadly, after that, every other white and rose wine from Israel was not as impressive. They all show middling work and product, very disappointing indeed.
We have a nice list of QPR WINNERS:
- 2019 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, Alexander Valley, Sonoma, CA
- 2018 Hagafen Pinot Noir, Prix, Napa Valley, CA
- 2020 Domaine du Castel Blanc du Castel, Judean Hills
- 2020 Ramon Cardova Albarino, Rias Baixas
- 2021 Baron Edmund de Rothschild Rimapere, Marlborough
- 2021 Matar Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, Galilee
- 2021 Gush Etzion Sauvignon Blanc, Judean Hills
- 2021 Herzog Sauvignon Blanc, Lineage, Lake County, CA
- 2019 Hagafen Cabernet Franc, Napa Valley, CA
There were also a few wines that are a slight step behind with a GREAT or GOOD QPR score:
- 2018 Hagafen Syrah, Napa Valley, CA
- 2019 Hagafen Malbec, Napa Valley, CA
- 2019 Carmel Gewürztraminer, Late Harvest, Single Vineyards, Galilee
- 2021 Dalton Chardonnay, Unoaked, Galilee
- 2020 Pascal Bouchard Chablis, Chablis
- 2021 Tabor Sauvignon Blanc, Galilee
- 2020 Matar Chardonnay, Galilee
- 2015 Louis Blanc Crozes Hermitage, Vintage, Crozes Hermitage
- 2019 Koenig Riesling, Alsace
- 2019 Matar Stratus, Galilee
- 2021 Or Haganuz Blanc, Galille
The official Inaugural South African ESSA Wine Company release – Feb 2022
WOW, another year has come and gone with madness circling and surrounding us, but there are a few very talented folks who brave it all and continue to impress year after year.
We have been blessed with another vintage in South Africa, I think it is still in the midst of harvest, depending on the varietals. However, it means that it is a year past harvest from 2021! Josh Rynderman, the Dual-Hemisphere winemaker of Kos Yeshuos Winery and ESSA Wine Co., was kind enough to let me taste a few of the wines last year, but with my mind locked on getting up a mountain and then getting down alive, I forgot to post the notes! Then I see the official release of what we all knew for some time, that Royal wine was distributing ESSA wines, and man, I have to get to posting on these notes!!!!
To see more about the story and life of Kos Yeshuos and the Ryndermans, you can read my post here about last year’s wines, and this post about the wines made under ESSA Wine Co. Thankfully, the ESSA wines are all here in the USA, at this point, and they should be for sale on KosherWine.com, any day now, and they are available at most shops on the east coast.
By the way, it is cool to see wines from the VERY first vintage of ESSA wines with the 2018 Malbec, and then the 2019 vintage with the Cabernet Franc, the 2020 and 2021 vintages with the Emunah blend, and the white Altria, respectively. So cool to see the full gamut of effort on display for all to see! Bravo brother! much more success! Three QPR (Quality to Price ratio) WINNER wines from 4 vintages – WOW! The Malbec came in as GOOD, a very solid showing.
As you know Josh is a friend, and as always I make sure to disclaim things like that before posting my notes, like with Benyamin Cantz of Four Gates Winery. So, with that, my many thanks to Josh for sharing his wines with me, and yes, I have tasted them again, today, and I miss you, buddy, it has only been a few months since Josh returned to South Africa to do this year’s harvest, but his presence is missed from NorCal. Looking forward to your return for NorCal’s harvest in July/August 2022!
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 ESSA Altira, Cape South Coast – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 50% Semillon and 50% Sauvignon Blanc. The nose opens to Semillon-dominated aromas with lovely honeysuckle, yellow flowers, yellow plums, green/yellow apple, tart gooseberry, lovely mineral, flint, and rich straw/hay. This mouth on this medium-bodied wine is INSANE, the acidity is off the charts, with rich saline, flint, smoke, followed by layers, yes layers, of ripe melon, sweet gooseberry, lovely tart orange, passion fruit, lovely mouthfeel, almost a bit oily, with rich Asian Pear, rich lemongrass, ripe yellow grapefruit, and a precision and focus that is really incredible. The finish is long, green mineral-driven, and tart, with still incredible acidity, perfectly balanced, with flint, white chalk, green olives, and smoke galore. Bravo! Drink until 2024. (tasted March 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)
2020 ESSA Emunah, Hemel en Aarde Ridge – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a red Bordelaise blend. The nose on this wine is a lovely red, dark cherry, dark red fruit, earth, mushroom, smoke, tar, loam, wet earth, and sweet oak. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice and approachable but one that will gain from age, with rich mushroom, ripe raspberry, dark cherry, nice bell pepper, with lovely mouth-coating tannin, rich currants, hints of black plum, with charcoal, lovely garrigue, and earth. The finish is long green, earthy, with garrigue, charcoal, roasted meat, smoke, Cuban cigar, and nice leather. Drink from 2023 until 2027. (tasted March 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)
——————————- reposted here from 2020 and 2019 tasting ———————————
2019 ESSA Cabernet Franc (French Barrels) – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose on this wine is oaky to start with loads of heat, with a few minutes that blow off, to show lovely earth, forest floor, and dirt, with dark currant, green notes, foliage, green tea, and lovely red fruit. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is still quite young, with loads of screaming tannin, lovely acidity, and oak, with loads of sweet dill, spice, and nice control overall, with 13.8% ABV, showing green notes of asparagus/cucumber with cranberry, dried raspberry, and tart fruit, and lovely floral notes of rosehip, still showing oak, hints of smoke, mushroom, and sweet strawberry. An elegant wine with great control. The finish is long, green, dark, and yet tart, with a great balance from the acid and the fruit, with lovely sweet tobacco, dark chocolate, and earth, with graphite, and more mushroom lingering long. Bravo! Drink from 2023 until 2027. (tasted Sept 2020)
2018 Essa Wine Co. Malbec – Score: 91 (QPR: GOOD)
The color of this wine is incredibly dark, almost purely black. The nose on this wine is dense, black, and truly fruity, with incredible roasted meat, black and blue fruit, and red fruit lurking somewhere, with black olives, and the smoke monster coming out in the background. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is ripe and starts off a bit scary, with time this calms down very well, mostly because of the incredible acidity and tart juicy fruit, showing lovely juicy strawberry, boysenberry, with blackberry, and plum, backed by layers of brooding dark fruit, with nice earth/loam, smoke, and roasted animal. The finish is long, ripe, with strawberry juicy fruity, with mineral galore, graphite giving way to layers of smoke, with crazy tobacco, tar, and asphalt. Nice! Drink until 2024.
The top 25 QPR Kosher wine WINNERS of 2021
This past year 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 2021.
This year, the list came to a total of 25 names, and none had to dip below 91 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.
I have added a few new things this year. The first is QPR for France, the prices for many wines there, are dirt cheap! 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!
Shoutout to a GREAT wine that is just sitting around!
I am sorry to get on my soapbox before we get to the top QPR wines of 2021. But I have to ask what is wrong with the 2018 Vitkin Grenache Blanc??? Yes, it is a bit expensive, but it is also one of the best white wine on the market currently, hailing from Israel. It is incredible – funky, acidic, rich, and expressive – please folks – try the bottle and then once you find out how awesome it is, buy some!! As always, I get nothing for promoting/suggesting a wine, NOTHING, I am simply reminding folks – great wines still hail from Israel!
The wines on the list this year are all available here in the USA, 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:
The 2021 Red QPR kosher WINNER
The 2017 Clos Mesorah is lovely! It is available in the USA and elsewhere. I tasted the 2018 and 2019 as well, and they are lovely, but I will taste them again on the release here in the USA.
2017 Clos Mesorah, Montsant – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This is a super elegant, floral, and feminine wine, bravo!! The nose on this wine is beautiful, showing floral notes of violet, white flowers, with blueberry, black fruit, smoke, roasted duck, earth, and loads of smoke, dirt, and loam. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is so elegant, layered, concentrated, earthy, fruity, smoky, and richly extracted, with boysenberry, lovely green olives, blackberry, dark cherry, plum, smoke, earth, loam, and lovely sweet cedar, with green notes, sweet tobacco, sweet basil, and lovely acid. The finish is long, green, with draping elegant tannin, showing a bit more acid than even 2019, sweet smoking tobacco, dark chocolate, white pepper, and anise. Bravo!! Drink from 2025 until 2035. (tasted November 2021) (in Montsant, Spain) (ABV = 14.5%)
The 2021 White QPR kosher WINNERS
These two wines were available before but I fear the 2019 Netofa Latour, White is sold out, and the 2020 vintage is not as good as the 2019 vintage. The 2018 Tel Qasser, White is lovely and available.
2019 Netofa Latour, White – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose on this wine is pure heaven, incredible, refined oak, with a refined approach to the fruit, straw, earth, pear, white apple, and smoke, with creme brulee, awesome! The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is truly impressive, with layers of acidity, elegance, sweet oak, with oak tannin, but the creme brulee and smoke are beautiful, with green notes, pear, tart guava, and sweet apple brioche, wow! The finish is long, green, tart, with sweet fruit, mineral, slate, and more freshly baked goods. Bravo! Drink from 2023 until 2030. (tasted January 2021)
2018 Netofa Tel Qasser, White – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
The 2018 vintage shows far more of the classic Roussanne reductive aspects than 2017 does today, but it is also far richer, deeper in intensity, and approachable, but I would let this lie. The nose on this wine, like 2017 starts closed, yes, it is open, but please there is so much more here, it is just covered in marzipan, almonds, walnuts, oak, smoke, orange, orange blossom, with rich salinity, big bold and bright fruit hiding, and lovely spice. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is incredible, just WOW, and that is with 10 minutes of air, this wine will improve with a couple of years, but I do see how approachable this wine can feel, and if you want to go ahead, but it will be better in a few years, with layers upon layers of smoke, ripe controlled fruit, with ripe peach, apricot, melon, incredible nutty notes, lovely tannin, green olives, wrapped in an unctuous and oily mouthfeel that feels like being wrapped in a sushi roll of oak, smoke, fruit, and nori – WOW! The finish is so long, I AM VERY HAPPY it was my last wine of the tasting, this is crazy, so incredible, with lingering notes that last forever of almonds, walnuts, nuts, smoke, grip, orange blossom, orange, tannin, acid, rock, hay, and more acid, incredible! BRAVO!! BRAVO to the master! Drink from 2023 until 2027. (tasted March 2021)
Rest of the top QPR Winners (in no particular order)
2019 Chateau LaGrange Grand Cru Classe En 1855, Saint-Julien – Score: 94+ (QPR: GREAT)
WOW, what wine for a 12.5% ABV wine, come on, the next time someone says I need to wait for the phenolics to talk with me, the answer is this wine! This wine is a blend of 80% cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, & 2% Petit Verdot.
The nose on this wine is lovely and perfumed with rich minerality, dense loam, graphite, smoke, roasted animal, clay, black and red fruit, all wrapped in more dirt, tar, and licorice, wow!
The mouth on this medium-plus bodied wine is beautiful, the acid is perfect, balanced and tart, elegant and layered, with lovely raspberry, plum, dark currants, hints of blue fruit, with ripe cassis, scraping mineral, dirt, loam, roasted herbs, menthol, with sweet vanilla, and lovely licorice.
The finish is long, with draping tannin, scraping mineral, and lovely tar, loam, nice leather, and rich garrigue, really lovely! Drink from 2031 until 2042. (tasted November 2021) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
A few good red wines along with too many misses – Jan/Feb 2022 Tasting
This is my second QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) WINNER Hit and Miss post of 2022 and while this started in January as a poor showing, I had two more wines in February that made the overall post much better. We started with one QPR WINNER and that grew to three WINNER by February. Still, the star of the show was the first QPR WINNER, the 2016 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Assai, Gran Selezione, Chianti Classico!
This post is filled with many more examples of what people are raving about from Israel, the 2018 red vintage, and all I can say is, yes they are not date juice! They are not uncontrolled madness, they are OK, they lack acidity and mostly they are copy and paste of each other with different fruit. Still, an improvement over other vintages. Essentially, much like the 2016 vintage, another highly vaunted vintage, which I described to my buddy EA as: “milk chocolate, either blue or black fruit, loads of cedar and tobacco – copy and paste wines”.
I wish it was better, even when God forces a winery to make good wine by keeping the temperatures at bay, they still make mediocre stuff. Such is life! Thankfully, we are blessed with Terra di Seta, aka TDS, which won my first ever winery of the year in 2019 and a winery that I have been touting for many years now! The newly released 2016 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Assai, Gran Selezione, is a stunning wine and maybe their best Assai so far!
The next two QPR WINNER are the 2019 Herzog Winery Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, and the 2020 Chateau Signac Pliocene, Cotes du Rhone. I must say, the 2019 Herzog is shockingly ripe but the level of acidity it has really helped to tamp down the fruit and with time they all work together to make a harmonious wine. Still, it is ripe to start so leave this wine alone for many years. The 2020 Chateau Signac Pliocene, on the other hand, is lovely and ready to go. It is NOT as ripe as the 2018 vintage, but it is nice and very enjoyable for the next few years.
Finally, there is a repeat tasting of the 2019 Pavillon du Vieux Chantre, Puisseguin Saint-Emilion. As I stated in the Moises Taieb post, I needed to taste a few wines a second time and I am happy I did. The 2019 Pavillon du Vieux Chantre showed beautifully and just as I expected it to, after having tasted all the previous vintages. Thankfully, this wine is available in the USA in an easy-to-find location, from Andrew Breskin and Liquid Kosher.
The rest are OK, QPR score-wise, with only one wine garnering a score of GREAT, which is the 2017 Ma’ayan Asis Blend, these are relabeled wines from Tom Winery. The Tzora was nice but overpriced for what it gives.
I also tasted three 2019 Pinot Noirs and the clear winner, of those three, was the 2019 Goose Bay Pinot Noir, Small Batch. It is a lovely wine and one to enjoy over the next couple of years.
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2016 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Assai, Gran Selezione, Chianti Classico – Score: 93.5 (QPR: WINNER)
This vintage of Assai is its best and this wine is 100% Glorious, rich, elegant, focused, balanced, fruity, but tart, refreshing and concentrated – WOW! BRAVO!!! The nose on this wine is pure heaven, it is soy sauce, funk, forest floor, mushroom, fruity, red and black fruit, tar, smoke, violet, very floral, wild herbs, and rich mineral. The mouth on this medium to full-bodied wine is ripe, concentrated, but well-controlled, with ripe plum, dark strawberry, candied raspberry compote, with menthol, licorice, baking spices, all wrapped in dense sweet oak and elegant draping tannins, just incredible! The finish is long, dense, dark, rich, layered, concentrated, yet perfectly balanced, with screaming acidity, rich espresso coffee, mushrooms, almost truffle, forest floor, mineral, charcoal, graphite, and star anise. WOW!!! Drink from 2026 until 2033. BRAVO!!! (tasted January 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 15%)
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