Category Archives: Uncategorized
2013 Pascal Bouchard Chablis Le Classique and 2012 Four Gates Pinot Noir Ayala
Well this past week was a quiet one, and one that was really well enjoyed being back home from Alaska! To keep it simple, we made a lovely paella that I love to make right before Shabbos starts, but we skipped all the toppings. It stays warm in the oven and does not over cook, which is great. In some ways, it is better than risotto, because getting the correct consistency for risotto after being in the oven for an hour to two hours after making it – is really hard!
For the protein (we skipped the Paella toppings) we went with sausages and my wife’s patented honey roasted lemon chicken – AWESOME!
For wine, we paired it with two wines that were better than I thought they would be. One was one of the new 2012 Four Gates Ayala wines, one that I did not post about here. In hindsight I should have, the 2012 Four Gates Ayala Pinot Noir is very nice. Soft and plush but robust enough to catch your attention. I also tasted a bottle of the 2013 Pascal Bouchard Chablis, that I wrote about on my kosher French wines post.
I will warn you that the Chablis starts off a bit sweet, showing its residual sugar, but with time the crazy acid and tart fruit emerges. This is an unoaked Chardonnay, and though oak is lovely in Chardonnay, this wine is nice and viscous with enough weight to handle pasta sauces and roasted chicken.
The wine notes follow below:
2013 Pascal Bouchard Chablis, Le Classique – Score: A- (mevushal)
I actually like this wine now more than when I had it at KFWE. Please beware – this wine starts off with a very clear and distinct residual sugar attack, that calms down with time. So when you open this wine, give it air and decant it. It will grace you with a lovely bite and attack of lemon that was missing before doing so.
The nose on this unoaked Chardonnay – after decanting, shows lovely pear, apricot, English lavender, funk, and lovely herb. The mouth on this wine medium bodied wine is free of oak, with a weight to it that belies its lack of wood, also it is without the hollow I sensed earlier at the KFWE, showing nicely with tart fruit, lemon, citrus joy, along with with nectarine, orange, tangerine, peach, and summer fruit. The finish is long and refreshing with lovely pith, tart fruit, intense spice, mineral, and cloves. Bravo! and this wine is mevu!!!
2012 Four Gates Pinot Noir, Ayala – Score: B+
The nose on this wine is filled with cherry, raspberry, coffee, and herb. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is spicy and green with strawberry, cloves, mint, eucalyptus, along with still searing tannin, mad acid, and red fruit. The finish on this wine is mineral based and core with awesome acid, spice, sweet dill, and lovely searing tannin with spicy oak and hints of barnyard. This is not a complex wine as much as it is a solid wine with good fruit structure and acid.
KWS Presents the 7th Annual “New Wines for the New Year” Tasting Tuesday, Sep 8th NYC!
This is the 7th annual wine event for the Jewish New Year being put on by the Kosher Wine Society (KWS)! The KWS is run and managed by Aron Ritter, and as always he has many tricks up his sleeve!
The Kosher Wine Society (KWS for those in the know) was started in 2005 when Aron Ritter could not find real events to attend that centered on one of his true passions, kosher wine! Remember, this was a point in time, when Lance Armstrong could still wear a yellow jersey! Further, the only kosher wine event, at that time, in the United States, was the Gotham Wine Extravaganza! So, the KWS was born, and slowly but surely it has grown into a membership that spans a large cross-section of the New York social scene.
The wine event will be a cross-section of many kosher wine providers much like the Gotham Wine Extravaganza! The KFWE is always awesome, like it was this past year, but you get only Royal’s wines. At the KWS event you get some Royal wines and other wines as well.
Three year’s ago event was wonderful and shall I say interesting as it occurred on “Fashion Week”, in NY, and the hotel where the event took place was hosting a party for the models – nuff said! This year the views will be far more beautiful (more on that in a bit).
As always, the wine list evolves over time, check this web page to follow the wines that will be available for tasting. For now the wines to taste are the Recanati wines (Single Varietal wines for sure), Gvaot, the Dalton wines, and the Teperberg wines as well! So many options and the list is barely 1/5 to 1/6th the way there! As the wine list grows – I am sure many more cannot miss wines will be added!!! Also, there will be a few winemakers this year, more than in the past, so look out for them as well!
There will be new Wines from Israel, California, France Italy Spain and much more. Enjoy amazing New wines and Great Kosher Food.
The event’s location this year again, is atop a building on the Avenue of the Americas, giving you unobstructed views of the city and Central Park from the 41st floor! The date for the event is September 8th 6:30 to 9:30 PM. The address is: Bernstein Global Wealth 1345 Avenue of the Americas 41st Floor (54th and 55th Street). Because of tight security around the building, tickets will not be sold at the venue. However, we have a great discount for all readers of the blog – so get your tickets here now!! Tickets are already going fast, so get them while you can!!
Finally, go with a game plan! Once you sign up, keep watching the page, as Aaron is very good at updating the wines that will be presented at the event. Then look at the list and see which wines you have not yet tasted and which you will be interested in. Attend early, taste them and be sure to buy the wines you like for the Jewish New Year and especially for the Sukkot celebrations that follow!
I am sure the event will be a smash like it was last year – so, get your tickets early before the prices go up and get there early, as last year, some of the best wines got poured out quickly (think Gvaot Pinot)
Alaska trip and some great beers
Yes I have been off-line for too long. Work and travel have been killing me. This past two weeks were travel and Alaska was the destination. To say it is beautiful would be an understatement! Sadly, wine wise there is little to no options. I got a bottle of 2013 Recanati Cabernet Sauvignon, Diamond label for 20 dollars and that was the best option they had. It was OK, but like two years ago in China, the beer saved the day.
The animal life in Alaska is amazing! There are 800 pound grizzly bears that eat fish out of streams, not 50 feet away from folks fishing for the same stuff! How? Because there is so much fish in the streams, salmon to be exact, that the bears could care less about the humans. Insane!
There are beautiful moose, caribou (reindeer), birds galore, wolves, fox, you name it. We saw Orca in the water, along with whales and dolphins. But the thing that most epitomizes Alaska to me are the glaciers. They are massive and when a chunk falls off into the water – the sound is amazing! They can look like a frozen moon landscape or just massive ice. But the craziest part about it, is the blue hue they give off!
So, I attached some pics to enjoy and my note on the 2013 Recanati Cab.
2013 Recanati Cabernet Sauvignon, Diamond Series – Score: B+
It is a nice enough wine, nothing special, but nice. The nose shows rich menthol, blackcurrant, crushed herb, and lovely dark cherry. The mouth on this medium bodied wine shows more eucalyptus, searing tannin, nice acid, and good fruit structure with blackberry, plum, and green notes. The finish is long with mad dill, coconut, tobacco, and spice. Nice.
Must taste wines at kfwe la 2015
So, I will keep this post very short. As stated in the last post, the kfwe in la was for sale still, well they sold out.
If you have a ticket, here is my list of wines that are cannot miss:
Padis table(5):
2012 brilliance padis Napa cab
Pacifica(6):
2012 Oregon pinot noir
Goose bay(6):
Fume blanc
Pinot grigio
Or haganuz(7):
Elima no sulfites
Selection bokobsa (26):
Domaine l’Or de Line Chateauneuf Du Pape 2012
Sancerre 2012
Chablis
Capcanes(19):
Peraj Ha’Abib
La Flor del Flor de Primavera
Carmel(9):
Kayoumi White Riesling
Limited Edition
2011 carmel cab kayoumi
Castel (17):
Rose du Castel
Grand Vin
Petite castel
Elvi Wines (18):
Herenza Rioja Semi
Herenza Rioja Crianza
Herenza Rioja Reserva
Cava Brut
Adar 2007
Flam (15):
Rose
Blanc
Reserve Cab
Reserve Syrah
Flechas (25):
Gran Malbec
French Table (24):
Malartic
Yon Figac
Chateau Giscours
Leoville Poyferre
Leoville Poyferre Pavillon
Chateau Moulin Riche
Fourcas Dupre 10
Herzog(3):
Variation Five and four
Special Edition Chalk Hill
Single Vineyard Dry Creek Cab
Cab/zin/syrah
Rollan de By: (24)
Chateau Haut Candissas Medoc
Shiloh(10):
Shor Barbera
Shor Cab Franc
Tabor(13):
Adama Merlot
Adama Shiraz
Tabor Limited
Tulip(14):
Mostly Franc
Reserve Syrah
Just Cab
White Franc
Weinstock(4):
Cellar Select Petite Sirah
Cellar Select Cab franc
Italian table (22):
Terra di seta classico Chianti
Kosher Wine events for 2015 are set and the KFWE is selling fast
I will keep this short and sweet – the 2015 kosher wine events are all in and will start selling out VERY soon.
The first one you MUST jump on is the 2015 Kosher Food and Wine Festival (KFWE) at Metropolitan Pavilion 125 W 18th St., NY, NY 10011 on February 9th, 2015. It literally sells out each and every year, and all the procrastinators complain to me bitterly, about how they cannot get in – well BUY YOUR TICKETS and they are 18 dollars off still. My coupon code this year is MUSINGS18, put it on the second page, after you checkout button, before the buy button.
New wines this year at both the KFWE NY and the KFWE-LA, some making their debut at the show include:
- Herzog Variations – showcasing the unique qualities that different regions of California’s famed wine country bring to their wines.
- Ovadia by Ovadia Bartenura Montepulciano d’Abruzzo
- Flam Noble, the new flagship offering from Flam
- Pavillon de Leoville Poyferre – a new young approachable Bordeaux from a top 2ndgrowth chateau in Bourdeaux
- Montefiore Kerem Moshe – Recently released flagship wine from the Montefiore winery
- Herzog Single Vineyard Dry Creek – Herzog Wine Cellar’s Annual single vineyard release which showcases a wine made from grapes sourced from a distinguished vineyard in California.
- Titora Winery, located in Modi’in, Israel, is the newest boutique winery whose products are imported and distributed by Royal Wine Corp.
Guests will enjoy tastings from more than 20 kosher restaurants, caterers and gourmet specialty food companies from the greater NYC area including sushi, BBQ, Asian, Continental, French, and traditional kosher with some modern twists! For those guests with a sweet tooth, not to worry, to complete the experience there will be desserts galore including cookies, pastries, ice cream (parve of course) and other specialty desserts.
The next one to get on is the KFWE LA, which has also moved from the Hyatt to the W in Hollywood on February 11, 2015 – check my blog posting for more on that.
The next wine event is the Grapevine Wines Grand Tasting for Sunday February 15th, 2015 at the Grapevine Wines shop in Monsey, NY. The tasting is from 5:30 – 8:30 PM, it is the 15th Year anniversary of the Kosher Wine store. The wine event will take place at 455 Route 306 Wesley Hills, NY 10952, 845-364-9463. Ask for Yehoshua Werth.
The next one is the return of the Gotham Wine Extravaganza, that was a blast last year! The date is not yet set, but look here for updates. As I have reported for the past many years, Gotham throws a crazy wine tasting with an array of wines unmatched by any other kosher wine tasting event, as there are wines from all of the kosher wine importers. I hope that anyone in the New York City can make it.
The next wine kosher event is the City Winery event, that is another kosher wine event that includes many wine importers and it is also does not yet have a date, but look here for updates. Last year the event was quite impressive, and I am sure it will be equally impressive this year.
The 2014 Private International Food and Wine Festival is coming back again to Herzog Cellars in August!
Once again the Herzog Winery is showing off their beautiful facility with a once a year private wine and food event – the Oxnard Private IFWF! Last year the IFWF in Oxnard was a massive success!!! The wines were awesome, but even better was the food – from the world renowned kosher Tierra Sur – attached to the Herzog Winery!
For all the images, wine notes, and revelry from my previous visit, check out my post here. Well, once again, the private and intimate affair returns to the Herzog Winery, echoing the past IFWF that used to be hosted in the beautiful and intimate Oxnard winery (2008, 2009, 2010 part 1 and 2010 part 2, and the 2011 and final Oxnard IFWF)! Once again, the rooms at the Herzog Winery will be opened and you will have room to roam and peruse the many wine tasting options that will be on display for your discriminating palate! Those will include an amazing lineup of wines from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Australia, Israel, Argentina and beyond!
Truly this is an event not to miss whether you are a wine lover, foodie – or hopefully BOTH! The Tierra Sur Restaurant will be pulling out all the stops and serving up many of their favorite treats!
Save the date! The event will take place at the Herzog Wine Cellars in Oxnard, CA on Wednesday, August 20, 2014 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (PDT).
As an added bonus, I was able to procure a 15% coupon for all the attendees. Use the coupon code: MUSINGS or just click on this link. Buy the tickets and mark your calendar – I am sure it will be a lovely soirée filled with food and wine in an all so familiar, comfortable and intimate setting.
I am sure you are as excited as I am, so here is the information, I was able to get from the winery…
We are bringing the Private International Food & Wine Festival back to Oxnard for an intimate, one day engagement August 20th at Herzog Wine Cellars. The event will feature more than 200 different wines gathered from nearly every wine producing region of the world. In addition to an amazing lineup of wines from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Australia, Israel, Argentina and beyond – a wide array of gourmet delicacies will be prepared and served by the chefs of Tierra Sur throughout the entire three hour event! This is an exclusive opportunity to choose from literally hundreds of wines, while enjoying exquisite cuisine from one of Southern California’s highest rated restaurants.
Tickets are limited, as we would like this event to focus on enjoying incredible wines from across the globe together with our close fans. Only the first 200 ticket buyers will be allowed into the event, and Herzog Wine Cellars will be closed to the public for the evening. This event will have all of the rare selections and unbelievable flavor that our Los Angeles event has, only in a completely private setting.
Lovely kosher Rhone wines from the Chateauneuf du Pape, Israel, and California
It has been quite sometime since I last posted, it is a mix of many things that has limited my access to time to type up all my notes and thoughts. Over Passover we enjoyed a few wines and many of them were in the theme of Rhone wines, including two that were actually from the highly vaunted Chateauneuf du Pape wine region (a sub region of the Rhone wine region).
I have written extensively about Rhone wines from the best kosher purveyors of these lovely wine varietals; Syrah, Mourvedre, Grenache, Carignan (accepted by the Rhone Ranger community), Petite Sirah (same with this varietal), Grenache Blanc, and Roussanne. These varietals are gaining traction in the kosher wine world, with great help from Netofa Wines, Vignobles David Winery, Reacanati Winery, Hajdu/Brob Wines, and Shirah Winery.
There are many wineries making a wine or two from the Rhone varietals, but few have taken to the varietals like the list above. Recanati may well be making Cabernet and the such, the Mediterranean labels are almost all Rhone in style and varietal and it has been a boon for both buyers and the winery. The Carignan Wild has been a huge winner for the winery, the Petite Sirah is magnificent, and the white RSR is now a unique blend of Roussanne and Marsanne. But the best wine from the Med series may well be the 2012 Marselan – an absolutely insane wine.
Of course, when you think Rhone Ranger and Israel, the real ranger MUST be Pierre who released his first wine under the Netofa Winery label in 2009. It was an entire line of red and white wines based solely on the Rhone and Loire Valley varietals. Since then he has branched out to Portugal grapes, but the red and rose Netofa and Netofa Latour wines are all Rhone varietals. The white varieties are Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley.
Even before that, Jonathan Hajdu and the Weiss Brothers have been releasing wines based on the Rhone Ranger methodology, under the Brobdingnagian and Shirah labels respectively, going as far back as 2005. Read the rest of this entry
2013 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 48,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 18 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Kosherwinemusings’s 2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 42,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 10 Film Festivals
Wine Spectator scores a few more Israeli Wines
Two months ago, I wrote an article about some scores and notes that the Wine Spectator released in the June 30th edition. The wines were scored by Kim Marcus where he reviewed some 21 wines from Israel and many scored above 85 point.
Well, the beat goes on and Mr. Marcus scored another 8 wines from Israel and all of them scored 85 or higher. These are the wines and the scores:
- 2009 Domaine du Castel ‘C’ Chardonnay – 90
- 2009 Clos de Gat Syrah, Har’el (NOT KOSHER) – 90
- 2009 Clos de Gat Syrah, Sycra (NOT KOSHER) – 90
- 2009 Recanati Carignan, Reserve, Wild – 90
- 2008 Yarden Merlot – 89
- 2010 Recanati Cabernet Sauvignon – 87
- 2010 Recanati Merlot – 87
- 2011 Recanati Yasmin, Red – 85
So, like last time I have a few comments here. First and foremost – BRAVO! Seriously, this is great! Israel is finally getting the scores that match the quality and wines. In NO way am I saying that the scores before did not fit the facts, I am NOWHERE in the same solar system as Mr. Marcus – so please let me set that straight before we go on here. What I am saying is that Israeli wines are improving – PERIOD! Whether it is the fact that wineries are starting to gain control over their hot climate fruit, or they are improving their processes to keep the fruit and the wine under control and thereby improving quality. Scores from all around the wine world are going up and the wine world is truly starting to take notice of Israel and their wine potential – so again BRAVO to all!
To set things straight, though on a sad note, Daniel Rogov who died on September 6th 2011, passed before he could truly see what seems to be the turning of the tide, in terms of worldwide appreciation for Israel’s wines. It will almost be a year since his passing and there is not a day that goes by, that I do not think about him and the positive impact that he had on, both the kosher and the Israeli, wine world. I am sure he is looking down on this state of affairs and laughing like he always did, and taking it all in with a glass of Cognac in hand.
Secondly, like I stated last times – please do not wonder why these scores may be high or low in comparison to the rest of the world. These wine scores are perfectly in line with what others scored these wines, and there are a few honest surprises for me again.
To start, I posted the Clos de Gat wines – even though they are not kosher, because this was about Israeli wines, and in the words of Richard Shaffer, from Israel Wine Direct, Kosher is NOT a Country – LOVE that line!
Also, I am so happy that Mr. Marcus appreciated the Recanati wines as much as we all do. Like I posted in an earlier piece, Recanati Winery was built on the premise that they could and will create great kosher wines for a reasonable price! In other words solid kosher QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wines! The lowest three scoring wines go for less than 12 dollars at most wine stores. Further, the Yarden Merlot goes for 16 dollars, on a bad day, which makes it another solid QPR wine. The top four wines do run in the 40 to 60 dollar range, and two of them are not kosher, but the real surprise of the bunch is the 2009 Domaine du Castel Chardonnay!
The 2009 Domaine du Castel Chardonnay has quite a swirl of controversy around it, given its clear reduction, the last few times I tasted it. Now, I did enjoy it once when I went to Castel Winery itself, but many in the community feel it is not a great wine, and clearly not a wine that shows the best for Castel Chardonnays. Still, it is great to see that the world is happy to ignore the Israel-centric views and score the wine for what they perceive it to be.
My wines notes follow below for the wines that I have tasted:
2009 Recanati Carignan, Reserve, Kerem Ba’al (Wild) – Score: A-
The nose explodes with almost overripe blackberry, dates, prune, raspberry, nice floral notes, roasted meat, and plum. The mouth is rich and layered, with concentrated but accessible fruit, along with a crazy inky structure, and a mouth that is massive and rich with mouth coating tannin, and nice cedar. The finish is long and ripe with nice chocolate, butterscotch notes, heavy spice, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper, and a salty finish. This is clearly a new-world style wine with crazy fruit forward and heavy use of oak, but one that is quite lovely all the same. There will be some that do not like the heavy smoke or the overripe fruit, and that is fine, just know what you are getting into with this wine. Many have given this wine huge scores while I see this one for what it is, which is a crazy unique and lovely wine that is a bit too overdone and overripe for my taste. Drink till 2016.
2010 Recanati Merlot, Diamond Series – Score: B++
The nose starts off floral with nice black cherry, green notes, and black currant. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is softening up with rounding tannin, black plum, green bell pepper, and nice cedar notes. The finish is long and spicy with good spice, black pepper, tobacco, vanilla, and bitter notes on the long finish.
Wine Musings Blog 