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California Dreamin’ about more 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 vintages and a Herzog Event
The last large post on California wines was at the beginning of 2025. Then life took over, and I have been dribbling posts out. It was time to get the next big California post out! This will not be a retrospective, like I did here. This will be more like the 2024 post I did here, covering the California wines I have recently enjoyed.
It has been a long time since my last post, and I am a good 100 wines behind, at this point, so these next few posts will be short and to the point.
In September, I got into my car and drove to Hagafen Winery. Covenant Winery sent me their samples. There are no new wines from Marciano Estates or Shadybrook Estates. I also had many wines shipped to me from Herzog and Shirah. I also went down to a large event at Herzog Wine Cellars and tasted all their new wines, more on that below. So, this is not as full a tasting of California wines as last time, but very close. This is NOT a list of available wines and scores for each of these wineries’ wines, but rather a set of tastings of what I have not yet had from these wineries. I have two Invei wines, too!
The plan here is to list the wineries and their wines in the order I tasted them (since I did taste some wines more than once). As I stated before, Covenant continues to impress, as does Shirah, recently, with some of their new wines, which are pretty remarkable!
Many thanks to each and every winery here for putting up with me and sharing their excellent wines.
My overall feelings about the California 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 vintages
Let us start with the facts: the 2021 vintage for California was the best I can remember. Yes, better than 2012 or 2014, and all around, everyone, and every winery came out with fantastic wines. Why? Because God gave each winery enough time to not screw it up, and even when they wanted to screw it up, he made sure they could not! DONE! Look, God gave them a raw deal in 2020, across the state – and we all know it! So, in 2021, he made up for it in spades (whatever that means)!
The 2021 vintage stood out in BOTH the Mevushal and non-Mevushal wine categories. For white and red wines. It was a shockingly good season all around, and everyone came out smelling like roses!
Fast forward to 2022, and yeah, things were quite different! The wines are classic Cali ripe, and while that works for some, I prefer my wines balanced and focused.
The 2023 vintage is looking good, but the REAL focus here is on the non-Mevushal wines! The Mevushal wines are showing success, but side-by-side with their non-Mevushal counterparts, they are paling in comparison. Add to that, scale and winery focus, and I am finding some REAL steals in 2023 and 2024! Read the notes, but focus primarily on the non-Mevushal wines in 2023, IMHO!
The 2024 vintage is a bit early to call. So far, I have found the white wines lovely, and some of the reds have exceeded my expectations. The vintage was smoking hot; I live here, so I would know. However, some wineries managed this by picking earlier, using water in the vineyards or in the wine, or improving canopy management. The intense heat waves came at the end of the very hot summer, but there were some cooler times in between. In the end, time will tell, but what I have enjoyed so far, and posted here, shows promise!
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Paris tasting of Royal Wine’s 2024 Roses and Whites – Late May 2025
Thankfully, Avi Davidowitz from Kosher Wine Unfiltered is now able to join me on my visits in May and November. This trip was once again very complicated, given that another late Passover occurred, and then Avi had business trip issues, but it all worked out. It never ceases to amaze me how many days the French take off in a year! Thankfully, the trip was successful; we arrived and returned home, so I would call that a success.
We did little to no wine searching, once again. Other than one store, there are very few, if any, new 2024 White or Rosé wines in Paris, anywhere. All the stores are still selling the 2022 or 2023 white and rose wines. This is the same issue that exists in the USA. Online and brick-and-mortar stores are loaded with old wines. So, yeah, not much going on right now! Furthermore, the kosher wine-buying public has all but given up on rosé. This is NOT the case in the non-Kosher market, but it is in the Kosher market. White wines are far out-selling rosés, and the difference is significant.
Additionally, I remain surprised by how little wine French people consume. It’s a declining Kosher wine demographic, for sure! Israel is drinking more kosher wine, as is the USA, but Europe, as a whole, is drinking less kosher wine. The UK is a demographic that seems to be holding its own, but this is mainly among wine enthusiasts. Visit a store in London, and you’ll typically find kosher wines that are a year or more out of date.
As on past trips, the hotel knows me by now; they are very gracious and put up with all the wine deliveries, always making sure to handle them with care. Kudos to the team! This time, we had multiple hotel shipments as Avi was there for Business the week before we hung out. It was challenging wrangling all the shipments, but we managed to get it done, and many thanks to all the wineries and producers for their assistance!
Avi was in France the week before we met for business reasons, and he stayed at a different hotel. Many of the boxes arrived there, and yet more boxes came to our shared hotel. The most amusing thing was that we had so many boxes that we lost track of them, and the hotel did too! B”H, all the wines arrived and we tasted them all. Some wines came after Avi left – but that will all be described in the Hotel Post.
The next morning, we made our way to the lovely home of Menahem Israelievitch, Managing Director and Winemaker at Royal Wine Europe. At the tasting, we enjoyed many lovely wines, and you can read the notes below. I would like to share a few thoughts on them.
- The 2024 Roses, which I have tasted, are showing better than the 2023 vintage. I found some of these wines enjoyable.
- Overall, I think Rose production is slowing down, and stores I visited in NYC and NJ said they are being very diligent about which/Roses they bring in. Further, Paris and much of Europe are still sitting on 2022 Roses. The USA has stores with 2023 Roses. As stated, we hit Peak-Rose in 2022, and we are living off the leftovers.
- We had eight WINNER White wines. Two of those wines are repeats. These are lovely wines, and they should all be available in the USA in the Mevushal status that I tasted in France
The tasting was great as always. We tasted about 31 wines, 10 of which were red. Once again, the wines have been very slow to get to the USA from France; as such, this was the first time I had a chance to taste almost any of these wines, other than the two repeated Chablis. There was a lovely new Chenin Blanc, the 2024 J. de Villebois Chenin Blanc from the Val de Loire, IGT. There was also a new port from Portugal, the N.V. Porto Cordovero Ruby Port, Porto. Other than those two wines, the rest were just new vintages of past releases.
With that said, the La Maison Bleue wine line continues to expand with yet another label and blend, the 2024 La Maison Bleue Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre. Nice!
Avi took all the pictures so if you have any issues blame him! Thanks, buddy!
My thanks to Menahem Israelievitch and Royal Wines for hosting us and letting us taste the wonderful wines. 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 wine notes are in the order the wines were tasted:
2024 Chateau Les Riganes Rose, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine features notes of peach, flint, orange, cherry, and ripe fruit. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice; it has good acidity, nice fresh notes of orange, peach, lemon/lime, raspberry, and lovely tart fruit. The finish is long, tart, refreshing, with notes of flint and a nice finish. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wines Tasting, France) (ABV = 12%)
2024 Rose Adasa Rose, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine shows more red fruit, fresh notes of strawberry, lemon/lime, orange, and slate. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, with good acidity, nice peach, raspberry, and strawberry, slate, nectarine, and orange notes. The finish is long and refreshing, with a nice slate note. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wines Tasting, France) (ABV = 12%)
2024 Roubine R de Roubine, Mediterranee – Score: 89 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is almost classic Provence, with notes of strawberry and crème, as well as nice raspberry, smoke, and floral aromas. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is less interesting than the first two Rosés; it has a bit less acidity, with strawberry, but not enough acidity to pump up the wine. The finish is long, spicy, with notes of cloves, sweet spices, and herbal elements, finishing with a hint of slate. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wines Tasting, France) (ABV = 13.5%)
2024 Roubine Hippy, Mediterranee – Score: 88 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is ripe, with strawberry, rose hip, fleur de orange, rose water, and spices. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine lacks the acidity needed to make this work, with strawberry, raspberry, and spices. The finish is a bit short, featuring notes of spices, roasted herbs, cloves, and slate. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wine Tasting, France) (ABV = 13%)
2024 Sainte Beatrice B Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 89 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is classic Provence, with rich strawberry and crème, lovely slate, nice rose aromas, and citrus. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, with almost enough acidity, but it lacks the pop, with pith, strawberry, orange notes, and grapefruit. The finish is long, not tart enough, fruit, slate, and pith. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wine Tasting, France) (ABV = 13%)
2024 Roubine La Vie en Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 90+ (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is classic with strawberry and creme, less pith than B, and with more acidity, showing nice lemon/lime, nectarines, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, showing good acidity, nice mouthfeel, almost no pith, with strawberry and creme, nectarines, ripe orange, and nice slate. The finish is long, tart, and ripe at the same time, with good mouthfeel and nice attack. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wine Tasting, France) (ABV = 13%)
2024 Chateau Roubine Rose, Premium, Cru Classe, Cotes de Provence – Score: 90+ (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is nice, with tart strawberry, no creme, rhubarb, rose hip, and lime. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is leaner than the others, without the weight to match the desire, with strawberry and rhubarb, with just enough acidity, though I wanted more pop. The finish is long, tart, and nice, with notes of slate and more strawberry. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wine Tasting, France) (ABV = 12%)
The Best and Top 20 Kosher Mevushal wines of 2024
If you have ever wondered what Kosher wine or the Mevushal process is, I made a post these many years ago and nothing has changed about those facts, because Kosher wine is Kosher wine! The Mevushal process has evolved a bit over the years, but the premise is still the same, and the best craftsman in this space are Hagafen Cellars and Herzog Wine Cellars.
Royal Wine Europe does a good job as well, though from time to time, the white wines do not show as well after they go through the Mevushal process. The red wines are indeed done very well.
The whole premise for Mevushal wine is really a U.S. concept. Europe and much of Israel do not care for or need the wine to be Mevushal to serve at restaurants or events. The USA Rabbinic leaders think that there are too many issues and potential concerns at events and restaurants – given the vast number of servers being non-Jewish. As such, they demand Mevushal wines be served at the events. I have been to events where the pourers were all Shomer Shabbat Jews and that is what they do in Europe and Israel, but those are far and few between, here in the USA.
Overall, the 20 Mevushal wines scored higher than my previous post of 2023 options. These top Mevushal wines scored between 92 and 93! The vast majority of these wines come from the Mevushal leader, Herzog, and Hagafen, from the 2021 and 2023 California vintages. This year we have more quality Mevushal wines and we can mainly thank Cali for that!
Last year we introduced the 2021 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Black Label. This year we have its third iteration with the 2023 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Black Label. Not only is it the Mevushal Wine of the Year but it is also a darn good cup of wine! Bravo!
Mevushal – done incorrectly absolutely does cause damage to wine, and I have had many a “cooked” Mevushal wine. However, Herzog and Hagafen do not have these issues. Royal Europe does a good job, but not as well as the previously mentioned wineries. The Covenant Mevushal Cabernet Sauvignon and the Pinot Noir (started in 2023) can be added to that growing list of trustworthy Mevushal Wine Producers.
Also, we do not have examples of Mevushal wines that scored 95 points, again, this is not a cause and effect but rather the issue that people do not yet have Mevushal Pontet-Canet! Mind you, as I stated before, it is not from a lack of desire, on behalf of Royal Wines, they would boil anything to be able to sell more Mevushal wines. Still, so far, of the top wines that I have scored, the highest-scored Mevushal wine is now the 2021 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, Special Reserve. Besides that bottle, we now have Covenant and the 2022 Royal French wines. Time will tell if we ever get a Mevushal wine with that kind of quality.
More and more wines are Mevushal to meet the needs of restaurants and caterers that want high-end Mevushal wines for their venues and events. The theme of the wines here is mostly Hagafen or Herzog with some smattering of European names as well.
Here is my list of the top 20 Mevushal wines that are available here in the USA. They are listed by score and after that in no particular order. The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2023 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Black Label, Sonoma County, CA (M) – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
WOW! This is the third Mevushal (Black Label) Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, and it is lovely! I am also getting used to the amalgamated corks, and I am happy.
The nose of this wine is lovely, controlled, ripe, California, creamy, and rich. It shows iron shaving, minerality, rich smoke, tar, anise, black pepper, ripe black and red fruit, lovely pop, and dirt. Bravo. This is the best Mevushal one so far.
The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely, showing great acidity, nice mouthfeel, creamy and rich, but with good pop, blackberry, plum, cassis, beautiful minerality, graphite, nice smoke, mouth-draping tannin, rich and layered. This is an impressive showing for a Mevushal wine, showing power, plush mouthfeel, finesse, almost elegant (though with all this power it is tough), some sweet oak, but it is not in your face, and nice dirt. Bravo!
The finish is long, dirty, ripe, balanced, with sweet tobacco, milk chocolate, graphite, and lovely tannin/acidity. Bravo!!! Drink until 2034. (tasted January 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.8%)
Hotel Wine tastings – Taieb Wines, Mercier Wines, Corcos Wines, Bokobsa Wines, Honest Grapes (Montille), plus more
As stated in my previous post, I was in Paris in January with Avi Davidowitz from Kosher Wine Unfiltered. The number of boxes in our room was not nearly as insane as two years ago. That was a tower of boxes. Still, we had a lot of wines to taste and some good wines to talk about.
Two years ago, we had some 80 wines, this past tasting we were at 58 wines. There were a couple of wines I think were bad bottles, so I will not post them, so I guess it comes to some 56 or so bottles.
This post will close out the blog’s 2024 year, and then we can get to the wines of the year and such! Then we can get to the KFWE post! Yeah, lots ahead!
As I have stated before. I want to taste all of these blind. Let me make this simple: unless we can find someone to pay to help us manage the tastings, taste blind, and gather all the metadata and the forms and sheets, it is just INSANE! We really need to get a helper who understands English enough and can handle sheets and the such in Paris and wherever else we taste wines. Until then, we will have to give up on tasting blind.
The wines were tasted in classic region/style order, whites, reds from Burgundy, Rhone-like areas, Bordeaux/Blend wines, and I think that is it. The comments are listed by the producer.
Taieb Wines
There were 23 Taieb wines. We received the usual Jean-Philippe Marchand wines. This year, there are eight wines. There are two whites, the Meursault and the new Puligny Montrachet, and then we have the return of the same reds. Sadly, I could not taste the Pommard or the Aloxe Corton. The two white wines are wines that feel bottle-shocked and also have more oak than I expected. They may come around in a few years. We opened them Tuesday night, and they never came around. They kind of lost some of their oak after 7 days, but honestly, well before that, wine should either be there or not. The red Burgundies we received were terrific and show the continued success of Jean-Philippe Marchand wines.
To close out the story, Mr. Taieb asked for the warehouse to send us the eight Burgundies, but instead, we received two other wines. Such is life!
Taieb Wines. Yoni and his family continue to make well-priced wines and garner QPR WINNER scores. This tasting was no exception, with five WINNER wines from the 24 wines tasted and many wines with a GREAT QPR score. I have posted often about Taieb wines, and if you want to read the entire background, read the first post I made here.
The 2023 Baron David and the 2023 Chateau Tournebrise were solid wines that are available now in Paris and ones I would pick up for a nice Shabbat! Two great wines from Taieb. The 2023 Elysee Palace Merlot is dirt cheap and a solid Mevu option. Finally, the 2023 Moise Taieb, La Petite Metairie Chinon, is a classic Cabernet Franc and shows nicely.
Honest Grapes Wines
Nathan from Honest Grapes was very kind in helping arrange a shipment of Domaine de Montille. These wines were pulled from the barrel, much like the wines I tasted last year in London. The white wines shined in this new 2023 Domaine de Montille Burgundy tasting. The red wines were fine, but one was either shocked or maybe just a bad bottle. Like all barrel tastings, I can put a score on the wine but understand that this may well not be the final score.
On an aside, you may see two wines that were associated with Honest Grapes, 2022 Chateau Teyssier and 2023 Le Nardian Grand Vin de Bordeaux. They may well still be wines Honest Grapes sells in London, but they are now also available in France. Those two wines can be found under the assorted wines.
Mercier Wines
Once again, Mercier delivers excellent wines at a higher price range. The 2022 vintage did take a slight bite at the 2022 Château de Fieuzal Grand Cru Classé de Graves, Pessac-Leognan. It is the return of this wine, which was last made Kosher in 2005. So, 17 years later, the wine is fine, but it lacks the acidity I crave.
Once again, the 2022 Château Olivier Grand Cru Classe, Pessac-Léognan, on the other hand was a HOMERUN! That wine has everything I want, acidity, pop, body, structure, and minerality. It is quite an impressive wine and a baby! This wine will not be ready to play for a long time.
Once again, the 2022 Chateau Fayat, Pomerol, is sensational. It is priced higher than the 2022 Montviel, higher than the 2018 Echo de Roses Camille, but lower than Gay. To me, it is a QPR WINNER.
The 2022 Chateau Haut-Marbuzet, Saint-Estephe, has the added Cabernet that really helps make the wine pop! It may well be the most balanced wine we had at this tasting overall. Quite impressive indeed! Merlot in hot vintages is more challenging to get perfect than with some Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon. The Marbuzet has Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and a good amount of Merlot.
Then there were three white wines that stood out, two that were dry, and one sweet. Until now, Mercier had been making Sauternes from the Chateau Rayne Vigneau. The latest vintage of Sauternes from the main label was 2018. However, in 2022 and 2023, Pierre Miodownick and Mercier made two dry wines and one second label Sauternes. Both of these dry wines took forever to open. Avi was not even around anymore when the dry white Grand Vin finally opened up.
The 2023 Chateau de Rayne Vigneau Grand Vin Blanc Sec, is not going to be cheap, but it is a beautiful wine. The 2023 Les Sec de Rayne Vigneau, is going to be cheaper, but I am not sure what the prices will be like in the USA. In France it is a QPR WINNER. Finally, the 2022 Chateau Rayne Vigneau Madame de Rayne, Sauternes, is lovely and a solid option for those that want quality Sauternes.
Overall, this tasting may have been Mercier’s best showing, that Avi and I have tasted, so far. Bravo!
Bokobsa Wines
I keep trying to get their wines to taste. So far, I have not been very successful. If you read my previous posts, you will see that they have good wines and great prices, especially in Paris. However, getting to taste them is proving very complicated.
We got three wines to taste, and the Cissac Lamothe is back! The 2022 vintage is solid. The 2022 Bokobsa Gigondas is solid, a bit too ripe for me, but many will love this. Finally, the 2023 Dominique Piron Chiroubles is a solid Gamay for a good price.
Shlomo Corcos (Guter Wein) Wines
I have had enough wine in my life to say that there are very few things that shock me anymore in wine. That may be a blessing and a curse, but that is fine. However, tasting the 2022 Chateau Grand Corbin, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe, shocked me. I have yet to taste a wine that shows that distinct a flavor of roasted lamb. I enjoyed this wine with a freshly baked milk pizza, and I felt dirty. That is a great wine. The other wine is the 2022 Chateau Cantemerle, Haut-Medoc. Both wines are lovely, show good pop, and are made well. I have no idea if/when these wines will be in the USA, so keep your eyes open and tell me if they land in some store in NYC/NJ!
Assorted Wines
The remaining wines came from Ari Cohen, a wine Avi brought, or from stuff I bought from MVC (MesVinsCacher.com). MVC is a great place to go and see the current releases and to buy some older releases. All the wines are held in good storage, and like all old wines, you may hit or you may miss.
Ari has started a business called Bakus Wine. He gave us a few wines to taste. First was the 2023 Hans Wirsching Iphofer Riesling, Iphofen. It is a solid Mevushal Riesling. It shows like a Riesling, and at least in Paris, the price is a WINNER. He also sells three Cascina Perrone wines. We have already posted the notes for the Barbera d’Asti and the Nebbiolo. The 2020 Cascina Perrone Barolo continues to show the fine makeup of this wine line and is a good WINNER, with a long life ahead of it.
Then, I bought one wine for the tasting from (winess.com). David Sabban is a great guy, and he either has the wines in his lovely store in Paris in the 17th Arrondissement or can get them from his warehouse. He helped us with a bottle of 2023 Le Nardian Grand Vin de Bordeaux, Lugaignac. This wine shocked me, as it came in at 15% ABV for a white Bordeaux. That is CRAZY! The 2021 and 2022 Le Nardian came in at 12.5%! So, yeah, while I have no interest in buying this wine again, it is a decent wine. I just cannot get behind a 15% ABV white wine.
Ben Sitruk, owner of WineSymphony.fr, hooked us up with a few wines. The first was the 2022 Chateau Vieux Taillefer, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru. It seems that now the winery is making their wines kosher on their own or maybe through some other hands, I do not know. This is solid but lacks the pop I need and is ripe. Still, it is balanced and will appeal to many people. The next wine he helped us with is the 2022 Chateau Teyssier, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru. It is a solid wine, but it is NOTHING like the 2019 or the 2020. Those two wines scream acidity and pop, while this one has the 2022 curse.
Finally, we bought some older wines from MVC, such as the 2017 and 2018 Dampt Freres Chablis, Premier Cru. The 2017 is a STUNNING wine and has evolved to even higher heights than I dreamed. But it is DRINK NOW! Pop them NOW! There is no tomorrow. Please take note of my DW (Drinking Windows) on those wines – right on point, thank you! LOL! Even a broken clock is correct two times a day!
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Four Gates Winery’s January 2025 new releases
As you all know, I am a huge fan of Four Gates Winery, and yes, Benyamin Cantz is a dear friend. So, as is my custom, as many ask me what wines I like of the new releases, here are my notes on the latest wines.
I have often written about Four Gates Winery and its winemaker/Vigneron Benyamin Cantz. Read the post and all the subsequent posts about Four Gates wine releases, especially this post of Four Gates – that genuinely describes the lore of Four Gates Winery.
Other than maybe Yarden and Yatir (which are off my buying lists – other than SOME of their bubblies), very few, if any, release wines later than Four Gates. The slowest releaser may well be Domaine Roses Camille.
Four Gates grapes versus bought grapes
It has been stated that great wine starts in the vineyard, and when it comes to Four Gates wine, it is so true. I have enjoyed the 1996 and 1997 versions of Benyamin’s wines because of his care and control of his vineyard. The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes he receives from Monte Bello Ridge show the same care and love in the wines we have enjoyed since 2009. I recently tasted the 2014 Cabernet, and it is lovely while also being ripe, but the acidity there helps.
I have immense faith in Benyo’s wines, sourced from his and the Monte Bello Ridge vineyards. The other wines he creates from different sources are sometimes excellent, like the 2010 Four Gates Syrah I tasted recently. I would have sworn it was a Rhone wine, with crazy minerality, acid, and backbone, with fruit NOT taking center stage, though ever so evident, the way it is meant to be! While lovely on release, others may well not be the everlasting kind of Four Gates wines.
The wines in this release
This year, wines were missing, and you can blame the 2020 fires for that. Believe it or not, the 2020 fires affected Santa Cruz mountains as much as they did Napa Valley. In some ways, it was worse because the fires started earlier than in Napa.
This year, we have three Chardonnays, the PV, Malbec, and Pinot Noir, a Claret, and two Merlots. The Chardonnays are all very nice, some better than others, but I bought them all because I like aged Chardonnay with the kind of acidity that Four Gates has. As always, give these wines their time and due, and they will reward you for your patience.
The 2021 Petit Verdot and the Malbec are both from the Santa Cruz mountains but NOT from Benyo’s vineyards. These year’s wines almost tempted me to buy them, but I have too much wine and insufficient space. They are a step up from previous vintages, and most who buy them will appreciate them.
We have another vintage of the classic Four Gates fruit. The Chardonnays are from 2023. The Pinot Noir is from 2022. The Claret is from 2022, and it is okay, but give it some time to work itself out. The Pinot Noir is such a baby – good lord, give this time. The Merlot (the 2019 and 2021) are lovely wines, babies; leave them alone for a long time. The theme for Benyo wines made from his grapes (or the Cab, which is not for sale this year) is to leave them ALONE!
Prices and Quantities
I have heard it over and over again. That I and others caused Benyo to raise his prices. First of all that is a flat-out lie. I never asked for higher prices, but when asked about the value of his wines, the real answer I could give was more than 26 dollars.
Let us be clear, all of us who got used to 18/26 dollar prices and stocked up on his wines in those days should be happy. The fact that he raised prices, is a matter of basic price dynamics, and classic supply and demand. Four Gates has been seeing more demand for wines while the quantity of what is being made is slowing down.
The law of Supply and Demand tells you that the prices will go up, even if you beg for lower prices.
Four Gates Winery is one of the few cult wineries in the kosher wine world that releases wines yearly. Sure, there have been crazy cult wines, like the 2005 and 2006 DRC wines or some other rarities. His wines are in a class of their own, especially when it is his grapes, and there is less of it out there. This year, you can add more California wines like Tench, Addax, Yesod, and many others to the growing list of expensive California wines.
This year, the prices reached their highest Zenith again, and most of the wines sold out within minutes, with the highest-priced wines lasting a bit longer. Good wine has been working for Benyo in small quantities so far. No one knows how much longer this will go on. Until there is a clear successor, every year may well be the last one harvested. I am not trying to sound grim or load up on FOMO; this is just the apparent reality that all of us humans face throughout our lives.
The notes speak for themselves. Again, I did not buy the Malbec or Petit Verdot this year. The wine notes follow below, in the order they were tasted – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here, and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2023 Four Gates Chardonnay, Ayala, Santa Cruz – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
Ignoring labels, let’s talk wine! The nose of this wine is lovely, showing sweet pear, melon, sweet green apple, oak, lemongrass, and sweet garrigue. Lovely! The mouth of this plush, full-bodied wine is lovely, ripe, not candied, balanced with great acidity, sweet pear, melon, smoke, tart-ripe apple, lovely fruit attack with fruit focus, and so refreshing. With time, this will improve even more. The finish is long, ripe, and lovely, with sweet vanilla, sweet oak, and butterscotch on the long finish. It’s not an overly oaky wine at all; the acidity and balance are lovely! Drink from 2032 until 2036. (tasted November 2024) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.3%)
California Dreaming about the 2020, 2021, 2022, and early-2023 vintages – a retrospective
In May 2024, WOW, I have to get used to the new 2025 thing; I wrote a post about wines I had tasted in the past month or two. However, after tasting through so many excellent California wines from 2021, I decided it required a retrospective.
Some of these wines will be new to the blog, some will be reposts, and some will be reposts with a change in the scoring (I will denote those clearly).
The 2020 vintage was blighted by many fires, smoke taint, and a poor overall showing. The 2021 vintage was far more controlled, with almost no heat spikes. Though there was little rain before it, the vintage came out smelling like a rose. In the 2022 vintage, we saw far too many heat spikes. Add in many days of over 100-degree weather, and it is shocking that anything good came out. Still, I found some winners. The 2023 vintage is looking like the best of BOTH worlds: rich, layered, with incredible balance. The California whites from 2023 outshined all of Europe and Israel, and we wait now for the release of the higher-end red wines to make a conclusive decision.
As you read through this post about the Kosher wineries that reside in California, understand that California is not Napa Valley. It is a vast state with many wine regions. California is massive. It has four main wine-growing regions and 147 viticultural areas (AVA). If California were a country, it would be the fourth largest in regard to wine production.
At the start, in 1985, when Robert Parker and Michel Rolland took over the world and drove wine production toward a more fruit-driven approach, Napa Valley was the poster child for what a “proper” wine should be. The fruit was very prominent, the tannins were round, not astringent, and the alcohol levels were high. If you watch and listen closely to the videos of Peter Koff, MW, and Dr. Pat Farrell, MW, you will learn so much! Listening to them, they describe the wine critics at the tasting/judgment of Paris who were looking for the ripest fruit.
Looking at current wines, I feel such a tasting would have very different outcomes. First of all, Bordeaux’s ABV is climbing, and there is no end in sight. This is not a choice by the wineries; instead, it is a choice of nature. Secondly, Napa Valley, which was the California area of choice, is even riper than in those days, and I think they would stick out badly. Many Napa Valley wineries are trying to bring their approach back to the middle, but they run up against the same issues Bordeaux is facing, and really the entire world.
When you look at the notes below, you will find three camps. One is the tried-and-true camp of Alexander Valley, AKA Sonoma. It has continuously shown control and power, though at times lacking acidity and finesse.
Next, you will find Napa Valley split between two camps: the bid, bold, in-your-face Robert Parker dream, fruit-forward, powerful, fleshy, and alcoholic to the max. The other side of this camp is the more controlled, sinewy, and acidic, though showing Napa’s power, with a steady hand and clear horizon towards Old-world style wines.
Finally, you find the wild-wild-west at its greatest in areas like Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, and the other regions to the south. Here is where folks like Shirah Wines live. Wines that are more Rhone-style, off-the-beaten-path varietals, exciting, and not yet fully commercialized ideas that bring a smile to most who try them.
As you read through the notes, you will find that I look for balance. I like power; I do not crave it. I desire a wine with rich acidity, balance, clean lines, power or not, but a wine that makes you want to take another sip, because it is refreshing. Balance is the definition of a glass of wine that clears your palate not by giving you a headache but rather by having acidity and pop that can have power but more assuredly has an acidity that works in conjunction with the fruit.
To that point, you will find wines below that get high scores because they are balanced. Examples of wines I bought, which is the highest proof of a wine I like, are the 2021 and 2022 Marciano Estate, 2021 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, 2021 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Lot 70, 2022 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2021 Herzog Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet, Reserve is a clear WINNER and one you should all seek out.
The 2023 Pinot Noirs from Herzog and Covenant prove that this vintage has potential, but again, we will not know where it lines up until after the full lineup of red wines is released across California.
Finally, the higher-end white Sauvignon Blanc wines from Marciano, Covenant, and Hagafen are worth finding – they are lovely! I wrote a separate post, mid-2024, about the top white wines from 2021 through 2023, which are well worth buying!
Pricing
I am fine with writing about kosher wines, but we cannot talk about Kosher Napa Wines without addressing the large elephant in the room, which is the elevated prices. I stress Napa Valley because there are no Kosher California Wines above 130 dollars outside of the Herzog Sonoma Clone Six and the new Herzog Double Creek. Please do not talk to me about Four Gates Wine. Respectfully, it is a drop in the bucket and does not move any needles, industry-wise, other than for its quality.
The number of bottles produced at the price range that raises eyebrows is starting to make people like me wonder. How many people are buying wines priced at 200 or more dollars? Many of the wines listed below are 300 or more dollars. How do you build a brand and a list of people for wines at that price?
Yes, there are more expensive wines out there, but that is one or two, and they are from storied old-world marks and vineyards, meaning they have a track record. Of course, runs at cult-like Napa Wineries have been going on underground for a very long time. Now, we are seeing Kosher Napa Wines selling in the 200-plus to 360-dollar range on store shelves, and it is all new for the kosher-wine-buying public.
There is a clear cost to everything that happens in making a wine kosher, and those people deserve to be paid. A few hands in there also need to be paid for fronting the money, marketing, and so on. However, the per-bottle “kosher tax” does not need to be commensurate with the cost of the non-kosher base price. Again, there is a cost for working in Napa and making Kosher wine there, but as proven by Hagafen and Herzog, wine can be produced without those high Kosher wine taxes.
Ultimately, I am at the mercy of those who feed me. As always, I openly state that I go and taste wines; when I do, I do not pay to taste those wines. At the same time, I post what I taste and never change a score because of the situation in which I may be placed. There is a clear reason for why I have stopped going to specific wineries and regions to taste – because the outcome was getting too awkward, and the posts were becoming a chore. I am always very thankful for the chance to taste wine, and I am always honest about what I taste, and for the most part, I stay out of wine business commentary. However, when everyone asks me the same question, I suppose I cannot just ignore the elephant.
Criteria and Process for this post
I thought long and hard about how I would manage this post. At first, I thought I would do a total dump of all the wines across wineries from both the 2021 and 2022 vintages. However, that would end up as a massive mess; there are far too many wines. So, I decided to list all the wines from all the California wineries I tasted, scoring a 91 or higher from the 2021 and 2022 vintages. There are still a lot of wines, but that is the only way to get a list in one post, and that is not insane.
I will leave the red wines from the 2023 vintage alone for now. There are too few wines from that vintage at this time. Still, I will post some 2023 white wines as they are showing well, and they were tasted at the same time! Also, Four Gates has yet to release their top 2021 or 2022 wines, so we may need yet another retrospective after that. LOL, I think not. There is one exception, Kasher Wines, which I first tasted in November, has a 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon.
You will not find Four Gates Winery here because they have yet to release the 2021 vintages, and they are so small that it is impossible to really compare them with these other players. You can look here if you want to find my posts on Four Gates Winery. Other wineries make Kosher Wines in California but I did not find their 2021 vintages that interesting to me to make it into this post.
Closing Thoughts
This post is massive and took a crazy amount of time, thought, effort, and tasting! People ask me about wines and respectfully never really think about the amount of effort it takes to put it down on paper. Of course, none of this could have happened without the kindness and generosity of the wineries in sharing their time and wines, which took them far more effort to make. Many thanks to Elk (Elchonon Hellinger from Elkwine) for helping set up a lot of this. David Edelman for sharing his time and wines as well. Many thanks to all the wineries, Marciano Estates, Ka.sher Winery, Hajdu Wines, Shirah Wines, Herzog Wine Cellars, Covenant Wines, Hagafen Cellars, Tench Vineyards, and Addax Wines.
Read the rest of this entry
Herzog Winery Visit and KFWE VIP Experience 2024 – another successful event
Six-plus months ago, Kosher Wine had its start to the wine-tasting season, for 2024. First, it was a trade-only KFWE (Kosher Food and Wine Festival in New Jersey), then the Jewish Link Grand Wine Tasting (also in New Jersey), and then A Wine & Food Night by KWD, in Brooklyn. I wrote about the three-day extravaganza here in this post. In the long post, I wrote that I thought it was time to move from the public-laden KFWE Kiddush to the more nimble area-based tastings. The scale of the three tastings, even the KFWE-trade tasting was far more in line with what people needed to taste and be educated. Still, there was no public option for Royal wines, but actually, the two tastings were better for Royal than KFWE could ever be. The point of the area-focused tastings was to make sure that the people who live in those areas are represented by what they may wish to taste. I hope that in the coming years, the wine stores will be allowed to weigh in on what wines should be showcased at these area-specific events, from massive portfolio distributors, like Royal.
In the post, I wrote that the ball was now in Herzog Winery’s court to bring back the IFWF of old. The vast majority of the people at the KFWE VIP Experience 2024 event at the Herzog Winery in Oxnard, this past week, came and left experiencing EXACTLY what I hoped for 6+ months ago. Herzog did exactly what it was supposed to do, it highlighted the quality of their wines and the quality of their restaurant, and it allowed Royal to curate the wines it wanted to promote to the folks in Southern Califonia, whether that was actually implemented or not.
I will say, that I hope Herzog Winery continues this idea, having a more intimate interaction/experience for their customers, by hosting the event at the winery. It showcases what they do/have best. The naming (AKA KFWE) I think is a mistake. The point here is that it was NOT a KFWE, it was a Wine and Tierra Sur Tasting at Herzog Wine Cellars, with a smattering of other wines. That overall approach used to be called IFWF (International Food and Wine Festival). However, that was also a misnomer, as the focus was more on Herzog and some French wines, even in 2008. In the end, trying to sell this event as anything more than Herzog and Tierra Sur undermines what Herzog sells. With that said, no one left there unhappy, to me, and from whom I spoke at the event, it was a hit and it should be continued!
Herzog Wine Tasting
A few hours before the KFWE event took place, Elchonon Hellinger, owner of Elk Wines, and I made our way to Herzog Wine Cellars to taste some Herzog wines I had yet to taste. Before Elk arrived I was speaking with Joseph Herzog (Vice President and Partner) and David Galzignato (Director of Winemaking and Operations) about many a thing and the California 2021 vintage came up. Up until this tasting, I had tasted all of the 2021 wines that were released, except for a few. With all of them, I was highly impressed and posted about them a few times, here, here, and here. The wines before me, other than a few 2021 wines, were all from the 2022 vintage. I can tell you now, the 2022 vintage does not show as well as the 2021. Simple. It is riper, less controlled, and feels like one that may not age as well. That said, at the end of the wine tasting I made this statement, the work you have done over these past two years clearly shows that you have raised the floor for Herzog Wine Cellars. The issue I have is that fewer wines push the ceiling, at least these past two years, than in previous years. I am sure that has a lot to do with the viticulture and the direction of the winery, as a whole, and I think that overall it is a win.
With that said Herzog Winery continues to win as the top Mevushal wine option every year. They also do very well with the QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines. I expect them to be on those lists every year, Herzog Wine Cellars excel at the Mevushal Process and they excel at making quality wines for a reasonable price, across their portfolio, and with the work of David and his team, they have raised the floor of those wines over the past two years.
The Yesod Wines, a new wine label, does not show the name Herzog anywhere on them. It is their first foray into making some of the best wines in the world. While tasting them I said that while I feel the work in these wines, the clear effort to raise the floor of the overall wine approach, it lacked the pop for me. The best wines in the kosher world, when you smell them, make you salivate, they make you want to taste more, and the alcohol levels on them allow you to do that without feeling off-kilter. The Yesod wines, in my opinion, are well-made wines for the sort of Kosher wine drinkers that are targeting. Classic Napa wines with a big body, enough acidity, and loads of fruit.
The wines I oohed and aahed about were the 2023 Herzog Chenin Blanc, Clarksburg Reserve (mevushal), and the 2022 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Special Reserve. Why? Because, in the past, these two wines (Herzog white wines in general) and the Napa Blue Label Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, were rarely on point. These two wines showed me the biggest change, the raising of the floor, and the focus, overall. A steady-eddy approach to winemaking, which may not garner you as many ceiling-pushing wines, at the start, but an approach that raises everything and one that I am sure will eventually get Herzog to even further heights.
My many thanks to Joseph Herzog, and David Galzignato for setting up the meeting, sharing your wines with us, and taking time out of your busy schedule (the day of the event!) to meet with us. The wine notes follow below in the order they were tasted – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2023 Herzog Chenin Blanc, Clarksburg Reserve, Clarksburg, CA (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
The fruit had botrytis, modeled after Savennieres, old vines Chenin Blanc. The nose of this wine is lovely, showing white peach, pear, apricot, quince blossom, rich honeysuckle, pear blossom, sweet Lipton lemon tea, and sweet oak. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is fun, it is bone dry, showing great acidity, lovely mouthfeel, almost oily, with a lovely plush mouthfeel, starting with Lipton tea, honeysuckle, honeyed melon, pear, white peach, lovely mouthfeel, a true joy! The finish is long, tart, funky, and rich, with green notes, floral notes abound, and bone dry and rich sweet oak. Drink by 2028. (tasted September 2024) (in Oxnard, CA) (ABV = 14.50%)
2023 Herzog Chardonnay, Russian River, Russian River, CA (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, tropical, fruity, smoky, and ripe, with hickory, sweet vanilla, butterscotch, sweet dill, and peach/pear. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe, and balanced, with lovely acidity, with rich pear, apricot, sweet oak, butterscotch, buttery brioche, and sweet dill, with rich sweet fruit that works with the American Oak. The finish is long, ripe, and a bit candied, but balanced with great acidity, smoke, rich vanilla, hints of banana, and oak. Drink by 2028 (tasted September 2024) (in Oxnard, CA) (ABV = 14%)
2023 Herzog Chardonnay, Chalk Hill, Special Edition, Chalk Hill, CA (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is nice with great bright fruit, lovely tart peach, pear, melon, and great sweet oak. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, tart, and balanced, with rich acidity, nice smoke, and good weight, showing pear, peach, melon, and hints of tropical, but balanced, and nice focus with good oak. The finish is long, and tart, with no butter here, great wine, more Chablis than Burg in style. Nice! Drink by 2028 (tasted September 2024) (in Oxnard, CA) (ABV = 14.50%)
Four Gates Frere Robaire Vertical (2006 through 2016)
OK, like everything in my life, this is getting posted later than I would have liked. I have been running behind on many posts, but now, I feel I am almost there. I can see the finish line, though sadly, a good MONTH-plus late, but hey better late than never.
As you all know, I am a huge fan of Four Gates Winery, and yes Benyamin Cantz is a dear friend. I have often written about Four Gates Winery and its winemaker/Vigneron Benyamin Cantz. Read the post and all the subsequent posts about Four Gates wine releases, especially this post of Four Gates – that truly describes the lore of Four Gates Winery.
There is another post that will help comprehend the magnitude of this tasting – this was a post back in 2016! Eight years ago we did a partial vertical of the flagship wine of Four Gates Winery, known as Frere Robaire.
The Frere Robaire was a wine that was first released in 2006, when it was a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet. It then went on a 3-year hiatus, when it was released again, but this time it was majority Cabernet Sauvignon from the Monte Bello Ridge vineyard, and fleshed out with a bit of Merlot. Since then, it has been released in all vintages (other than 2017). The 2006 is mostly Cabernet Franc, but the percentages change with the years, based on what best works together. The 2010 was mostly Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2011 and the 2012 are mostly Merlot in makeup, with differing amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon. Those three have 1% of Cabernet Franc. The wine’s name was created in honor of Benyo’s brother Robert Cantz.
Tasting
This post is late – the tasting took place in mid-February, 2024. It was a perfect day for Robert to make his way to Chez Benyo. I brought the meat and Benyo provided the wine. It was a very simple transaction. It was a ton of fun to cook on Benyo’s suitable but antiquated charcoal grill. I arrived via Uber early, cooked the food, and we were ready to start tasting.
The plan from the start was to get Robert up from L.A. to visit Benyo and then we could have dinner during an evening close to Shabbat so that they could enjoy the wines over Shabbat.
I brought a bottle of 2016 Chateau Malartic, and while it did not show well, that evening, compared to the other Frere Robaire. I have said often that the Frere Robaire reminds me of the Malartic.
We started the tasting, pretty much on time, and we were two or three wines in when in a classic LA move (arrive late and leave early – though they left later), in comes Gabriel Weiss and Alex Rubin. Gabriel Weiss is the winemaker at Shirah Wines. Alex Rubin is another winemaker who works with Gabriel at Shirah Winery and also produces his own wines. One is the 2022 Alex Rubin Riesling, which I raved about here, along with many Shirah whites, as well.
I will say it is always an experience when you taste with vocal winemakers. They have a very unique manner in which to taste wine and the notes they proclaim, while on point, can come out in weird manners, or verbiage. I say that all with the greatest of respect, the stuff they were chattering about, while again, on point, was almost in an entirely different language. It was great!!
They hauled up even more meat, which was overkill, but Benyo has more than enough now for a year! Remember, Benyo rarely eats meat, more like fish, veggies galore, and some occasional chicken. When the “bachurim” crash, then the meat comes out and overtakes his life. It is always entertaining to see Benyo being uncomfortable in his own skin and home. In the end, getting him out of his comfort zone is always good! While I always try my very best to keep him comfortable, I am sure I also push a bit too much.
The tasting lasted a few more hours, and then one by one, the gang went down. Benyo and I cleared the table (of course Robbie helped as well – but he was the guest). All the while making sure to leave enough of all the wines to taste again tomorrow and over Shabbat!
Methodology
I will say that the scoring changed often throughout the night and for that, I think we need to set the methodology straight for this tasting. First of all, I am not sure how many even have a 2006 Frere Robaire lying around, but if you do, drink now! I think that wine was never meant for 20 years and I doubt many kept it at the correct temperature. Still, the complete vertical from 2006 until 2016 (excluding the 3 years between 2006 and 2010) was a very unique and insane tasting!
Benyo also opened a GLORIOUS 2004 Chardonnay – it was luscious, rich, layered, and it tasted so much like a Burgundy it was crazy!
Now, people seeing my scores will wonder why are they all over the place – well that is what the wines tasted like, at this moment. The 2011 vintage just did not show well, I will need to taste one soon from my own collection to make a decision. Other than 2006 and 2011 – the outcome here is they are doing well and some are in the window and enjoyable now! They may improve more, but some are already showing the mushroom and the barnyard, not full-on evolution but close enough. I am hoping for a bit more but if you have a few I would read the notes and decide for yourself.
The Frere Robaire is a blend made to truly live up to Aristotle’s axiom; “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” In many ways, I find it reaches that lofty goal, because the sums are made up of wonderful parts, but the whole is another world. What I love about these wines is that they are new-world, but they have so many components that are more old-world than new-world.
The 2012 is a great example of this. Once the wine is given time to open and really show its inner sense, what comes out is an old-world soul, much akin to a 2005 Chateau Malartic. The wine shows its minerality, rich essence, and focus, but also richness from its dark fruit. Really impressive.
My sincere thanks to the boys from LA! Gabriel and Alex were a joy to taste with. My many thanks to Benyo and his love, care, and drive to build world-class wines and share them with us all! Finally, it was a blast, as always, to hang with Robbie! Sorry, it took so long to get this out, good sir! Always a great time!
Finally, there are no QPR scores here because these wines are not for sale and the “Price” ratio would not make much sense.
The notes speak for themselves. The wine notes follow below, in the order, they were tasted – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2004 Four Gates Chardonnay – Score: 94
The nose of this wine is lovely, understand please, that this wine is on the edge, this bottle was clearly stored well, but I would not have as much hope for another. The nose is rich with honeysuckle, butterscotch, pear, apple, and sweet spices.
The mouth of this medium-plus bodied wine is rich, layered, and plush in the mouth with rich acidity that helps to stand this wine up on its feet, the apple, pear, and citrus are present, along with the sweet oak, butterscotch, and sweet spices. The finish is long, balanced, and rich. Drink now!
Best Kosher Whites Wines from 2021, 2022, and 2023
I have been complaining about Roses recently. Yes, we had a good slate of them, for those that need them. However, I state over and over, that White WInes are what we need more of and they fill the abilities that Rose wines were meant to help with. This post will be short and to the point. I hope you all use this to enjoy the crazy heat waves rolling over the world. White wine is the answer to some lovely meals with friends and family!
White Wines
I understand the thought that people have, that Rose wine will be more enjoyable with certain food/fare than a white wine. That thought is wrong, but I understand. People see the red hue and think it is a red wine that can be enjoyed with a burger. The truth is that Rose or white wine can do the same thing if they are dry and have intense acidity. The acidity is the main point here. Sadly, while some Roses will work, most of them lack the acidity for that to be an honest assessment. So, people buy the Roses, they lack the refreshing acidity and leave unhappy. The better option is white wines. They have a higher probability of existing with good acidity and they are just more enjoyable. The last point is 100% subjective and I understand that.
People see Rose as a way for people to learn about red wine without the need for Cabernet Sauvignon or what. While I see that as an approach and I appreciate it, soon enough, Red wine folks just go back to Red wine as they miss the tannin/sweet wine punch. Big, fat, even balanced Oaky wines can give you the closest thing to a wine that Red wine drinkers will appreciate.
The oak, fat fruit, and rich mouthfeel, followed by good tannin will make the Red Wine drinker happiest. The hope is eventually, they will jump on the ABC train (Anything But Chardonnay) that is slowly rising up again, given the heavy whites coming out of Cali. Hopefully, they will desire less oak, and more balance, and find the plethora of Kosher White wines that we are blessed with.
Peak Kosher White here or very near
We are currently blessed with an almost never-ending list of white wines. They may not all be great, they may have acid issues or balance issues, but we have so many options that it is impressive! We will see even more soon so I hope you are getting your white wine mojo going!
Methodology
So, the idea here is to post the new white wines that I have not already posted – some of which date back to March of this year. I will also post WINNER wines from the years 2021, 2022, and 2023, when/if they are for sale. That last part will be tough but I will use KosherWine and Google as my guide. Either way, they will be reposts of existing posts, so the info is always available.
Ok, that is a wrap, note, I have a TON of wine notes I still need to post after this, my guess is that will end up being a massive QPR post with loads of red wines.
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2022 Covenant Solomon Blanc, Bennett Valley, Sonoma County, CA – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
This is the third time I have tasted this wine and messed up, I admit, it is impressive, I scored it a 92 and then I backed off the WINNER QPR score. Mistake! This wine is rich, round, and not as piercing as in 2021, and I have put that wine on a pedestal This wine stands on its own, it has fruitier notes, OK, but it is also balanced, riper, rounder, and quite enjoyable. This is the 3rd year of this lovely wine, I think this one sits right between the 21 and 20 vintages, which means this is another WINNER. Bravo!
The nose of this lovely wine is impressive with intense bright fruit, bright acidity, tart lemon/lime, sweet orange blossom, lanolin, sweet bright pear, sweet Honeydew melon, and lovely oak influence. The mouth of this medium-plus bodied wine is intense, layered, and complex, with rich layers of tart orange, lemon/lime, melon, Asian pear, yellow apple, and piercing acidity, with an impressive expression, of fruit and oak, sweet oak, smoke, sweet mint, and sweet fruit. Bravo!
The finish is long, tart, ripe, and fruity, with some oak influence, and hints of vanilla, but really the finish is a focus of acidity, melon, orange, mineraity, white pepper, and lemon, all wrapped up beautifully! Bravo!! Drink until 2030. (Retasted July 2024) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.4%)
2022 O’Dwyers Creek Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
At the start, the wine feels/smells leaner than previous vintages but the fruit and style are absolutely similar, thankfully, O’dwyers Creek is so dependable, that it is fantastic. Still, the weight we expect is a bit lacking and the acidity here is just incredible. However, after a few hours, the wine is rich, tropical, layered, and complex, AKA Classic WINNER!
The nose of this wine is classically New Zealand in style, with cat pee, fresh-cut grass, foliage, gooseberry, passion fruit, pink grapefruit blossom, and bright fruit all over the place. After a bit of time, the ripe fruit appears, a classic New Zealand Banker!
The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is lovely, with intense acidity, the first thing that hits you is the acid, followed by nice flint notes, smoke, rock, saline, gooseberry, lemongrass, intense passion fruit, lychee, and sweet melon. The acidity hits you in waves and with time the weight comes to you as does the lovely sweet-cut grass. With time, the ripe mango, gooseberry, and passion fruit hit you in waves, with a richer mouthfeel, and the complexity we crave along with intense bracing acidity, it is just incredible! The finish on this wine shows more saline, rock, flint, smoke, mineral, gooseberry, freshly cut grass, and intense acid, so much fun!!! BRAVO!! Drink until 2028. (tasted April 2024) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.5%)
Paris tasting of Royal Wine’s 2023 Roses and Whites – Late May 2024
Unlike previous May trips, Avi Davidowitz, from Kosher Wine Unfiltered finally made one! This was the first May trip he made with me. This trip changed no fewer than three times with such a late Passover and then Avi had timing issues, so the trip was pushed out to late May. Thankfully, the trip was successful, we got there and came home, so I call that a success.
We did little to no wine searching, other than one store, and the theme is exactly as stated in my Rose post, there are very few new 2023 Whites or Rose wines in Paris, anywhere! All the stores are still selling the 2022 white and roses.
Also, I continue to be shocked by how little French people drink wine. It is a declining Kosher wine demographic for sure! Israel is drinking more kosher wine as is the USA, but Europe, as a whole, is drinking less kosher wine. The UK is a demographic that seems to be holding its own, but that is mostly among the wine geeks. Go to a store in London and the kosher wines are behind by a year or more.
As in past trips, the hotel knows me by now, they are very gracious and put up with all the wine deliveries and always make sure to handle them with care. Kudos to the team!
Avi and I met at the airport, we landed at the same time, give or take 40 minutes. It would have been exactly the same time, but SFO is doing construction on its runway, yet again! So we sat on the tarmac waiting to take off for an hour, joy! Thankfully, Avi met me at the terminal I landed in and we found our way to the hotel together, checked in, and then started in on some of the wines that had already been delivered. That post will be the last, as always, aka the hotel wine post.
The next morning, we made our way to the lovely home of Menahem Israelievitch, Managing Director and Winemaker at Royal Wine Europe. At the tasting, we enjoyed many lovely wines, and you can read the notes below, I want to point out a few thoughts on them.
- My overall feeling about 2023 whites and roses from Europe, as a whole, is that they are lacking in either verve, acidity, or finish. I have no idea why but this is a strong theme I have seen throughout the tastings I have made.
- Overall, I think Rose production is slowing down and stores I visited in NYC and NJ said they are being very diligent in which/what Roses they bring in.
- We had Six WINNER wines with one Rose and five White wines. Two of those wines will not be here as we only get the Mevushal versions here in the USA. The 2023 Chateau Roubine Rose, Premium, Cru Classe and the 2021 Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt Grand Vin, Blanc, Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux.
The tasting was great as always. We tasted about 27 wines, three of them were red. It is the first time, that I can remember, where I had not tasted any of these wines in advance. For a multitude of reasons I just was not able to get my hands on any of these wines before I got to Paris, which is 100% fine. Also, the 27 wines were mostly the same as in previous vintages, except for a new white Chateauneuf du Pape, Blanc, and two new Vouvray wines.
Avi took all the pictures so if you have any issues blame him! Thanks, buddy!
Finally, I tasted the Mevushal versions of a few of these wines, here in the USA, so I am adding them in as well. I also retasted a few of the wines here and they showed differently. I will be posting those notes as well. Along with some other Royal wines I tasted in NJ.
My thanks to Menahem Israelievitch and Royal Wines for hosting us and letting us taste the wonderful wines. 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 wine notes are in the order the wines were tasted:
2023 La Maison Bleue Merlot, Vin de France (M) – Score: 87 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is good for such a simple wine, showing good fruit of plum, and cherry, along with spice, green notes, roasted herb, loam, floral notes, and Violet. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is a bit too fruity and off for me, still, it is a clean wine, with good fruit, nice tannin, plum, cherry, and some smoke. The finish is long, herbal, smoky, dirty, classic Merlot, I wish it had more acidity, but people will like this simple wine. Drink now. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2023 La Maison Bleue Cabernet Sauvignon, Vin de France (M) – Score: 86 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is nice with waxy notes, ripe fruit, smoke, blackberry, cassis, blueberry, green notes, and nice dirt. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice enough, but the acidity is lacking for me, with nice fruit, sweet herbs, nice tannin, blackberry, plum, sweet loam, herbs, and some nice fruit profile. The finish is long, smoky, and fruity. Drink now. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)
2023 La Maison Bleue Chardonnay, Vin de France (M) – Score: 86 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is nice, it has notes of apple, pear, orange blossom, and a bit of smoke and spice. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice enough, with good enough acidity, but still a nice wine with good apple, pear, smoke, spices, and yellow blossom. The finish is long, ripe, round, and ready to go. Drink now. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14.5%)
2023 La Maison Bleue Sauvignon Blanc, Vin de France (M) – Score: 89 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is classic with gooseberry, passion fruit, honeysuckle, citrus, and flint. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine shows good enough acidity, nice fruit focus, good gooseberry, grapefruit, lingering flint and mineral, hints of saline, and nice honeysuckle. The finish is long, smoky, and fruity, with minerality lingering. Drink now. (tasted May 2024) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
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