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2020 Bokobsa Sieva Wine tasting just outside of Paris
Well, I am one post in and I have another 5 to go. As I stated in the first of my 6 posts on my trip to wine tastings in London, Paris, NYC, and L.A., I am truly thankful that my trips ended well for everyone, the news keeps getting uglier.
As I stated the kosher wine tasting season was upon us, and the first of my posts about the ones I attended was my London post. After a quick train ride to Paris, and a stop at the hotel, it was time for another tasting, the Bokobsa Sieva tasting.
The Bokobsa Tasting, is presented by the company known in France as Sieva, and it happened in Paris (well not exactly Paris, more on the very outskirts of Paris to be exact) on Tuesday, on the stunning grounds of the Pavillon des Princes in the 16th district. I arrived early and after taking a bunch of pictures I just relaxed and waited for the event to start. One of the issues from the tasting in past years was the older vintages of wines poured, along with the food that was cold and quite simple. This year, the food was nicer, they had warm food, and some very well put together dishes. Sadly, the vintages on the Royal wines were still strange, some new 2017 vintages while some wines were 2014 and 2015. However, the Bokobsa wines were all the latest, other than the 2018 Chablis which was not being poured.
One wine two Hecsher/Kosher Supervisions means two labels
One of the biggest shocks I had at the event was the realization that France is in a far worse place, in regards to kosher supervision than Israel and the USA. I have seen many times, where Badatz Edah HaChareidis and the OU would both be on the same bottle of wine, like Or Haganuz wines and others. However, in France, that seemingly is not an option! Understand that there are NOT multiple mashgichim (kosher supervisors) when there are multiple supervisions on a single bottle. Rather, the ONE/Two mashgichim all do the stringencies of one or both of the kosher supervisions. However, in France, this cannot work – I am not kidding! Clarisse showed me two bottles of the same Champagne made by Bokobsa Sieva. The difference between them, was not the overall supervision, as that was one the same, nor was it in any way a different vintage or winery, nope! They were EXACTLY the same wine – EXACTLY! The only difference was the name of the supervision on the back of the bottle! One had the kosher supervision of Paris Beit Din and the other had the kosher supervision of Rabbi Rottenberg.
So, I then asked the head of the supervising Rabbis, who was at the tasting, if the Paris Beit Din accepted to be on the same label with Rabbi Rottenberg, would Rabbi Rottenberg agree? He said no! OMG! I was speechless. ME! What question would you followup to that answer? I asked why? He said because they have different requirements. I said they are the same Mashgichim, so why would you care? In the end, he said that is how it is in France. Sadly, that is the state of affairs and I moved on.
Another fascinating difference between the labels is that the Paris Beit Din version of the wine has a different Cuvee name than the Rabbi Rottenberg version. That, I was told, was just for marketing, so that people would not be as shocked as I am now! Finally, there is also a pregnant lady with a slash through it, denoting that alcohol and pregnancy is not a good idea, the normal disclaimer wines have on their labels. On the Rabbi Rottenberg label, it was all in text, no images of a lady. Read the rest of this entry
Rain and kosher Rosé in Paris
Travel dates for weddings and weather are some of those things that you cannot control. When bad weather occurs on such a trip it is the worst of both worlds and leads to much disappointment, but thankfully this trip included lots of family so to me it was a win, albeit a wet one!
In this case I am talking about a trip I did for a wedding of my nephew that took place three days before the shabbat that preceded the shavuot holiday! My brother thought it would be a great idea to visit our family in France, and a great visit it was indeed, except for the freaking pouring rain that did not let up!
Blessedly, we left just before it got really out of hand, and the Louvre shut down to move its art out of the basement. That said, side note, we did go to the louvre for one hour and 20 minutes. I have been there many times in the past and each time I hate it because the art is well – old! I am a huge art fan, but of the more recent variation! I like my art with a drink by date of 1880 or so, the impressionist period and on. Anything before that (AKA the FREAKING louvre for example) is well – not drinkable and or outdated! But we went because my nephew had never been there, so sure – let’s see some really old art that is either about religious undertones, religious overtones, or horses! My goodness, how many horses can a person look at before they get it – that is a horse! Thanks for being so obtuse about it! I was worried I may have missed something in their efforts!
Anyway, enough of my hatred for all things really old, my nephew wanted to see the mona lisa and I was happy to see the Winged Victory of Samothrace – it is old but really cool! The insane aspect was that people were waiting in a line for three hours to go into the louvre! The line was for folks who were buying tickets for that day. I saw that line and I said this is insane, it is raining, wet, annoying, and this is no pirates of the caribbean ride! Why would I wait three hours! So, in classic American style we walked up to the front and there in plain sight for all was another line, a line through which you could walk straight into the museum, all u needed were electronic tickets! Nephew on phone – three minutes later we have tickets and in we go! Sadly, that was the best part of the story! You see the place was PACKED! Crazy packed! The louvre is closed on Tuesdays, the BEST museum in Paris, the Musee d’Orsay is closed on Mondays, there is the mona lisa, oh and did I mention it was POURING! – so the combo made for a not so comfortable experience even inside the dry museum (which was not dry for long)!
An assortment of kosher French wines that I have tasted recently
This past week, I had the chance to taste a bunch of French wines and while some were OK, many were so bad that I was truly shocked. It all started when I tasted a French wine when going out to dinner, it was horrible, like drinking water, that I was shocked. It happened again the next day, and I finally realized that I was going to be very unhappy buying French wines.
I have spoken about this issue in the past, and I am sad to report that basic run of the mill French wines are not getting better. In the end, when I was forcing myself to continue to buy French wines, I decided to go with wines that I was absolutely sure about – because I had tasted them already – sad.
Well, actually I had tasted earlier vintages of them. I bought a bottle of the 2010 Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Haut Medoc and I had tasted the 2006/2007/2008 at the past IFWF 2012. The 2010 continues the bone drying tannins, but has nice complexity and fruit as well.
I also bought a bottle of the 2010 Domaine Lafond Tavel Rose – which was nice and I had drunk the 2009 vintage at the 2011 IFWF, which they also poured at the 2012 IFWF.
I did enjoy another rose, the 2011 Domaine Buman, Bandol, Rose. It was a nice wine and one that is good enough when in the pinch. It will not please everyone as it is far too sweet, with nice acidity and lemon zest. Still, the extra sweetness will turn people off I am sure.
Well, there you have it, a collection of French wines that you can take or leave as you see fit, the wine notes follow below:
2010 Baron Edmond de Rothschild, Haut Medoc – Score: B+ to A-
The wine continues it wonderful history of solid results and its unusual mouth drying tannin. The nose explodes with dark plum, rich loamy earth, graphite, raspberry, anise, blackcurrant, spice, and cloves. The mouth is medium to full bodied and lovely with layers and complexity, with nice mouth drying tannin, that coats the mouth in a funny but nice way, along with kirsch cherry, and nice oak, that is just starting to come together. The finish is long and earthy with dark chocolate, vanilla, mineral, and a hint of lemon zest.
2010 Domaine Lafond, Tavel, Rose – Score: B+
The nose is lovely with ripe strawberry, raspberry, grapefruit, lovely rose, and jasmine, followed by white chocolate, and citrus zest. The mouth is medium in weight, but nice and dry, with good acidity, along with peach and bitter herb. The finish is long and spicy, with mineral, cloves, slate, and graphite.
2011 Domaine Buman, Bandol, Rose – Score: B to B+
The nose on this pink salmon and beautiful colored wine explodes with nice strawberry, raspberry, and herb. The mouth is medium in weight with bitter herb, lemon zest, nice bracing acid, too much sweetness does throw the mouth, along with grapefruit, fig, and lemon zest. The finish is long and spicy with good slate, rose, floral notes, and peach.
2009 Chateau Pouyanne, Graves – Score: B- (At best!)
The wine is simply water with a red color. It has ZERO complexity, though it does have a bit flavor, and texture, it misses everything else that it is not worth buying – unless there is no beer or anything else.
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