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A Royal Wine tasting in NYC featuring some serious QPR WINNERS!
Last week, I found myself in the JFK/Queens area for the first time in my life for longer than a few hours. I was there for the wonderful Bar Mitzvah of my Nephew, and it was a great time to meet up with my family and friends. Most of the time, JFK is a way in or a way OUT of NYC. This time, it was the gateway for my entire trip, and I would not be surprised if that continues in some proportion going forward.
Anyway, while I was there, I took it upon myself to buy my own wines because the timing was too tight and I could not get to NJ and get back. I was in NY for essentially three days, and I worked two of them. So, yeah, it was fun and hectic, and YES, the best part was Shabbat and the Bar Mitzvah, but I made sure to taste some wines.
Wine Tasting
Zev Steinberg was kind enough to pick up the phone and call me – we seem to have issues when typing over WhatsApp – a story for another time! After a short conversation, I worked the phones, WhatsApp, and many other communication tools, and thankfully, I was able to corral the wines I thought were possible. The shocker would be a bit later in the evening!
My job was to get all the new wines that Royal had brought in from France and from South Africa. So, I got:
- 2025 ESSA Altira
- 2024 Baron de Mamour Chenin Blanc
- 2024 Baron de Mamour Pouilly-Fume
- 2024 Baron de Mamour Pinot Noir
- 2022 Marchesi Fumeanelli Terso Vento Bianco
- 2021 Cascina Minot Langhe Nebbiolo
- 2023 Le Comte de Malartic Blanc
- 2023 Chateau Malartic Blanc
I tried to get the Gazin Blanc, but it slipped through my fingers. In the end, I was able to get what I could from Midwood Wine Merchants. I am not promoting things here for the sake of a dollar. It was very challenging to obtain the Baron de Mamour wines, which had just been released, along with the rest of the Malartic white wines (there are three), and the two Italian wines. My tight schedule and insane timing meant I had to PUSH people/stores to try to get the wines from Royal, and thankfully, the Midwood guys came through! Midwood also sent me a bottle of 2023 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Aera, North Coast.
Zev brought the 2023 Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt Blanc, and ALL the Arnaud Burgundies, more on that in a bit, and a VERY special wine – the 2021 L’interdit de Valandraud! Just a crazy wine indeed! Very unique, and while many think it is a 100% Cabernet Franc wine, in reality, it is a blend. It shares the distinction of being my highest-scoring 2021 Bordeaux wine, along with the 2021 Chateau Marquis d’Alesme Becker and the 2021 Chateau La Gaffeliere.
Finally, MS brought a lovely bottle of the 2019 Domaine Roses Louise, Pomerol. Then Zev brought out a bottle of the 2020 Echo de Roses Camille, Pomerol! It was quite the evening!
Arnaud Baillot Burgundies
Arnaud Baillot has been making wines since 2017, when he bought his first vineyard. That soon expanded when he bought even more plots, and slowly he expanded to many more regions with Burgundy. He is one of those up-and-coming, rising stars within the region, and it is great that we are getting more Kosher Burgundy options.
In the first Kosher vintage from Arnaud Baillot, Royal made five red Burgundies: Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes-de-Beaune, Monthelie, Savigny-les-Beaune, Beaune Premier Cru, and Volnay. What was very interesting was the opportunity to taste a red Monthelie; we have already tasted a kosher White Monthelie. The Savigny-les-Beaune is also new in Kosher. The other sub-regions have existing and successful iterations of those grapes.
I really need to shout out Zev and Royal for making these wines available to us! Thanks!
Tasting
I have kept names out of this post, other than Zev, because he works in the business, and that is fair game. The others are regular folks like me. That being said, the host for the event was terrific – and I thank him for the wonderful home, atmosphere, and good nature. Anyone who hosts me for a tasting understands that things need to be orderly and professional, to whatever extent it can be. This host went beyond, and I really appreciate that! That being said, good lord was it a long tasting, but it was a TON OF FUN!
Well, with that, I will let the wine notes talk for themselves. We did retaste the wines twice, but it is not the same as tasting the wine over a day. For example, the Chateau Malartic Blanc really came into its own after a few hours. In some ways, other wines moved in the wrong direction after a few hours as well. All of this is compiled, and the final scores reflect the final state of the wines we tasted.
The wine notes are listed below in the order in which they were tasted. The explanation of my “scores” can be found here , and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2025 ESSA Altira, Elgin – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, bright, effusive, with white peach, grapefruit, saline, smoke, and lovely brightness. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely; the acidity is off the charts, the complexity is not as pronounced as in previous vintages, and the notes of peach, grapefruit, and melon are on point, with lovely tension and a deeply refreshing finish. The finish is long, tart, refreshing, and fruity, with lovely saline and a lovely bite. Drink by 2027. (tasted August 2025) (in New York, NY) (ABV = 13.5%)
2024 Baron de Mamour Chenin Blanc, IGP Val de Loire (M) – Score: 91+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is classic with Chenin notes of smoke, grass, straw, hay, and yellow peach, very nice, but a bit simple. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has excellent acidity, great attack, good fruit, nice hay, smoke, and lovely gooseberry, grapefruit, honeysuckle, and honeyed peach – lovely! The finish is long, dry, with ripe fruit, smoke, and hay, lovely! Drink by 2027. (tasted August 2025) (in New York, NY) (ABV = 11.5%)
2024 Baron de Mamour Pouilly-Fume, Pouilly-Fume (M) – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, classic Pouilly Fume, crazy good, with rich smoke, flint, intense minerality, ripe fruit, intense citrus notes, good nectarines, honeysuckle, orange, and funk. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is smoky, tart, and acidic, with incredible honeysuckle, grapefruit, orange, nectarines, great smoke, funk, and crazy acidity. Bravo! The finish is long, tart, smoky, with intense minerality, flint, and rock. Bravo! Drink by 2028. (tasted August 2025) (in New York, NY) (ABV = 13%)
ESSA Wine’s latest wines – May 2025
This is my first post in some time, and my apologies for that, but I hope all is well with all of you. Until all the Jews around the world are safe, I often feel these posts are trite. Still, it is our duty to support those in need, and it seems that these posts help others. With all that said, expect changes in the near future for this site, but until then, let us get to the subject at hand!
ESSA Wines is helmed by the married duo of Josh and Chana Rynderman. I have spoken and written about my friends often. The ESSA Wine group produces a diverse list of great wines and was worthy of this year’s Winery of the Year award.
The history of ESSA and Kos Yeshuos can be found on this blog; however, I will repeat it here for completeness.
Kos Yeshuos History
It’s incredible to think that Kos Yeshuos started “unofficially” in 2015! I was not even scoring wines with numbers back then! Ten years ago, Kos Yeshuos made a lovely Vin Gris from Cabernet Sauvignon, and the game was afoot! From there, Josh made wine for sale in 2016, the first “official” vintage of Kos Yeshuos, with two reds, a Syrah and a Grenache (I had just turned over to numerical scores and started to dabble with QPR). The 2016 Syrah was excellent last year!
Then came the 2017 wines, a Viognier and a Syrah. We flew in for the wedding in January 2018 and suffered through some horrible wines for that Shabbat. Joburg in the “winter” (AKA glorious Summer) was not bad at all. The lack of good wine was unacceptable! Thankfully, that is no longer an issue for those who seek good wine!
In 2018, Kos Yeshuos evolved to more playful labels, with a woman’s touch to say it correctly. We had the California Kid and another Viognier. The move to whites was required to make the dual-hemisphere dream a reality. In 2018, ESSA Wine came to life, and the 2018 ESSA Malbec was sold here in the USA!
Then, in 2019, Kos Yeshuos released four white wines, including a Joburg Girl! Then, miraculously, we survived the world’s curse, and its reward was one more year with Josh and Kos Yeshuos, along with more new 2019 ESSA wines! The Orange Sidewinder was nice enough, but the Viognier was indeed on point. ESSA was now in full sprint, producing top-notch wines like the 2019 Cabernet Franc and the 2019 Emunah. I am sure Josh was happy to not be flying back and forth, and the dual-Hemisphere thing had run its course. With the added time, ESSA evolved and added the Altira, and then more red wines followed.
Current day Lineup
Today, ESSA stands at 10 wines, at least from my count. The Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Emunah, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Riesling, Essa Liv & Luv Rose, Franschhoek Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot, Fume Blanc, and Altira. A few new wines are coming, and I have a bottle of one of them here, the Semillon.
As you will see in the wine notes below, ESSA is excelling, almost across the board. Look, I may not love wines like the Petit Verdot, given their fruity style, but that does not mean it is a bad wine. The same can be said for Malbec. They are just grapes that rarely excite me. However, the classic grapes are doing very well under the care of Josh and Chana (yes, I know PV and Malbec are Bordeaux classic grapes, but who cares? They are rarely used, and when they are, it is a rounding error).
No matter the fact that Josh is a friend, he makes good wines, guys, and that is plain to see. What confuses me is why the red wines do not sell as well as they should. You have the big red wines (PV and Malbec) for that kind of folks. You have a crazy QPR with the Cab/Merlot mix. Then you have the higher-end reds with the Emunah, Cabernet Franc, and so on. Let alone the crazy white wines – each of them is a CRUSHING WINNER! Folks, taste the wine and tell me what I am missing!
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2020 ESSA Emunah, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely, with notes of dirt, earth, and smoke, followed by mushroom, loam, and dense smoke, all complemented by black and red fruit, which is lovely and elegant, evoking an old-world approach.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine reveals great acidity, accompanied by a funky and earthy character and lovely mouth-draping tannin. It is elegant, not overly extracted, and features a nice focus on fruit, complemented by notes of raspberry, blackberry, and plum. Bravo! The finish is intense, with great acidity, funk, smoke, and toasty notes. The tannin lingers forever, accompanied by lovely minerality. Bravo. Drink by 2028. (tasted February 2025) (in KFWE, NJ) (ABV = 13.5%)
The Best and Top 25 Kosher Wines of 2024, including the Wine of the Year, Winery of the Year, the Best Wine of the Year, the Best Mevushal Wines of the Year, and Best QPR Wine of the Year Awards
First, I must start this by saying I am sorry for this being two months late. The late tasting of the 2022 wines in Paris pushed all the dates forward. Such is life! It was worth tasting those wines in their correct place. As stated below, I love at KFWE, but it is not a place to taste wines for a blog or a post. It is a place to taste wine and know if I should taste it in the correct setting. It is an excellent filter to help fine-tune the wines to sit down with.
Like last year, I wanted to make this post short and sweet – so the criteria are simple. I could care less about price, color, or where it was made. All that matters is that it is/was available this year sometime to the public at large, that I tasted it in a reliable environment, not just at a tasting, and that it scored a 94 or higher. PLEASE NOTE the improved quality of the top wines this year! This is the best year – that I have posted about – in regards to scoring. All 25 wines are 94 or above. The closest we had before was the 2021 blog year, which had a fair number of 93+ scored wines.
We are returning with the “Wine of the Year,” “Best Wine of the Year,” “Winery of the Year,” “Best White Wine of the Year,” “Best QPR Wine of the Year”, along with the – “Best Mevushal Wine of the Year.” Wine of the Year goes to a wine that distinguished itself in ways that are beyond the normal. It needs to be a wine that is readily available, incredible in style and flavor, and it needs to be reasonable in price. It may be the QPR wine of the year, or sometimes it will be a wine that has distinguished itself for other reasons. The wines of the year are a type of wine that is severely unappreciated, though ones that have had a crazy renaissance over the past two years. The Best Wine of the Year goes to a wine well worthy of the title.
The Mevushal wine of the year is something I dread. I understand the need for a wine that can be enjoyed at restaurants and events. Still, when we start seeing Château Gazin Rocquencourt and Chevalier de Lascombes go Mevushal – we know we have a problem. As I have stated in the past, if this is what needs to happen, then please sell both options as many do with Peraj Petita/Capcanes, Psagot wines, and many others. Still, it is a wine; as such, it needs a best-of-the-year moniker, so we do it again!
This past year, I tasted more wines than I have ever, in the past. Now, to be clear, I tasted thousands of Israeli (and other) wines but did not write notes on them. At this point, I refuse to post notes that demean the Israeli wine situation. I understand that goes against my long-term stance, but the situation there also goes against any logical or even human stance. As such, if the wine is good, I post. Otherwise, I am not adding value. I still think, long-term, Israel needs to change its winemaking style. However, as long as folks buy the wines, they will stay as they are. Enough said.
I spent a fair amount of time tasting all the US, French, Southern Hemisphere, and European wines I could get my hands on, and I feel that is where I added the most value, IMHO. For those who like the Israeli wine style – other writers/bloggers can point you in some direction. Thankfully, the 2022 vintage did pull up the overall quality from Europe, so we have some good options.
There are wines from the 2018 and 2020 Bordeaux vintages that snuck in, along with many from the 2022 vintage. Also, there are wines from around the United States and Europe. There are even a couple from the 2021 Bordeaux vintage. This proves wrong the idea that all of the 2021 vintage was a waste of time.
Now, separately, I love red wines, but white wines – done correctly, are a whole other story! Sadly, in regards to whites, we still had no new wines from Germany, still. Thankfully, we have some fantastic entries from ESSA, Domaine de Chevalier, Marciano Estates, Chateau de Rayne Vigneau, Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils, Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt, and Le Nardian. Some of these wines that scored well were ONLY the French versions. The USA versions of Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt are Mevushal and the Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils – it is a very different animal than what I tasted/enjoyed in Paris. However, they all scored a 93 or lower, and I do not see the point in putting a white wine in – just to cover that base. Therefore, this year, I am going with the “white” 2021 Tokaj-Hetszolo Tokaji Aszu 6 Puttonyos, Tokaj. I hope to post a roundup soon of the top white wines out there like I did last year.
The wines on the list this year are all available here in the USA, and in Europe, and a few can be found in Israel, as well. The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
The 2024 Kosher Winery of the Year
This award continues to get harder and harder each year. The sad, cold, hard truth is that there are too few great kosher wineries. When I started this award some five years ago, I thought it would only get easier. Sadly, there are a few truths that limit my ability to give out this award.
First, as much as we have been blessed with great Kosher European wines in the past 6 years, most of those blessings come under the auspices of single-run kosher wines. Chateau Leoville Poyferre, Château Smith Haut Lafitte, you name it, are all based upon kosher runs. What we have in Europe, kosher-winery-wise, is Terra di Seta, Cantina Giuliano, and Elvi Wines (including Clos Mesorah), Domaine Roses Camille, which only became 100% kosher in 2020. Still, for all intent and purpose, Domaine Roses Camille has been producing the vast majority of their wines in kosher since 2011.
The requirements to receive this award are simple, the winery must be kosher, not a kosher-run, the quality must be consistent, and the wines must be readily available. The last requirement is the main reason why Four Gates Winery has yet to win the award, but at this point, it is only a matter of time, as kosher wine availability is becoming less of an issue overall, given the sheer number of cult-like kosher wineries that exist today. Also, I may be forced to start playing with percentages instead of wholly kosher wineries if the people understand what I mean.
This year’s winner starts to break down one of my unspoken laws. Never give awards to one of your best friends, but Josh and Chana Rynderman have forced my hands. No, they have not done so physically or even by voice; it is all in their work. This award is worthy on so many levels. I have written about ESSA Wine before, as well as Kos Yeshuos Winery. Both are worthy of this award, and one could not exist without the other.
It is crazy to think that Kos Yeshuos started “unofficially” in 2015! I was not even scoring wines with numbers back then! Ten years ago, Kos Yeshuos made a lovely Vin Gris from Cabernet Sauvignon, and the game was afoot! From there, he made wine for sale in 2016, the first “official” vintage of Kos Yeshuos, with two reds, a Syrah and a Grenache (I had just turned over to numerical scores and started to dabble with QPR). The 2016 Syrah was excellent last year!
Read the rest of this entry
Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, 17 QPR WINNERS – Dec 2024
I have been behind on this post. After I do this post, I owe three more: a retrospective on the Kosher California Wine Scene for 2021 and 2022, a write-up on my visit with Avi Davidowitz to the newly built Elvi Wines winery in Priorat, and finally, my yearly Four Gates Wine post.
This post may be one of the largest overall QPR roundups I have done, wine-wise, weighing in at 90 wines. The last one I did was in August 2024. That one had 26 or so wines, and 7 of them garnered a QPR WINNER score. The latest post with the largest number of wines winning a QPR Score of WINNER was the May 2023 post, with 19 wines garnering a QPR score of WINNER.
QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines
It has been four or so months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post, and many people have been emailing me about unique wines I have tasted and lovely wines that are worth writing about.
Thankfully, no matter how much garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with several wonderful QPR wines.
Throughout the year, I post many QPR posts for almost all of the main categories. I will continue down this road until I find a better way to categorize and track QPR WINNERS wines. People are still asking me what a QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wine is and what the score of WINNER denotes. Once again, those are explained here in this post.
Some things that made me stand up and take notice (AKA QPR WINNERS):
There are 17 wines that won the coveted QPR score of WINNER this round, and they are all worth your attention.
The Chateau Fayat got a MONSTER quality score, and given its cost, it squeaks into the QPR WINNER score by a hair.
The same can be said for Chateau Trianon. It, too, garnered a massive score, and the price barely got it in under the wire.
The 2022 Philippe Le Hardi Aloxe Corton, Aloxe Corton, Burgundy, is a lovely wine for a challenging vintage. The Clos Vougeot may get a better score but at 5 times the price, it does not equate to a desirable QPR score.
The 2022 Eola Hills Wine Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, proves that we can get QUALITY Pinot Noir that is drinkable now at a QPR WINNER price. That deserves a shoutout!!
We have a SOLID list of QPR WINNERS:
- 2022 Chateau Fayat, Pomerol – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Chateau Trianon, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Chateau Montviel, Pomerol – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Philippe Le Hardi Aloxe Corton, Aloxe Corton, Burgundy – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Chateau Royaumont, Lalande de Pomerol (M) – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
- 2023 ESSA Altira, Cape South Coast – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf du Pape, Vielles Vignes, Chateauneuf du Pape, Vielles Vignes – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Chateau Larcis Jaumat, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
- 2023 Cave De Tain Crozes Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Chateau La Fleur, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Philippe Le Hardi Mercurey 1er Cru, Mercurey, Burgundy – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
- 2018 Dalton Semillon, Tic Toc, Galilee – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Chateau Piada, Sauternes – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Chateau la Clare, Medoc (M) – Score: 91+ (QPR: WINNER)
- 2022 Eola Hills Wine Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon – Score: 91+ (QPR: WINNER)
- 2023 Baron Rothschild Flechas De Los Andes Gran Malbec, Mendoza – Score: 91+ (QPR: WINNER)
- 2021 Dalton Chenin Blanc, Wild One, Galilee – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
Other wines worth noting (For good reasons!):
- The 2022 Chateau Leoville Poyferre, Saint-Julien, may not be priced to fit into the QPR WINNER circle, but it is another EPIC showing for this winery. Well worth finding this wine!!
- The 2022 Chateau le Gay, Pomerol – is an excellent wine, but it is a tad too ripe for me. Still, this is the first time it has been made kosher! Bravo!
- The 2022 Philippe Le Hardi Clos De Vougeot, Grand Cru is the first Clos Vougeot made kosher in some 18+ years. So, while the price is steep, the quality is there.
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%)
Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, Twelve QPR WINNERS – Dec 2023
First off, this is not the largest roundup I have written – there is a larger one from October 2021. Sadly, that one only had 6 QPR WINNERs. My last QPR post had a lot of wines as well, and it had 19 QPR WINNERs!
Also, we have a shockingly high number/percentage of EVEN QPR score wines, 26 to be exact. Either the price or the quality pushed them to this level. So, without further ado, the 50 wines I tasted over the past few months.
QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines
It has been seven months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post and many people have been emailing me about some unique wines I have tasted and some lovely wines that are worth writing about.
Thankfully, no matter how much garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with several wonderful QPR wines out there. This post differs though, as we are back to having a large number of POOR/BAD/N.A. QPR wines. We have 12 QPR WINNER scores and 14 GOOD/GREAT scores. The rest, 24 out of the 50 wines tasted here fall into the EVEN/POOR/BAD/N.A. categories, which is unfortunate.
We have a SOLID list of QPR WINNERS:
- 2019 Chateau Teyssier, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Stunning wine especially for the price some of us paid, not yet available
- 2019 Tenuta Monchiero Barolo, Barolo _ lovely wine!
- 2021 Castellare di Castellina Chianti Classico
- 2021 Chateau Montviel, Pomerol – One of the two best mid-range Bordeaux
- 2022 ESSA Cabernet Franc, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge
- 2023 Baron Edmond de Rothschild Rimapere, Marlborough
- 2022 ESSA Altira, Cape South Coast
- 2021 Chateau Royaumont (M) – One of the two best mid-range Bordeaux
- 2021 Capcanes La Flor Del Flor De Primavera, Montsant (M)
- 2001 Chateau Bel Air Gallier, Graves
- 2021 Lovatelli Barbera d’Asti
- 2021 Hans Wirsching Silvaner, Iphofer
There were also a few wines that were a slight step behind with a GREAT or GOOD QPR score:
- 2021 Chateau Moulin Riche, Saint-Julien
- 2022 Chateau Les Riganes Cabernet Franc, Bordeaux (M)
- 2022 Chateau Les Riganes Cabernet Sauvignon, Bordeaux (M)
- 2020 Binah Chambourcin, Reserve, Pennsylvania
- 2021 Chateau de Parsac, Montagne Saint-Emilion (M)
- 2021 Le Nardian, Bordeaux – lovely wine, but at 110 it is a GOOD
- 2020 Capcanes La Flor Del Flor De Primavera, Montsant
- 2021 Pavillon de Leoville Poyferre, Saint-Julien (M)
- 2020 Ramon Cardova Garnacha, Rioja (M)
- 2022 ESSA Malbec, Stellenbosch
- 2022 ESSA Cabernet Sauvignon, Franschhoek
- 2021 Pescaja Barbara D’asti (M)
- 2022 Chateau Les Riganes Merlot, Bordeaux (M)
- 2021 Binah Gruner Veltliner, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, Nineteen QPR WINNERS – May 2023
First off, this is not the largest roundup I have written – there is a larger one from October 2021. Sadly, that one only had 6 QPR WINNER. This post has 19! Also, we have a shockingly high number/percentage of EVEN QPR score wines, 26 to be exact. Either the price or the quality pushed them to this level. So, without further ado, the 62 wines I tasted over the past few months.
QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines
It has been four months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post and many people have been emailing me about some unique wines I have tasted and some lovely wines that are worth writing about.
Thankfully, no matter how much garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with quite a few wonderful QPR wines out there. This post differs though, this is the first time I have seen so few N.A. or POOR/BAD QPR scores! This is not because things are getting better as much as I am selectively picking wines to taste recently. Still, many of these notes are from KFWE in Los Angeles, so it does represent a proper distribution, IMHO. We have 19 WINNER scores and a few GOOD/GREAT scores. A shockingly large number of EVEN scores, which could have snuck into POOR/BAD, and only 8 POOR/BAD.
Thoughts on the wines
Harkham is back!!!
My interest and love for all things Harkham is well known. I loved discovering the Aziza in Australia, some 13 years ago! I missed Richie that day, but I made up for that many times afterward. I thought the two Shiraz, imported by Kosherwine.com, were solid entries into the Kosher US market. The 2021 vintage was tough in Australia and these wines show Richie’s drive and passion! Looking forward to even more stuff!!
Missed Bordeaux Wines
Between my Royal Wine tasting and the rest of the wines that Avi and I tasted, we covered most of the 2020 vintage in Paris, in Nov 2022. However, we missed the 2020 Chateau Fayat and the 2020 Chateau Meyney. That has now been rectified. The Fayat is an AWESOME WINNER, while the Meyney may come around, otherwise, it is still a solid wine.
Invei Wines
Michael Kaye continues to strive to make wines that are unique while also interesting. Some are hits and some are close but either way, he continues to impress. Hopefully, as he scales up production, the cool and refreshing wines will continue to roll! His website is up and running – Invei WInes.
ESSA Wines
My dear friend Josh Rynderman continues to pump out great wines. The rose and Emunah are prime examples. I liked the rose, it is refreshing and puts a smile on my face. The Emunah is nice, not as balanced as in the past, but a solid next play. I hear more fun stuff is coming soon. Looking forward!
Hajdu Wines
A couple of weeks ago, I was at Covenant Winery to taste the Hajdu wines with my friend Elk. Elk eventually showed up, but either way, it was great hanging out with Jonathan Hajdu and seeing Elk, eventually! The wines that I tasted were all balanced, refreshing, and enjoyable. The rose and Pinot Blanc were lovely wines. The reds were balanced as well.
Herzog Wines
I tasted these wines at the KFWE in Los Angeles and also some were sent to my home to taste. Overall, I was shocked by how good the 2021 Baron Herzog Pinot Grigio and Gewurztraminer were. Balanced, tart, and refreshing, and for the price! WOW! The 2020 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley is a hit as always, on even vintages. 2019 was not bad, but not this good!
Roundup
Overall another nice list of QPR WINNERS. I can always look at these kinds of lists and say there are only 19 wines I would want to buy from this entire list, but that would be a defeatist attitude. The correct way to classify this list is we have 19 more wines available to us and in the end, as I have stated many times now, I cannot buy all the WINNER wines even if I wanted to. There are just too many good wines out there and that is what we should be focused on!
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
We have a nice list of QPR WINNERS:
- 2020 Chateau Fayat, Pomerol – Stunning wine! Enough said
- 2020 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, Special Reserve – Great wine!
- 2021 Hajdu Proprietary Red, Napa Valley, CA – Big and bold wine, but balanced
- 2020 Chateau Meyney, Saint-Estephe – This wine scares me but it may eventually come around
- 2020 Terra Di Seta Guiduccio, Toscana – Same with this one, it scares me but should come around
- 2020 Elvi Wines El26, Priorat – Big, bold, but far more balanced than others here
- 2021 Hajdu Menagarie, California – Nice wine
- 2021 Harkham Hark Angel Shiraz – Harkham is back in the States! Lovely wine!
- 2021 Hajdu Barbera, Sierra Foothills – Nice, tart, and balanced wine
- 2020 Hagafen Rose, Brut, Napa Valley, CA – Nice bubbles!
- 2022 Invei Gewurztraminer, Dry, Clarksburg, CA – Huge ABV but you do not feel it – loved it!
- 2020 Chateau D’Arveyers, Bordeaux Superieur – Great Mevushal Winner!
- 2022 ESSA Liv & Luv Rose, Durbanville – Not bracing with acidity, but balanced and refreshing.
- 2021 Dalton Sauvignon Blanc, Reserve, Galilee – A nice Sauv Blanc – enjoy!
- 2021 Baron Herzog Gewurztraminer, California (M) – Impressed by this wine, refreshing
- 2022 Hajdu Pinot Blanc, Anderson Valley, CA – Floral and joyous
- 2022 Hajdu Rose, California – Nice, and refreshing
- 2021 Baron Herzog Pinot Grigio, California (M) – Another impressive Herzog Baron that is tart and refreshing
- 2022 Goose Bay Pinot Grigio, South Island (M) – One of their best Pinot Grigio, tart and refreshing
The official Inaugural South African ESSA Wine Company release – Feb 2022
WOW, another year has come and gone with madness circling and surrounding us, but there are a few very talented folks who brave it all and continue to impress year after year.
We have been blessed with another vintage in South Africa, I think it is still in the midst of harvest, depending on the varietals. However, it means that it is a year past harvest from 2021! Josh Rynderman, the Dual-Hemisphere winemaker of Kos Yeshuos Winery and ESSA Wine Co., was kind enough to let me taste a few of the wines last year, but with my mind locked on getting up a mountain and then getting down alive, I forgot to post the notes! Then I see the official release of what we all knew for some time, that Royal wine was distributing ESSA wines, and man, I have to get to posting on these notes!!!!
To see more about the story and life of Kos Yeshuos and the Ryndermans, you can read my post here about last year’s wines, and this post about the wines made under ESSA Wine Co. Thankfully, the ESSA wines are all here in the USA, at this point, and they should be for sale on KosherWine.com, any day now, and they are available at most shops on the east coast.
By the way, it is cool to see wines from the VERY first vintage of ESSA wines with the 2018 Malbec, and then the 2019 vintage with the Cabernet Franc, the 2020 and 2021 vintages with the Emunah blend, and the white Altria, respectively. So cool to see the full gamut of effort on display for all to see! Bravo brother! much more success! Three QPR (Quality to Price ratio) WINNER wines from 4 vintages – WOW! The Malbec came in as GOOD, a very solid showing.
As you know Josh is a friend, and as always I make sure to disclaim things like that before posting my notes, like with Benyamin Cantz of Four Gates Winery. So, with that, my many thanks to Josh for sharing his wines with me, and yes, I have tasted them again, today, and I miss you, buddy, it has only been a few months since Josh returned to South Africa to do this year’s harvest, but his presence is missed from NorCal. Looking forward to your return for NorCal’s harvest in July/August 2022!
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2021 ESSA Altira, Cape South Coast – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 50% Semillon and 50% Sauvignon Blanc. The nose opens to Semillon-dominated aromas with lovely honeysuckle, yellow flowers, yellow plums, green/yellow apple, tart gooseberry, lovely mineral, flint, and rich straw/hay. This mouth on this medium-bodied wine is INSANE, the acidity is off the charts, with rich saline, flint, smoke, followed by layers, yes layers, of ripe melon, sweet gooseberry, lovely tart orange, passion fruit, lovely mouthfeel, almost a bit oily, with rich Asian Pear, rich lemongrass, ripe yellow grapefruit, and a precision and focus that is really incredible. The finish is long, green mineral-driven, and tart, with still incredible acidity, perfectly balanced, with flint, white chalk, green olives, and smoke galore. Bravo! Drink until 2024. (tasted March 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)
2020 ESSA Emunah, Hemel en Aarde Ridge – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a red Bordelaise blend. The nose on this wine is a lovely red, dark cherry, dark red fruit, earth, mushroom, smoke, tar, loam, wet earth, and sweet oak. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is nice and approachable but one that will gain from age, with rich mushroom, ripe raspberry, dark cherry, nice bell pepper, with lovely mouth-coating tannin, rich currants, hints of black plum, with charcoal, lovely garrigue, and earth. The finish is long green, earthy, with garrigue, charcoal, roasted meat, smoke, Cuban cigar, and nice leather. Drink from 2023 until 2027. (tasted March 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)
——————————- reposted here from 2020 and 2019 tasting ———————————
2019 ESSA Cabernet Franc (French Barrels) – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose on this wine is oaky to start with loads of heat, with a few minutes that blow off, to show lovely earth, forest floor, and dirt, with dark currant, green notes, foliage, green tea, and lovely red fruit. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is still quite young, with loads of screaming tannin, lovely acidity, and oak, with loads of sweet dill, spice, and nice control overall, with 13.8% ABV, showing green notes of asparagus/cucumber with cranberry, dried raspberry, and tart fruit, and lovely floral notes of rosehip, still showing oak, hints of smoke, mushroom, and sweet strawberry. An elegant wine with great control. The finish is long, green, dark, and yet tart, with a great balance from the acid and the fruit, with lovely sweet tobacco, dark chocolate, and earth, with graphite, and more mushroom lingering long. Bravo! Drink from 2023 until 2027. (tasted Sept 2020)
2018 Essa Wine Co. Malbec – Score: 91 (QPR: GOOD)
The color of this wine is incredibly dark, almost purely black. The nose on this wine is dense, black, and truly fruity, with incredible roasted meat, black and blue fruit, and red fruit lurking somewhere, with black olives, and the smoke monster coming out in the background. The mouth on this full-bodied wine is ripe and starts off a bit scary, with time this calms down very well, mostly because of the incredible acidity and tart juicy fruit, showing lovely juicy strawberry, boysenberry, with blackberry, and plum, backed by layers of brooding dark fruit, with nice earth/loam, smoke, and roasted animal. The finish is long, ripe, with strawberry juicy fruity, with mineral galore, graphite giving way to layers of smoke, with crazy tobacco, tar, and asphalt. Nice! Drink until 2024.
Kos Yeshuos Winery’s new U.S. release for 2021, and 2019 South African ESSA Wine Co. wines
WOW, I cannot believe I just wrote that number, but yes, we made it through 2020, and I hope all of you are safe and well. The prize for reaching 2021 is more wine, and Josh Rynderman, the Dual-Hemisphere winemaker of Kos Yeshuos Winery and ESSA Wine Co., swung by last week and we tasted his new release for 2021, the 2020 Kos Yeshuos Viognier. Sadly, this year, there are no cool marketing/moniker-driven wine names. Other than the Wylder Side Orange Viognier, but that is a super-small production promotional item.
Sadly, 2020 was a horrible year for many, in the wine world and outside of it. Sadly, because of fires, smoke, crazy heat waves, and God knows what else, Kos Yeshuos only made the Viognier, but it is a really good wine!
To see more about the story and life of Kos Yeshuos and the Ryndermans, you can read my post here about last year’s wines, and this post about the wines made under ESSA Wine Co. Sadly, the ESSA Wine Co. wines are still not available here in the USA, but they are nice!! We tasted the ESAA Wine Co. wines in September 2020, and the wine notes are also below.
Well, as you know Josh is a friend, and as always I make sure to disclaim things like that before posting my notes, like with Benyamin Cantz of Four Gates Winery. So, with that, my many thanks to Josh for coming by with the new wines to taste, safe travels, and best of luck on the 2021 Harvest in South Africa! Remember to bring me more of those wonderful South African reds when you are back in July/August 2021!
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:
2020 Kos Yeshuos Viognier – Score: 92 (QPR: EVEN)
The notes are on a bottle that was bottled less than 2 weeks ago. To start the nose opens to smell very much like the 2018 California Kid, which was Viognier/Sauvignon Blanc, this vintage is 100% Viognier. The nose starts with bright peach, pear, citrus, gooseberry, fresh hay, cardamom, jasmine, and flint galore. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is lovely, layered, and rich, with waves of acidity that are almost overcoming, but they are tempered by the smoke, flint, peach, citrus galore, ripe pomelo, with an almost oily texture, followed by waxy notes, with lovely weight, ripe apricot, yellow pear, and more hay. The finish is long, green, with hints of foliage, more tart and juicy yellow fruit, gooseberry, honeydew, and loads of flint, smoke, and green notes. Bravo! Drink until 2023. (tasted Dec 2020)
2020 Kos Yeshuos Wylder Side Orange – Score: 92
This wine is a blend of Viognier and Chardonnay made in an Orange style. This wine starts closed with apple notes and not much else. With a few hours of decanting the nose opens to what I expect from an Orange Viognier, with notes of almonds, candied peach, apricot, cardamom, sweet rosehip, sweet jasmine, with creme brulee, and fresh apple compote. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is fun, the acid hits you first, but that is quickly overcome by waves of sweet tannin, followed by an oily texture that coats the mouth with sweet apricot, peach, oak, and notes of smoke and toast. The finish is long, toasty, smoke, flint, mineral, roasted walnuts, and more tannin that lingers forever. Bravo!! Drink until 2024. (tasted Dec 2020)
Kos Yeshuos and ESSA Wine Co. creating wines in each Hemisphere
Before the Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) Josh Rynderman from Kos Yeshuos wines and his wife who owns ESSA Wine Co. swung by to taste the new wines from their inaugural vintage from the Southern Hemisphere. Josh and Chana Rynderman are dear friends and as I posted here, we went to their wedding in South Africa.
I have written a couple of times now about Kos Yeshuos and the wines that Josh has made here in Califonia. The wines they brought over were the new 2018 wines from South Africa and the 2018 wines from California.
The two 2018 white wines had changed some from the last official tasting last year, with the Califonia Kid showing incredibly well and the Viognier losing some of its flint madness and turning into a wonderful glass of true peach-driven wine.
The new wines were the red wines that will be made available under the name of ESSA Wine Co. For the 2018 vintage, they made three red wines in South Africa. They are almost all Bordeaux grapes, excepting for the small amount of Cinsault in the red blend. That said, they are not made in the Bordeaux style, these wines are far more New-World in style, but still well controlled and impressive for their first wines from South Africa.
There is no real name yet for the red blend, that is made from Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cinsault. The wine starts off quite austere in style, but that blows off and becomes a truly New-World wine in style. It should be ready in a couple of months and will last for a couple of years. The wine is the ripest of the batch and while I liked the wine it is not built to last. The bigger brother, in terms of style and elegance, is the 2018 Essa Wine Co. Collaborative, a mix of fruit from ESSA Wine Co. and Alex Rubin’s winery, that is unnamed as of this point. It is a beautiful wine that shows just how wonderful New-World wines can be the incredible potential of what can be made in South Africa!
Finally, there is the beast of the group, the 2018 Malbec. This wine is a true beast, ripe but with wonderful acidity to make it all come together. Yes, it is a new-world wine, however, I still enjoyed it much like I enjoy Cali New-world wines. It is ripe, but the blue and black fruit meld together wonderfully, with juicy fruit, acidity, smoke, and loads of animal. A truly enjoyable new-world wine.
Now, before you ask, when will these wines be available here in the USA, I have no idea. This is the issue with posting about wines that are not generally available. Still, to me this is the chicken and egg problem, folks need to know they exist and hopefully, a desire for them to be here will create enough of a market for them to be brought here. So, I am trying to help make that a reality. Still, as stated above, Josh is a good friend, so my notes should always be understood with that in mind.
I hope they make their way to our hemisphere. Until then, get some of the California Kid which I have enjoyed recently and is showing beautifully now.
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:
2018 Kos Yeshuos California Kid – Score: 91 to 92
Ok, so this is the fifth time I have had this wine and it really ready to go. Also, the sweeter side of the wine has moved to a drier side, the orange and nectarines are gone, with more passion fruit, and citrus galore lingering.
This wine is a blend of Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc. The nose on this wine starts to show like a 100% Sauvignon Blanc, showing crazy gooseberry, fresh-cut grass, cat pee, with herbal notes, and nice peach in the background, lemongrass, and really fun and bright citrus notes, with loads of green notes, with peaches and creme in the background! The mouth on this medium plus bodied wine is rich and acidic, with a lovely acid core, followed by more peach, grapefruit, and more lovely gooseberry, with salinity that is off the charts, now the orange and nectarines are gone, and now what we have is more lemongrass, more saline, and hints of melon. The finish is long, green, tiny hint of orange, and tart. Bravo!!! Drink by 2021 Read the rest of this entry
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