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My short but meaningful trip to Israel
As stated in a previous post, I was in Israel, in early 2024. To state that things are different yet the same would be a simplification of reality. A quick, sad, yet real note, I had not been to Israel for almost 5 years, since Passover 2019. Crazy! Also, it marked a 10th anniversary, for me, and Israel, for my last meaningful trip, when again, Israel invaded Gaza, just crazy! Just read the last post (from 2014) and compare that to my takeaway post from my time in Israel for Passover in 2019.
I will not get into gloom or the such that I felt in 2014. That was indeed a very dark time for me, personally, in regards to my trip, at that time, for many reasons. This trip was sad, of course, but I thought it uplifting, given the state of the people I met. My hotels were filled with people who had to evacuate their homes, and the hallways felt like a building in Har Nof. I was perfectly fine with what was going on but I truly felt for those in these hotels. Breakfast felt more like a school cafeteria, with kids everywhere, packing lunches and the like. Just take a moment to think about what those people must feel like, what they must be going through! There was this lovely young girl whose birthday it was, one of the days I was in the hotel, she refused to have her party, in the hotel basement, because none of her friends or even family would be there. It really helps to open your eyes and realize how spoiled we all are.
The trip revolved around spending time with my family and my Rabbi and even that was limited, sadly. In the end, it was too short, it was too crazy, and I wish I had more time. Wineries and folks did reach out when they found out I was in town, and of course, I politely refused, given the already limited time I was going to be there and the people I wanted to spend time with. That said, I did carve two evenings to spend a few hours with my friends. One night I hung out with Avi Davidowitz and his family and one night I hung out with the French clan in Jerusalem. The evening with Avi and his family was lovely and the evening with the French guys was Tu B’Shvat.
We did do a large-ish blind tasting the second night, with the French guys, and I must say, the 2023 vintage for Israeli wine is horrible! There is no other way to say it, a total disaster. There are SOME okay wines, but they are the minority and the sad truth is that 2023 will be remembered as a horrible, sad, and depressing year for Israel, and the wine, at least so far, is not making up for it.
I was going to keep this short, so my many thanks to those who hosted me and the gang. I really need to thank Avi and his wife Michal and Joel and his wife Delphine for hosting me and the gang at Joel’s! Both evenings were lovely, and the food was awesome, sadly, I cannot say the same for the wine on the 2nd night. The evening with Avi and the wines were top-notch, minus a couple, listed here. The second evening was a blind tasting and man – was it painful! REALLY! All the 2023 wines were pretty much useless. There were a couple of Shmitta wines from 2022 and a couple of reds as well. Also, many thanks to Joel for taking the pictures!
The wine notes follow below, in order of tasting – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
The first evening – none tasted blind
2021 Vitkin Riesling, Judean Hills – Score: 88 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this nice is nice with gooseberry, honeysuckle, flowers, and rich saline, flint, peach, and slate. The mouth of this light to medium-bodied wine is boring, lacking acidity, with some fruit, and essentially nothing to grab you. Next. (tasted January 2024) (in Jerusalem, Israel) (ABV = 11.5%)
Klal Yisroel is suffering – is wine really that important??
This post comes to me with great trepidation. Not on my behalf but rather I question if I have what to say of the horrors that have befallen a nation that lies so far from many of us. I was called out, by friends, for not posting here after the devastating attacks that were wrought upon the Jewish people in Israel. My reply, then, and maybe still now, is how does wine weigh in on this issue?
So many of my posts here on this blog are counter to the approach new-world wineries have taken to meet the growing needs of the kosher wine-drinking public. The decision was a financial one that was focused far more on what a winery could sell than what it wanted to sell. My words are out there and I do not hide from them. They are my opinions and I stand by them. Still, many take my sharp criticism towards the direction Israeli wineries took to move in an even more new-world direction starting in 2009 as a reflection of my feelings towards the country! That could not be farther from the truth. Israel is the land of our forefathers, it is the land where I first learned to fall in love with wine and it is the land where I traveled to more often than any other location until 2018 or so. In the end, my dearest friends, family, and Rabbis are all in a land that is under attack and I feel deep pain for what my brothers and sisters (literally and metaphorically) have had to endure. The physical and psychological trauma is beyond words. I had the honor to finish the Torah this year at my shul and in respect to that I did a Siyum on Masechet Horayot, a Gemara I finished in the week, along with my Daf and the start of Shtayim Mikrah with Ramban.
My point is that I broke down a few times doing the Siyum, imploring those to do more. More can be like my friends who have flown to Israel to carry food, clothes, and supplies to many on the front or worse. More can be protecting those who cannot protect themselves with funds and so much more. Every one of us cannot be silent we must do more we must stand and state that the atrocities that were wrought upon our nation are not OK. The people are suffering, it is not good enough to ask how people are, it is not enough to wonder if your friends and family are well, it is time for more! Talk to your community leaders and your friends, there are hundreds of opportunities to help those less fortunate than you. Now is not the time to stand on the side it is time to enter into the fray and do more. More is what is being asked of us until those opportunities, calluses, and pain are removed.
So, with all that what does a wine writer have to say to the madness that we watch from afar? Stated simply wine is a business, the very same business that made conscious decisions to meet the needs of the many. That need did not just stop when war was thrust upon a nation. One may think talking about wine is crass and beneath us at a time like this. To that, the simple fact is wineries are real, they need your help, and they need the help of every Jew. We all need to do more. If you enjoy wine, buy Israeli wine. I have a few options here down below. If you dislike wine buy chocolate, buy food, buy Israeli. This is not a question of IF or OR this is an AND. You need to buy AND you need to do more. You need to support Israel as we all must do, and we must buy Israel, and we must pray, and we must learn, and we must do more. This is not the time to shirk your responsibility with IF or OR it is more and it is AND!
I was asked for a list of wines I would buy and do buy and here they are, I have also sprinkled in a few wines that may accommodate other people’s palate. In the end, it is upon all of us to do more, stand by our brothers and sisters, and remember that the lack of action, whether within or external, is tantamount to supporting those who have terrorized our nation. Stand strong, stand well with Israel, and you will be supported as well.
What follows is a smattering of current wines I buy/bought and wines I have tasted recently that you may all enjoy and buy. Some are older than I thought but they are the vintages I bought or enjoyed.
2020 Vitkin Grenache Blanc, Samson – Score: 92.5 (QPR: GREAT)
This wine is a blend of 90% Grenache Blanc and 10% Macabeo. The nose of this wine is lovely, ripe, tart, and elegant, with intense floral notes, violet, yellow flower, orange blossom, orange, minerality, and peach, just lovely! The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, ripe, balanced, tart, and elegant, with hints of oak, and a lovely almost oily mouthfeel, backed by intense acidity, showing lovely peach, apricot, melon, green tea, and smoke. The finish is long, tart, ripe, and balanced, with great smoke, hay, straw, fruity, and bracingly acidic. Bravo!! Drink until 2025. (tasted August 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)
NV Matar Blanc de Noir Brut, Galilee – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
I wanted to ding this wine for the bottle shape, NO this is not cool! It is IMPOSSIBLE to store, and painful to ship, it may look nice, but it is a disaster, and I am sorry, it is a horrible idea. Now, let us get to rating the liquid in this horrible bottle! This wine is slow to open with lovely notes of green apple, Asian pear, peach, pomelo, lovely minerality, yeasty notes, and sweet Meyer lemon. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is a pure pleasure, it is acidic to the core, it is yeasty, it is nutty, it is clean, with lovely small mousse bubbles refreshing your palate like light butterflies dancing on your tongue, along with slate, slight tannin, beautiful minerality, green apple, Asian pear, peach, tart orange, and sweet quince. Lovely! The finish is forever, with enough weight, just tantalizing, with mineral, slate, saline, and lovely mousse and tannin and acidity that lingers forever with the pomelo and tart orange! Bravo! This harkens back to the early days of Matar, really a joy! Drink until 2027. (tasted September 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)
2021 Netofa Matzpen, Galilee – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 33% Grenache, 34% Syrah, & 33% Mourvedre. The nose is ripe, a bit too much for me, candied cherry, candied plum, rosehip, white flowers, smoke, green notes, roasted herbs, and sweet smoking tobacco. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is nice, with great acidity, and balance, still candied, but that will calm, with cranberry, pomegranate, dark cherry, life-saver candies, raspberry, layers of sweet oak, and nice tannin. The finish is long, tannic, layered, and refreshing, tart enough to make it all work, let’s watch this evolve a bit over the next few days. Drink from 2026 until 2030. (tasted October 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)
2019 Netofa Latour, Red, Galilee – Score: 91+ (QPR: WINNER)
Oh WOW! This reminds me of the good old days of the early years of Latour, very nice! This wine is a blend of 70% Syrah and 30% Mourvedre. The nose of this wine is floral, ripe, fruity, bright, smoky, earthy, and dirty, with roasted meat, this is what a Rhone should smell like, wow! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is a crazy WINNER, ripe, balanced, tart, fruity, and dirty, with lovely strawberry, tart, and juicy raspberry, boysenberry, smoke, earth, loam, hints of watermelon, root beer, and lovely garrigue. The finish is long, fruity, tart, smoky, and just fun, with great fruit focus, a dynamite mouthfeel, a very accessible wine out of the bottle, but will last some time as well, lovely!!! Sadly, by the night after opening the wine dulled out, and while it is not bad, and still a WINNER, it is not at the same level as I had upon opening. Right now, I do not truly understand how the wine goes from being a juicy and vibrant wine to being a dull one but such is life. Drink by 2026. (tasted June 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)
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