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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%)
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%)
Four Gates Winery’s January 2024 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 new wines.
I have written many times 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.
Other than maybe Yarden and Yatir (which are off my buying lists – other than their whites and 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 and it is because of the care and control that he has for his vineyard. That said, 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 have immense faith in Benyo’s wines which are sourced from his vineyard and the Monte Bello Ridge vineyard. The other wines, that he creates from other sources, are sometimes wonderful, like the 2010 Four Gates Syrah that I tasted recently. I would have sworn it was a Rhone wine, crazy minerality, acid, and backbone, with fruit NOT taking center stage, though ever so evident, the way it is meant to be! Others, while lovely on release may well not be the everlasting kind of Four Gates wines.
Two new wines
This year Benyo decided a Rose was a good idea, well, I mean last year! Yeah, he held the wine for a year! I have no idea why, it is just classic Benyo! The 2022 Rose is called Rosalinda and the fruit is Grenache from the Santa Clara Valley, CA.
OK, once we move on from the outlier, we come to a new wine in the Four Gates lineup, it is called Gidon. It is a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. That blend has been consistent now for a couple of years, and Gidon is a wine that is here to stay.
The rest are returnees from previous vintages. The 2021 Petit Verdot from the Santa Clara Valley AVA, and a 2021 Malbec, also from Santa Clara Valley, CA. I will say that while I normally do not care for the Malbec or Petit Verdot, they are wines crafted for the “average man”. However, this year, they are controlled and ones I would have bought if I had more space to store them. They are good to go right now but for that price, I have other things I need space for.
We have another vintage of the classic Four Gates fruit. The Chardonnay is from 2022. The Pinot Noir is from 2021. The Cabernet Franc is from 2021. The rest are from 2019, the Gidon, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Frere Robaire. The 2019 wines are stunning and are babies, please do not open these wines for a decade each. I am not sure about the Pinot Noir, it is such a lightweight but also so ethereal, so I am not 100% sure about that one. The Chardonnay is another wine to leave for 10 years.
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 every year. Sure there have been crazy cult wines, like the 2005 and 2006 DRC wines, or some other such 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, the prices reached their highest Zenith, again, and while the majority of the wines sold out within minutes the last two are still available as they were the wines that he had the most of and the highest-priced wines as well. Still, the crazy prices people paid for the Auction wines that he had last year show the high demand for the wines. These are wines for the long haul, other than the Rose, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.
My thanks to Michel and Sima Rynderman for hosting the tasting and for putting up with me and Benyo crashing their home. This year we did it earlier in the day so we did not keep them up! My apologies for not getting pictures, I got used to Avi taking the pictures!
The notes speak for themselves. Again, this year, I did not buy the Rosalinda, Malbec, or Petit Verdot. 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:
2022 Four Gates Rosalinda, Santa Clara Valley, CA – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine has changed a lot over the year, I had the wine in early 2023, but Benyo held out on releasing it.
The nose shows notes of peach, lemon, orange, orange blossom, and nice minerality.
The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is eh, what a lovely wine this was last year, sadly now, this is a nice and acidic wine with orange, peach, and lemon rind, but it is uni-dimensional. Drink now! (tasted December 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12.9%)
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
A unique tasting of Kosherwine.com exclusive wines – nice options that range outside of my QPR because of their small production
As always, I am happy to taste wines that are sent to me or that I buy, I do not normally call them out, per se, unless they are at a tasting, like with Royal, IDS, M&M, and others. This is one of those examples, where Kosherwine.com (KW) sent me 24 wines to taste. I have also added some that I bought, exclusive to KW, the Sleight of Hand Cellars, and Doubleback wines. There were also, the Harkham wines that KW started to bring in, I also bought those, but I just have not had the time to taste those yet. I remember well my time in Australia when I was one of the first people to post about the incredible Harkham Azziza Shiraz! WOW! So much fun! Even more enjoyable was hanging out with Richie at the tasting in L.A., I truly hope KW will start to import the Semillon as well soon!
Kosherwine.com’s Exclusive wines
I have spoken about exclusive wines, exclusive wine clubs, and the sort in the past. While I have no issue with them, per se, they do tend to drive up pricing. They do not drive up the price because the exclusive merchant makes a bigger cut, the prices go up because of smaller production and exclusivity.
When you make lots of small wine runs or work with small producers that are OK with exclusivity, it tends to lead to higher prices because of how the product is made. Whether it is wineries in Israel like Shiran, Ghito, Mia Luce, or Sleight of Hand Cellars from Washington State. They are all small wineries with small productions or one-off runs and that leads to higher prices.
In the end, the way I define QPR (Quality to Price Ratio), still revolves around price! So, whether the price is higher because of small production, single runs, or exclusivity, the end goal for QPR is to get a wine that meets the quality and the price of its competitors.
You will see some nice wines below, wines that I would drink, but given the pricing, I could not put the QPR WINNER tag on them. Nonetheless, if you remove the exclusive thing and just stick to the fact that these are a bunch of wines that are nice to well, Israeli reds, the tasting was fun! In the end, that is what matters.
Fun Options
Top Scoring wines
If I was a betting man, and I am not, I would wager that most people will find the Ghito whites to be highly enjoyable. I only had two of them to taste the Uphaz and the Soreqa, but I may well get some other 2021 whites to try.
The Mia Luce white was also quite enjoyable, along with the Yaacov Oryah Chardonnay.
For red wines, the Doublback was quite nice, it had green notes that threw me but overall a very nice wine.
Seven 90 or 90+ scored wines
There were also seven 90 or 90+ scored wines. These included another Ghito white, the Shiran Chardonnay, Mia Luce Syrah, a pair of Domaine Herzberg red blends, along with a Sheldrake sweet wine, and the 2019 Sleight of Hand Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Magic.
Closing Thoughts
Overall not a bad lineup of good wines, the prices, as described above keep the QPR scores lower than I would have liked. Still, there are options here for those that want to try new wines, new blends, or unique stories. In the end, KW has done its homework, I hope that as they work on the overall product line, they can maybe also work with their partners to get the prices down.
My sincerest thanks to Dovid Riven for sharing their wonderful wines with me. The wines are listed in the order I tasted them. 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 Festa d’Estate Pinot Grigio, Provinicia di Pavia (M) – Score: 87 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is correct with green grass, straw, quince, yellow apple, and herbs. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine feels stunted, less vibrant than it should be, the apple is bruised, the pear is browning, the fruit is not crisp, and a bit sweet, and there is good acidity, but it is just not refreshing, with some citrus, and herb. The finish is long, balanced, and with good acidity. Drink now. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)
2021 Shiran Winery Chardonnay, Gush Etzion – Score: 90 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine is the best part of this wine with some muted fruit, not as crisp as I would hope, apple blossom, muddled red apple, muddled pear, and flint. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine feels all over the place, it has acidity but feels hollow in the middle, with red apple, pear, some citrus, and flint. The finish is long, not as refreshing as it should be as the muddled fruit detracts from the overall effect. Drink now. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)
2020 Yaffo Image White, Judean Hills – Score: 88 (QPR: EVEN)
The nose of this wine feels muted with more muddled apple and pear, peach, some smoke, and flint. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is balanced, it feels almost refreshing, with good acidity, but the fruit is where things take a step back, the muddled peach, pear, and apple, are nice enough, but what I want is crisp and refreshingly tart fruit and I feel this is a bit lacking there. The finish is long, balanced, and fruity, with pith, flint, and some smoke. Drink now. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)
2020 Mia Luce Blanc, Galilee – Score: 91 (QPR: EVEN)
The 2020 vintage in Israel was tough, this wine has fresh fruit, the issue is there is very little of it, which is shocking for me to say about an Israeli wine! The nose of this wine is fresh and bright with tart green apples, flint, hay, funk, tart pink quince, and peach. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine has a lovely weight, even a bit elegant, with refreshing and fresh fruit, and lovely acidity, I wish there was more fruit, with peach, yellow apple, quince, nice funk, and lovely flint. The finish is long, refreshing, and almost oily, with nice acidity, and some elegance. Drink by 2024. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)
2021 Yaacov Oryah Chardonnay, Singe Vineyard, Yaacov’s Playground, Judean Hills – Score: 91(QPR: EVEN)
This wine is a bit closed to start it needs a few hours to fully open up. The nose of this wine is fresh and refreshing with good apple, pear, grapefruit, citrus blossom, a hint of wood, and tart pink quince. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has lovely acidity, with a lovely mouthfeel, good citrus, quince, lemon/lime, and a nice mouthfeel, crème Fraiche, sweet oak, and nicely refreshing! The finish is long, tart, and refreshing with loads of citrus, oak, and sweet spices lingering long. Drink until 2026. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 12%)
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