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2017 Bokobsa Wine Tasting in Paris
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Well, if you read my previously posted notes of my one day at Sommelier in Israel, you may be wondering why I am posting about Paris France? The apropos answer to that question can be summed up with this beautiful pasuk from Psalms “Shomer petaim Hashem,” literally “God protects the foolish,”.
So, let’s start from the beginning. As I posted here, about the coming wine events of 2017, there were many options for you to get out and taste great wines almost across the globe. Well, this year I finally wanted to put more focus on France, so I was in Bordeaux later last year, and now I wanted to get to Paris again to taste through the new 2014 wines. My desire was to get to one day at Sommelier, and the Bokobsa wine tasting in Paris, but skip the epic Zur wine tasting this year, the first time since its inception 😦
Thankfully the plans worked out, and for that I thank God and my wife. Last year I was in Israel a total of 6 times, including a stop over in Bordeaux, where I tasted some of the best wines from the 2015/2016 vintage, thanks to Royal Europe. So, this year, we had to keep the number of round trips to Israel to a more reasonable number, and staying home a bit more was also on the table. That meant doing crazy things to get an elephant of activity, squeezed into a thimble sized amount of time. A total of five days, including travel both ways, to squeeze in a trip to Israel, a Monday in Israel for Sommelier, then a day trip to paris for the Bokobsa tasting (Tuesday), returning at 4AM on Wednesday back to Israel. Then going north to visit 5 wineries (Kishor, Matar, Adir, Lueria, and then Netofa part 1 of 2017). Then return back to sleep (preferably not in the car while driving). Get up Thursday, drive to a bris, then to my beloved sister (GREAT hanging with her), then to Tzora, Flam, and then flying home. So yeah, I have lots of posts coming soon, but for now, this is about Paris and France’s wines!
It started Saturday night, with a dash out the door to catch the 8PM direct flight to Israel. Thank God the plane was not packed and I arrived in time. We landed in Israel, and found my way to the hotel, where I would stay for two days. The next day was Sommelier, then dinner with friends, and then a half attempted night’s sleep. Then Tuesday, go to the airport and take the El Al flight to paris France for the Bokobsa tasting at the Intercontinental Hotel. By the way, charging 8 Euro at the hotel bar, for a cup of coffee is crazy, just an aside! Read the rest of this entry
International Food & Wine Festival (IFWF) in Oxnard brings back great memories!
These past two weeks have been what the Jews call the 9 days that are rather famous for the infamous events that have occurred in this specific span of time. Thankfully, once they were passed Herzog Cellars and Royal Wines put on an encore event of the IFWF (International Food and Wine Festival), this time in the Herzog Winery itself, to celebrate the winery’s 25th year in the industry! What an event and celebration it was! It brought back memories of the old IFWF events that were held in Oxnard, since the inaugural IFWF event in 2008.
Sure there were some 200 or so in attendance, but with the fully expanded setup, including an enclosure in the back that housed the French wine table, dessert table, and room to hunker down, it felt spacious and very comfortable.
In many ways, this event felt like an almost exact replay of the first International Food and Wine Festival. The crowd size was perfect, there was room for you to hunker down and taste wines and there was room for you to huddle up and talk with friends or people of like or dislike opinions.
Besides the layout and crowds, the food was absolutely fantastic, just like in previous events here. Once again, Todd Aarons and Gabe Garcia created wondrous delights that were so wrong in all the right ways! Of course, I came to the food area too late to partake of all of the goodies, but I still got to taste many fantastic culinary treats, including the absolutely stunning puffed chicken nuggets topped with incredibly tasty barbecue sauce.
Unfortunately, I came a bit late to this event because of what I came to call parking lot A and B (405 and 101 respectively). Whenever, I watch the Dodgers or the Angels, I can now understand why the crowds are so empty for the first three innings, because everyone is parked on one or more highways! My guess to why they all leave by the 7th inning is that after the folks get so aggravated waiting in the traffic, they get tired and want to go home. Quite clearly getting to and from any event in LA adds a few hours to the overall time and that is aggravating and tiring. However, like I, once the guests arrived they had to almost physically throw us out. The place did start to peter out in the last hour, but the place was still humming and drinking until the last second. Read the rest of this entry
Wines from the weekend along with lovely meatballs and spinach kugel
This past weekend we had friends and family around the table to enjoy some great food and some pretty good wines. This week there was no wine theme, actually to be more precise, the theme was that there was no theme. The theme was Drink up or let die. I say this as I have far too much history and track record in this area, and it has been my sworn duty going forward that I would embrace and channel the work of Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher and attempt to always open that bottle in its time. To meet this need I attempt to create wine themes when there is no pressing wine to get to, otherwise, I drink the wines that are up next.
I use drink by dates of the late Daniel Rogov, Cellar Tracker, and of course, my own personal notes. This week it was time to get to some bottles that I have been worried about. I got to a couple of them, but missed out on the 2005 Ella Valley Pinot Noir, which we last tasted on some 3 years ago. We did get to enjoy some wine that we have not tasted in a couple of years, the 2001 Yarden Merlot, Ortal Vineyard, one of the finest Merlot that Yarden has ever produced, along with the 2006 Recanati Cabernet Franc, both of which have a year or maybe more left on them. Both are drinking lovely now, but if you too wish to live the motto “no good wine will be left to die“, drink it now and you will not be sorry.
I often laugh when people ask me when they should drink a particular bottle. In the kosher wine world more and more wines are being created that are built for cellaring. All that means is that the bottle you buy is not quite ready to drink, and the wine maker and winery have decided to diversify their risk and have you cellar the wine rather than them. For the most part, most wine (kosher or not) is made to be drunk within the year or two. There are reserve wines that are built to age a few years maybe 4 years at most. Then there are the a fore mentioned high-end wines that are truly not enjoyable at all from release, and need time to come into their own/peak.
The Recanati Cabernet Franc is at its true peak and can be left for another year or so, but why? Unless you have more pressing wine to enjoy – drink it now! There is only one sure thing, other than taxes, and that is – that the wine will eventually die. Why not enjoy it now. There is rarely a perfect time to drink a wine. There is just the acceptable and peak time to enjoy the wine and the rest is what you make of it! Read the rest of this entry
Friday night and Saturday day…
Went to friends for dinner and lunch, so I brought some wine over. It was fascinating to taste a bunch of these wines within a short period of time – not like the wine tasting we had a few months ago – but still very fun indeed.
Chateau Le Crock, Saint Estephe 2002 – Score: A-
This is a thick and tasty wine. Very complex with layers, full in the mouth, and it still is quite tannic. The color of this wine is a dark blue to purple. The nose is full of black fruit – blackberries, plums, and coffee, with some green vegetal aromas. The mouth on this massive full-bodied wine is velvety and complex. The black fruit flows in the beginning, with a mid palate of chocolate and something green, and a finish of spice and oak. This wine is a winner and at its current price now online – it is a winner.
Yarden Chardonnay 2003 – Score: A-
The nose on this dark straw colored wine has aromas of peach, citrus, butter, and TONS of oak. This is a classic California Chardonnay. The mouth on this full-bodied Chardonnay is full of oak, butter, and citrus. The finish is nice and spicy – which makes the wine feel complex. The wine is really not very complex – but the shift of the flavors makes it quite enjoyable. The fullness of this chardonnay makes it feel ripe and a bit fat – but is balanced nicely with the acidity and spice.
Chillag Orna Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 – Score: A-
The nose on this dark and almost impenetrable black colored (unfiltered) wine is strong with earthy aromas, cranberry, blackberry, a bit of green, and a fair amount of oak. The mouth on this wine changes often from when we opened it to when it was finished a couple of hours later. The wine starts almost cold to the touch – like a first date; not very talkative and almost boring. The wine wakes to a strong-minded woman very quickly and it is quite enjoyable to say the least (disclaimer – no meaning to my comparison – just the first thing that came to my mind Smile). The mouth of this full-bodied wine is not complex – but fun nonetheless. The flavors are fruit forward and the wine’s tannic nature comes through loud and clear. The tannins have yet to integrate – but when they do this wine will be nicer. My question will be whether the wine has much body behind that tannin – time will tell. The mid palate is nice but the finish of mint and spice makes it fun. This is the first release Carmel did with Orna (acting as a guest wine maker). Orna has a very successful Israeli boutique winery on her own called Chillag Winery – though, unfortunately it is not kosher.
Segal’s Cabernet Sauvignon, Unfiltered 2002 – Score: A-
This was the winner of the day – hands down. The nose on this wine explodes – like a geyser throwing aromas in every direction. Really quite a joy. The nose on this impenetrable black colored wine was filled with blackberry, cranberry, coffee, chocolate, oak, along with a strong sweet flavor – almost date like in nature, and some allspice thrown in as well. When smelling this wine at the start I said this is a hot wine. A wine, which has zero green flavors in it, and the mouth, solidified that thought. This was a fruit and spice wine – with zero green flavors to be found. The mouth on this nice complex wine is really fun. It starts with a strong attack of fruit that is complex by the nature of the many fruits that come at you along with the layers of the fruits as well. Blackberry, cranberry, raspberry hit you first, the mid palate comes with a strong attack of coffee and chocolate. The finish is laced with what I first thought was tar along with leather and oak. The tar flavors dissipated quickly – but I swear it was there – weird for a cab to display tar flavors – but who knows. Totally wild ride and the true winner of all the wines tasted this past weekend.
