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IDS tasting of current releases in Paris – Late May 2025
As stated, I was in Paris in May, and the second tasting I had on the trip was at the offices of Les Vin IDS. This post, like many of the other Parisian posts that are not yet posted, is horribly behind. My sincere apologies to Ben Uzan and the IDS team. So, without further ado – the tasting! Oh, and yes, Avi Davidowitz, from Kosher Wine Unfiltered, finally made a trip to Paris in May! Congrats, my man!
Le Vin IDS Wines
As is customary, I ask Ben to open the windows to air out the room as soon as I enter, as the smell of tobacco ash is always insufferable. I understand France is one of the last few advanced nations in the world where smoking is still a thing. I have never tolerated it; the smell makes me retch, so Ben is always so kind to air out the room before we begin tasting his excellent wines.
Before entering, I knew there were at least two wines we were tasting, but thankfully, there were five, four of them from Bordeaux. I am not sure if these wines are in the USA yet, but I am sure they will be very soon!
Two “White Wine” and a blind red wine
This is the second vintage of the 2024 Tokaj-Hetszolo Sarga Muskotaly. To me, this one was less ripe, more balanced, and had lovely acidity to make it all work. The price in France is a no-brainer, while here in the USA, it is a solid choice.
The next White wine was the 2022 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, a lovely wine, layered and expressive, still, a slight step behind the 2021. That said, it is a wine for holding, and I think the acidity I crave will come out after the fruit and oak calm down.
It was followed by a blind tasting of a red wine, and I was unimpressed with it – the first time I had it, and I continue to be unimpressed by it at this time, as well. It was the 2017 Le Petit Trianon. It feels as hollow and empty as the first time I had it.
Red Wines
After that, we tasted three of the most highly anticipated wines of the 2022 vintage. The 2022 Chateau Lafon-Rochet, followed by the 2022 Domaine de Chevalier, and then the 2022 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte.
These wines all met and matched the elevated expectations we had for them. They showed the ripeness that the 2022 Bordeaux vintage is now famous for, but they also showed incredible balance and acidity. The Chevalier, like the Blanc, didn’t quite show the acidic pop I hoped for, but I am sure that will come with time. The Lafon Rochet and Smith Haut Lafitte both showed incredible balance and pop.
Now, if there was one wine I was asked to share the notes for early, for all the wines we tasted in Paris, on this trip, it would have to be the 2022 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. I must admit that when tasting the Lafon Rochet, we knew, essentially, what we were going to get: a crazy good wine for the price, with loads of potential. However, when the 2022 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte was poured, it reminded me of when I tasted the 2019 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, blind, with a bunch of other people. The room went absolutely silent; you could hear yourself thinking. It was intense. This was a wine that showed everything to you at once, and yet did it in elegance and control. Notwithstanding, it could have used a dollop more control, but in the end, it may well be the best Kosher wine I have ever tasted.
In comparison, the 2009 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is a wine I haven’t had in a few years, but it is a beast without the restraint and acidity of the 2022. That wine came in at 14% ABV, and that was insane back then. The 2022 comes in at 15% and while it is more balanced, it still has to contend with all that fruit. The 2022 does not come across as hedonistic as the 2009 did. The 2009 felt fat and heavy and yet almost balanced. The 2022 is balanced, but the pop I crave, at that level, demands more. So, when you look at the 2022 price and say, “How can that be so expensive?” look at the 2009 price, even back in 2010, when Kosherwine.com was run by a very different outfit. They brought the wine in and charged an ungodly amount of money, back then, all on the back of the 100-point score Parker gave it in his heyday!
Back then, the 2009 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte would have set you back 180 dollars. According to inflation numbers, $180 in 2010 is now worth approximately $270, and there were cheaper options, still. Well, that will get you most of the way there if you buy the wine in France. At this point, due to various issues, the wines we tasted in May have not yet arrived; time will tell when they will reach these shores.
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A tasting of M&M Importers’ current wines – February 2024
I did it again, too much time has passed from my previous post on M&M imports, and this follow-up post is some 9 months apart! This post is meant to not only catch up with the wines that I missed in my last post but also to show ALL the current wines available from M & M Importers.
It is always a pleasure to taste the wines from Ralph Madeb, president and CEO of M&M Importers. The BIG news is that now some of his wines are available on kosherwine.com! I really hope this helps to spread the good word about the work that Ralph and his team do! More info on M & M Importers can be found here.
Where can you find the wines?
Let us get the obvious out of the way first, it is very hard to track what M&M imports and where they are for sale. As stated above kosherwine.com is selling some of them and IDrinkKosher.com also sells them. Neither is the best option because KW has a limited number of the total portfolio, more of that in a moment and IDK is solid, both in pricing and in what they buy. However, knowing what is ACTUALLY available is almost impossible unless you show up at the store. I have been at the store a few times and they have great prices and good storage – again the issue lies in knowing what is actually for sale, as the website is never updated. Calling in does not help much either, but this post is here to shed more light on the matter. I know Ralph is working very hard on this matter and I hope we get more news on this soon.
UPDATE: You can now buy many of the SKUs from elkwine.com! Elchonon Hellinger is a dear friend and as always, I make NOTHING from your purchases, but if you live or are visiting the Miami area, please look him up! If you do not find what you need on the site, text him on Whatsapp: 17867501019, he is adding more SKUs as fast as he can!
Portfolio
If anyone wants to get a bird’s eye view of Ralph Madeb they should listen to the great podcast series from Simon Jacobs – The Kosher Terroir. The episode that focuses on Dr. Ralph Madeb and M&M Importers is this one.
From a Fifty Thousand Mile view, Ralph started his adventure as a mixture of importing IDS wines while also creating his own. Even when he was bringing in some IDS wines, it was not all of them, and access to them was almost impossible.
Since then, things have grown, by leaps and bounds and now they produce or import more than 70 wines.
Again, aside from the accessibility to/of these wines, for the average guy, not living in/near/around NYC, let us talk about what they are and where they come from.
IDS makes wines from all around France and you can find all my wine notes from November 2023, here. Between, Pinot Noirs from Burgundy, famous estates from Bordeaux, and now famous estates from Alsace, Provence, and Sancerre, IDS has expanded its portfolio over these past 10 years.
Names like Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, Domaine de Chevalier, Chateau Lafon-Rochet, Chateau Marquis d’Alesme Becker, Virginie de Valandraud. Chateau Labegorce, Chateau la Tour de By, Chateau de Valois, Chateau Leydet-Valentin, Chateau Trianon, Chateau Sainte Marguerite, Domaine Aegerter Gevrey-Chambertin, Domaine Aegerter Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru, Domaine Aegerter Nuits-Saint-Georges, Domaine Aegerter Beaune Premier Cru, Gustave Lorentz, Tokaj-Hetszolo, Domaine Vacheron Sancerre, Jean Luc et Paul Aegerter Pouilly Fuisse, Jean Luc et Paul Aegerter Meursault, Clos des Lunes Lune D’Argent.
These are wines made by and for IDS and M&M imports them and sells them locally here in the USA.
Mercier Wines
When you see names Chateau Cantenac Brown, Château Saint Martin Rouge and Rose, Domaine Lebrun Pouilly Fumé, Château Rayne Vigneau, Chateau Fayat, Chateau Olivier Red and White, Chateau Clement Pichon, Alphonse Mellot Sancerre, La Moussiere, Chateau Haut-Marbuzet, and Carillon d’Angelus, these are all made under the auspices of Maison Mercier.
Some of these wines are imported and sold by Royal Wines and some are imported and sold by M&M Imports.
They make many other wines and they import a large portfolio of Israeli wines into France as well. Most of the French wines are made under the watchful eye of Pierre Miodonick, whom I have written up on a few times.
These are really big names for Kosher, much like Royal makes with Pontet Canet, and IDS makes with Smith Haut Lafitte. Any time we can get kosher wines from Angelus and Pichon things are moving in the correct direction. Still, the prices are sky-high because of the added partners in the process.
Honest Grapes
Tom Harrow and Nathan Hill (a man I met for a few hours recently, more on that in a few posts) built an impressive wine club system. They are happy to sell you wine here and there, but their business is built on wine clubs and events. They have been in business since 2014 and they started a kosher line in 2017. Like much of their business and clubs, they run using a mix of crowd-sourcing and partnerships.
The 2017 and 2018 vintages were all sold out long ago as they were both crowd-sourced and sold to those who signed in to the En Primeur. The 2019 vintage was a change, they expanded and with that expansion came a bit more space for non-club access. They expanded a bit because of demand and also because of the appearance of M&M. That was a bit ahead of schedule, and there was no real extra access, at that time, mostly leaving the wines to be sold En Primeur.
The 2020 vintage was when the partnership helped Honest Grapes to expand and make more of the small winery plots kosher. Remember, it is not like they can go from 1000 bottles to 1100 or 1200 bottles. Everything is still barrel based. Either the barrel (25 cases of 12 bottles) is kosher or it is not! These plots are so small, for the most part, that it was not long before the plots were vinified 100% kosher.
The impressive wines in this portfolio are a mix of Bordeaux and Burgundy:
- Chateau Teyssier (QPR Homerun)
- Vieux Château Mazerat
- Le Dôme Kosher
- Pontet Labrie
- Domaine de Montille Pommard Premier Cru ‘Les Grands Epenots’
- Domaine de Montille Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru, Les Chalumeaux
- Domaine de Montille Volnay Premier Cru ‘Les Brouillards’
- Domaine de Montille Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru ‘Aux Thorey’
- Domaine de Montille Beaune Premier Cru ‘Les Perrières’
- Domaine de Montille Monthelie Premier Cru ‘Les Duresses’
- Domaine de Montille Bourgogne Blanc
- Domaine de Montille Bourgogne Rouge
Right now, M&M only has two wines for sale from Honest Grapes, the 2019 Chateau Teyssier (QPR Homerun), and the 2020 Domaine de Montille Volnay Premier Cru ‘Les Brouillards’.
The rest of the 2020 Bordeaux and the 2021 Burgundies are still in route and will be here soon enough.
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IDS tasting of current releases in Paris – a second time – in Nov 2023
As stated in my previous post Avi Davidowitz, from the Kosher Wine Unfiltered blog, and I went to Paris and had three organized tastings. This was the second organized tasting of the trip and it was with IDS. IDS is officially called Les Vins IDS and IDS stands for International Distribution Service. On a lovely Wednesday afternoon, Avi and I jumped in an Uber and went to see Ben Uzan at IDS’s offices.
Le Vin IDS Wines
Many of the wines I tasted that day were wines I had tasted 6 months earlier in May 2023. There were two wines that I had not tasted earlier, the 2022 Chateau Sainte Marguerite Cuvee Fantastique Blanc. In May it was the 2021 vintage. The other new wine was the 2020 Chateau Trianon, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru. We got the chance to taste the 2018, 2019, and 2020 vintages side-by-side, which was very cool!
Ben was so kind to have aired out the office room before we came in, as the smell of tobacco ash is always insufferable. I understand France is one of the few advanced nations in the world where smoking is still a thing. I have never tolerated it, the smell makes me retch, so Ben is always so kind to air out the room before we begin tasting his wonderful wines.
Once that was done I took in the room and I realized this was going to be an awesome tasting. I was not expecting a full replay of the May tasting, it was a true treat, and my many thanks. The full outlay was not for me, this was a very kind gesture by Ben for Avi and Ben’s other guests/friends, I was just a lucky recipient. It also gave me the time to take in this tasting in a far less rushed approach, as the wines were mostly tasting the same as they were 6 months ago. However, and this is important, it did give me a chance to better appreciate some of the wines. So, you will see some scores and note changes from the previous tasting. I will note those by RESCORED at the start of the notes.
This tasting was beyond comprehensive, this tasting was essentially the entire current wine portfolio of IDS. If IDS sold the wine it was at the tasting. There will be new 2021 wines released soon, if not already, in France, but the wines in this tasting are all available in France unless they are sold out. For example, maybe the 2019 Chateau Smith Haut-Lafite, but again, I have no idea of IDS inventory stocks!
In regards to whether these wines are here in the USA, the vast majority of them are indeed imported by M&M Importers and should be available in the NYC area.
White and Roses
The first 8 wines we tasted were the current whites and roses from Les Vin IDS. One of them is a favorite of mine, the 2018 Clos des Lunes Lune D’Argent – a lovely white Bordeaux that started a bit slow for me in 2019 but it has blossomed recently and I love it!
We started with the lovely 2022 Chateau Sainte Marguerite Cuvee Fantastique Rose, Cotes de Provence, followed by the 2022 Chateau Sainte Marguerite Cuvee Fantastique Blanc, Cru Classe, Cotes de Provence. There is only one rose and white this year, the Cuvee Fantastique.
Then came the lovely 2018 Clos des Lunes Lune D’Argent, it continues to impress, improve, and show its age-ability. I have been so badly burned with poor aging white wines, even from France/Europe, that I pull back hard on my DW. I would rather enjoy than curse at my wines! This is one of the RESCORED notes.
Then came a wine, the lovely 2021 Gustave Lorentz Riesling, Grand Cru, Alsace, a baby of a wine from Alsace made in the way I love, dry, and screaming with acidity and minerality. The Petrol joy will come later!
Ben did not pour the Gewurtztraminer, as Avi had it earlier, it is a nice wine but the off-dry approach is one I have a hard time with. Still professionally made and a real wine that may come around for me in a few years.
Then came the 2021 Jean Luc et Paul Aegerter Pouilly Fuisse, Premier Cru, Vers Cras, Pouilly Fuisse. It is a wine we have not had in Kosher for a long time now. A lovely mineral bomb! I am not sure of the exact vintage of the last one, but it has been a while!
Then came a lovely Sancerre, the 2021 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre, Grand Champs. Lots of fun! This is one of the wines that I did do a RESCORED on. It has truly moved along since May.
Followed by the 2021 Tokaj-Hetszolo Sarga Muskotaly, Tokaji, a unique and fun wine.
Finally, there was the beautiful 2020 Domaine de Chevalier, Blanc, Pessac-Leognan. This is a famous white wine and it was a joy to taste. In the non-kosher market, the white Chevalier is more expensive than the red, as in this kosher production as well! This too, is one of the wines that I did do a RESCORED on.
Red Wines
The next 23 wines – yes TWENTY-THREE wines were all red. I had tasted them all before in May and other times before that, other than one, the 2020 Chateau Trianon.
We started with a run of Burgundy wines. I can hear it now, 2021 red Burgundies, they must have all been horrible! As I stated in May, I was not expecting much, even now after only 6 months, but they were exactly the same as they were 6 months earlier. They are all well-made, balanced, and enjoyable. In the end, nice wines indeed! There are three 1er Cru wines and 2 Village wines.
That was followed by the red Cotes de Provence, a blend of Grenache and Syrah, the 2021 Chateau Sainte Marguerite Cuvee Fantastique, Rouge, Cru Classe. A nice, tart, refreshing red wine.
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IDS tasting of current releases in Paris – May 2023
As stated I was in Paris in May, and the second tasting I had on the trip was at the offices of Les Vin IDS. I was hoping for a blind tasting like we had in May 2022, sadly, it was not in the cards for me. Hopefully, the next trip will include an IDS blind tasting! I am looking at you Ben my man!!! This post, like so many of the other Parisian posts, that are NOT yet posted, is horribly behind. My sincere apologies to Ben and the IDS team. So, without further ado – the tasting!
Le Vin IDS Wines
Thankfully, many of the supply and wine bottling issues of 2022 are gone and all the wines were available and ready to taste in May of 2023! As stated there were many wines and they would have been perfect for a blind tasting but extenuating circumstances did not allow for that on this trip.
As is customary, I ask Ben to open the windows to air out the room, as soon as I enter, as the smell of tobacco ash is always insufferable. I understand France is one of the few advanced nations in the world where smoking is still a thing. I have never tolerated it, the smell makes me retch, so Ben is always so kind to air out the room before we begin tasting his wonderful wines.
Once that was done I took in the room and I realized this was going to be an awesome tasting. There were tons of new wines and wines I had never seen yet. Since then, many of those wines have made their way to the USA.
White and Roses
The first 9 wines we tasted were the current whites and roses from Les Vin IDS. One of them is a favorite of mine, the 2018 Clos des Lunes Lune D’Argent – a lovely white Bordeaux which started a bit slow for me in 2019 but it has blossomed recently and I love it!
We started with the lovely 2022 Chateau Sainte Marguerite Cuvee Fantastique Rose, Cotes de Provence, followed by the 2021 Chateau Sainte Marguerite Cuvee Symphonie Blanc, Cru Classe, Cotes de Provence. There is only one rose this year, the Cuvee Fantastique.
Then came a wine I have not seen in many a year! The wine was the 2021 Jean Luc et Paul Aegerter Pouilly Fuisse, Premier Cru, Vers Cras, Pouilly Fuisse. A lovely mineral bomb! I am not sure of the exact vintage of the last one, but it has been a while!
Then came a lovely Sancerre, the 2021 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre, Grand Champs. Lots of fun! Followed by the 2021 Tokaj-Hetszolo Sarga Muskotaly, Tokaji, a unique and fun wine.
Then came a wine, the lovely 2021 Gustave Lorentz Riesling, Grand Cru, Alsace, a baby of a wine from Alsace made in the way I love, dry, and screaming with acidity and minerality. The Petrol joy will come later! Finally, there was a Gewurtztraminer, that was nice but the off-dry approach is one I have a hard time with. Still professionally made and a real wine that may come around for me in a few years.
Finally, there was the beautiful 2020 Domaine de Chevalier, Blanc, Pessac-Leognan. This is a famous white wine and it was a joy to taste. In the non-kosher market, the white Chevalier is more expensive than the red, as in this kosher production as well!
Red Wines
The next 18 wines – yes EIGHTEEN wines were all red. There were five of them that I had before, but the vast majority of them were new to me and everyone else at the table.
We started with a run of Burgundy wines. I can hear it now, 2021 red Burgundies, they must have all been horrible! I had ZERO expectations that I would like these wines. Still, with each of them that I tasted, I found no issues that I disliked. They were all well-made, balanced, and enjoyable. In the end, nice wines indeed! There are three 1er Cru wines and 2 Village wines.
That was followed by a nice red Cotes de Provence, a blend of Grenache and Syrah, the 2021 Chateau Sainte Marguerite Cuvee Fantastique, Rouge, Cru Classe. A nice, tart, refreshing red wine.
After that, we moved to Bordeaux country! Starting with a simple 2020 Chateau Larrivaux. The wine was balanced and approachable. Next came one of my eternal QPR WINNER wines from IDS, the 2020 Chateau La Tour de By. There were two other Chateau Tour de By wines, one was the Heritage and the other was the Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon. All three are QPR WINNER.
The 2020 Chateau Leydet-Valentin, Saint-Emilion, Grand Cru, is a wine that I sadly cannot come to love, it is always a bit too ripe for me, maybe it would be great to taste further evolved, but such is life! The 2020 Chateau de Valois, Pomerol, is another wine I normally find too ripe, for me, even evolved ones that I have had the chance to taste. However, this vintage was more controlled and more balanced, IMHO, WINNER!
Then came a few wines we have had before, the 2020 Chateau Labegorce, a lovely QPR WINNER. Next, was the 2018 Virginie de Valendraud, another of those wines that I have a hard time with. Next came the 2019 Chateau Marquis d’Alesme Becker, a lovely, QPR WINNER, in France for sure, and a GREAT QPR in the USA.
Then came three epic wines, all back-to-back, the 2020 Chateau Lafon-Rochet, 2020 Domaine de Chevalier, Pessac-Leognan, and then the 2019 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte.
All three of those wines are incredible. The Lafon Rochet pricing in France is really good and it is a clear WINNER in France. The last two wines, while not QPR WINNER, given the comparative pricing and quality landscape, are still GREAT QPR wines and should be in your cellar if pricing and life permits!
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IDS tasting of current releases in Paris – Nov 2022
The third organized wine tasting that Avi Davidowitz, from the Kosher Wine Unfiltered blog, and I went to, during our last trip to Paris, in November 2022 was with IDS. IDS is officially called Les Vins IDS and IDS, stands for International Distribution Service. On a lovely Wednesday afternoon, Avi and I jumped in an Uber and went to see Ben Uzan at IDS’s offices.
Tasting
The tasting was a two-part wine event. The first part featured IDS wines while the second part featured wines that Ben Sitruk of Wine Symphony brought for us to taste. Those included two wines, one lovely Riserva from Terra di Seta and a nice enough Chateau Moutinot, Saint-Estephe.
Le Vin IDS Wines
As I stated in my previous Paris trip preamble post, the timing for the trip was not great. So, these wines were the ones I missed in May and this trip was also too early for the 2021 Jean Luc et Paul Aegerter Burgundies.
There were too few wines to do any of these blindly, as we did in May, with Alexander, but that did not mean there were not lovely wines to enjoy! We started with a very unique 2021 Tokaj-Hetszolo Sarga Muskotaly, Takaji. I will leave the notes to describe it better than words here.
Next, we had the 2021 Tour du Barail Bordeaux Superieur which is a solid wine for the poor 2021 vintage. That was followed by the QPR WINNER 2020 Chateau du Bosquay, which we had the last tasting, but I asked for it as I forgot Avi had already tasted it.
Next came two CRUSHING QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) WINNER wines for those who live in the France area. The 2020 Chateau Labegorce and the 2020 Chateau Lafon-Rochet, Saint-Estephe. Both of them were exceptional and for the price, in France, they merit the QPR WINNER standard!
My notes of the 2015 Chateau Labegorce and the 2017 Chateau Lafon-Rochet, Saint-Estephe, are not the same as the 2020 Chateau Labegorce and Chateau Lafon-Rochet, but the structures of both them reminded me of those vintages. To me the 2020 vintage is a conundrum, it is not the green 2021 vintage, but it also does not have the precision of the 2019 vintage or the power of the 2015/2018 vintage. The 2017 vintage at times reminds me of the 2020 vintage, with certain wines, while with others the 2020 vintage can be as good as 2019. This will be fully showcased when I do the post of the Royal wines, but for now, understand, that the 2020 vintage will at times leave you breathless and at times leave you wondering.
In the end, the two wines are clear QPR WINNERs in France, and even outside of it they are MUST-HAVE wines for one’s cellar.
Tasting
As is customary, I ask Ben to open the windows to air out the room, as soon as I enter, as the smell of tobacco ash is always insufferable. I understand France is one of the few advanced nations in the world where smoking is still a thing. I have never tolerated it, the smell makes me retch, so Ben is always so kind to air out the room before we begin tasting his wonderful wines.
My many thanks to Ben Uzan for setting up the meeting, sharing his wines with us, and taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with us. 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:
2021 Tokaj-Hetszolo Sarga Muskotaly, Tokaji – Score: 91 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is ripe, and tropical, with ripe mango, lychee, guava, tart pineapple, orange blossom, gooseberry, and passion fruit, very unique. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice with nice sweet and ripe fruit, more controlled and drier than in the nose, with intense acidity, dry mango, very floral with orange blossom, violet, elderberry, nice honeyed orange, and green notes. The finish is long, green, tart, and fruity, with great acidity, mango, pineapple, and waxy notes.
To be clear this is not a dry wine but it is also not a dessert wine, it fits in between, and it is off-dry. It would accompany dishes in the main meal as well if they are spicy or they are rich like cream sauces. Drink by 2024. (tasted November 2022) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 12.5%)
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