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The Best and Top 12 Kosher Mevushal wines of 2023
If you ever wondered what Kosher wine or the Mevushal process is, well I made a post these many years ago and nothing has changed about those facts, because kosher wine is kosher wine! The Mevushal process has evolved a bit over the years but the premise is still the same and the best craftsman in this space are Hagafen Cellars and Herzog Wine Cellars.
Royal Wine Europe does a good job as well, though from time to time, the white wines do not show as well after they go through the Mevushal process. The red wines are indeed done very well as I saw this past November 2023.
The whole premise for Mevushal wine is really a U.S. concept. Europe and much of Israel do not care for or need the wine to be Mevushal to serve at restaurants or events. The USA Rabbinic leaders think that there are too many issues and potential concerns at events and restaurants – given the vast number of servers being non-Jewish. As such, they demand Mevushal wines be served at the events. I have been to events where the pourers were all Shomer Shabbat Jews and that is what they do in Europe and Israel, but those are far and few between, here in the USA.
Overall, the 12 Mevushal wines scored higher than my previous post of 2021 options These scored higher without a single 91 or 91+ in the bunch! Of course, the 2021 California harvest has the majority of these wines (7 of the 12). You can find a single 2019 Rouge Bordeaux, a 2022 Blanc Loire Valley, and a 2023 White New Zealand Wine. The rest are still from the USA but from other vintages than 2021. To be clear, California makes up 9 of the 12 top-scoring Mevushal wines.
The new kid on the block is the 2021 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Black Label. It is a lovely expression of Napa Valley.
Mevushal – done incorrectly absolutely does cause damage to wine, and I have had many a “cooked” Mevushal wine. However, Herzog and Hagafen do not have these issues. Royal Europe, does a good job, but not as good as the previously mentioned wineries. The new Covenant Mevushal Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, not their first entry into the Mevushal market, seems like a success, but we will need more examples to be sure.
Also, we do not have examples of Mevushal wines that scored 95 points, again, this is not a cause and effect but rather the issue that people do not yet have Mevushal Pontet-Canet! Mind you, as I stated before, it is not from a lack of desire, on behalf of Royal Wines, they would boil anything to be able to sell more Mevushal wines. Still, so far, of the top wines that I have scored, the highest-scored Mevushal wine is now the 2021 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley, Special Reserve.
More and more wines are Mevushal to meet the needs of restaurants and caterers that want high-end Mevushal wines for their venues and events. The theme of the wines here is mostly Hagafen or Herzog with some smattering of European names as well.
Here is my list of the top 12 Mevushal wines that are available here in the USA. They are listed by score and after that in no particular order. 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 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Reserve, Alexander Valley, Alexander Valley, CA (M) – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
This may well be one of the best Alexander Valley wines in the past 10 years, better than 2014, and truly impressive. The 2021 vintage has been a blessing for California. The nose of this wine is ripe, it is even riper after a few hours as well, showing notes of ripe and juicy boysenberry, squid ink, black fruit, anise, white pepper, cocoa liqueur, sweet oak, milk chocolate, smoke, and nice minerality. The mouth of this ripe but balanced full-bodied wine has nice acidity, blackberry, ripe and juicy boysenberry, plush, rich, concentrated, extracted, and elegant, all at the same time, with nice tension, sweet oak, milk chocolate, elegant and draping tannin, and a plushness that helps to balance the extraction, with salinity and lovely minerality. The finish is long, ripe, extracted, balanced, and earthy, with nice loam, and smoke but the finish shines with its ribbons of graphite, saline, and tense tannin that lingers long. Bravo!! Drink until 2034. (tasted December 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)
The Best and Top 25 Kosher Wines of 2023, including the Wine of the Year, Winery of the Year, the Best Wine of the Year, and the Best Mevushal wines of the year awards
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 93+ or higher.
We are returning with the “Wine of the Year”, “Best Wine of the Year” “Winery of the Year”, and “Best White Wine of the Year”, along with a last year’s new addition 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 easily 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 so 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, but 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 and as such, it needs a best-of-the-year moniker, so we do it once again!
This past year, I tasted more wines than I have ever, in the past. Now to be clear here, I did not taste many Israeli wines as they have proven to me over and over again, even with the much-ballyhooed 2018 vintage that they are not worth my spending my money on. Still, I did taste a large number of Israeli wines both in my home and at KFWE events. I spent a fair amount of time tasting all the French 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. This past year, was a return to below-average because of the massive failure in Bordeaux and all over Europe in the 2021 vintage.
We were spoiled with the 2019 wines from Bordeaux and all over Europe, even the 2020 vintage had OK options. This year, there are FOUR wines from Royal Wine’s portfolio (really three) they are the 2017 and 2018 Elvi Herenza, Reserva, the 2021 Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf du Pape, and the 2021 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley. Overall, 2021 from California is what I am buying from the 2021 vintage, worldwide, outside of a few wines, for vertical interests, and the CDP.
The vast majority of wines on this list are from M&M Importers and a couple from Andrew Breskin’s Liquid Kosher portfolio. This is a FIRST for me and these lists and I am truly happy to see Italy and other regions rising to the top of the lists. There are a couple of Four Gates wines as well.
There are also interesting wines below the wines of the year, think of them as runner-up wines of the year. There will be no rose wines on the list this year, none were close to this star-studded group. This year we had a crazy large number of WINNER wines, 152 in total, but the top-shelf wines were smaller with fewer.
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 awesome entries, from the incredible 2021 Gustave Lorentz Riesling, Grand Cru, 2020 Domaine de Chevalier, Blanc, 2020 Domaine de Montille Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chalumeaux, 2021 Chateau Olivier Blanc, Grand Cru Classe, and the 2021 Domaine Vacheron Sancerre, Grand Champs. This will be the largest number of white wines in the top wine list for any given year – I hope we have NOT hit peak White Wine! We need more options. Thankfully, there are also many good lower-priced white wine options as well in the kosher market a large shift is underway!
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 2023 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 4 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). Along with this year’s winner, Domaine Roses Camille. Officially, Domaine Roses Camille only became 100% kosher in 2020, but for all intent and purpose, they have 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.
This year the award goes to Covenant Winery. I have been pounding the table about the good wines coming out of there over the past two years. Yes, there are a couple of wines I do not love, but given the vast swath of wines they make, the vast majority scored a 91 or higher.
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California Dreaming – 2021 is quite the vintage – part #2
The 2020 fire-riddled vintage in much of Northern California has thankfully given way to a stunning vintage of 2021! After suffering drought, fire, and extreme temperature swings, Cali has been gifted a vintage that while low on yields, in some locals, is high on quality.
This is the second post on California wines that I have tasted recently and this one is less complimentary of the wines than the previous one. Please go read the first post and see those wines before reading this post.
I will say I was unimpressed by the Chardonnay from 2021 and even though the Oakville came in with the highest score I wished it had more acidity and more verve. I am still trying to get my hands on the Herzog Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon, it is just impossible sometimes to get wine, such is life! I hope I finally have a line on it for next week!
The real WINNERS for me were the 2023 wines from Covenant. I have been banging the drum for their wines for around a year-plus now. dating back to the tasting I had in Berkeley in September of 2022. They have really not missed a step these past two years. and the 2023 vintage is starting with a bang! The Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc are both Fruity but balanced and refreshing, and that is the word you want to see in my posts, sometimes more than the Nice or Bravo (keywords).
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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
California Dreaming – 2021 is quite the vintage
The 2020 fire-riddled vintage in much of Northern California has thankfully given way to a stunning vintage of 2021! After suffering drought, fire, and extreme temperature swings, Cali has been gifted a vintage that while low on yields, in some locals, is high on quality.
Tasting through much of Herzog Wine Cellars (it is really difficult at times to get wine), Covenant Wine, and Hagafen Wine Cellars, along with some Four Gates Wine as well, it is clear to see that 2021 is a true gift. The alcohol levels are all down, the acidity is brighter and the wines all show less oak and more balance. Herzog’s new winemaker, David Galzignato, has been championing different oak regiments but the vintage overall cannot be summed up with just the use of different oak. That can be said for all the wineries. The acidity shines and the fruit is balanced.
You can read more about the fabulous vintage here and here. Ok, on to the wine notes!
Wines in this post
The 2021 Herzog Napa wines were the best I have had in a long time. The Napa and the Rutherford wines were both lovely and I have never scored them this high. The 2021 Alexander Valley may well be the best one in a very long time, yes a bit better than 2014 and 2016.
Since I am posting about some 2021 California wines I thought I should also post the other wines I tasted at different wineries at the same time. Further, some of these wines were tasted at the wineries (like Hagafen and Covenant) and some were tasted at my home. The location is stated in the notes.
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
Hajdu Wines
2022 Hajdu Zinfandel, Ancient Vines, Califonia – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is ripe, with a bit of heat, nice fruit, strawberry, raspberry, good dirt, loam, and floral notes. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, layered, and a bit over the top, but controlled enough, with classic strawberry, cherry cola, smoke, black plum jam, rich tannin, mouth-filling, almost refreshing, with lovely acidity. The finish is long, ripe, layered, and jammy, nice! Drink until 2027. (tasted August 2023) (in Berkeley, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)
2022 Hajdu Grenache, Califonia – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is lovely, controlled, spicy, earthy, and smoky, with watermelon, root beer, and lovely red fruit. Nice! The mouth of this medium-plus bodied wine is ripe, layered, and not overly concentrated, with nice extraction, and good enough acidity, with lovely raspberry, cranberry, strawberry, ripe Kirsche cherry, mouth-draping tannin, and nice coffee. The finish is long, ripe, and controlled, with enough acidity, coffee, sweet tobacco, sweet spices, cinnamon, and cloves. Drink until 2027. (tasted August 2023) (in Berkeley, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)
2022 Hajdu Aglianico, Califonia – Score: 90 (QPR: GOOD)
The nose of this wine is ripe, fruity, smoky, and spicy, with raspberry, Red Oolong tea, root beer, red floral notes, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, with enough acidity, red floral notes, dark raspberry, intense tannin, strawberry, and raspberry jam, with plum, candied berry, and sweet spices. The finish is long, spicy, ripe, and floral, with sweet tobacco, and sweet spices. Drink until 2027. (tasted August 2023) (in Berkeley, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)
Covenant Wines
2022 Covenant Chardonnay Lavan, Sonoma Mountain, Sonoma County – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this Chardonnay is lovely, showing melon, ripe peach, apricot, yellow apple, brioche, and bright fruit under a veil of smoke, oak, and sweet spices. Lovely! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is nice, with enough acidity, baked apple, smoke, brioche, elegance, smokey, and grippy, with a refreshing and captivating mouthfeel, rich, layered, and expressive, showing peach, melon, citrus, and sweet oak that lifts the wine and helps round out the lovely acidity, nice!! The wine is lush, balanced, elegant, round, yet acidic, tart, yet accessible, WOW! The finish is long, ripe, layered, and spicy, with sweet oak, more fruit, candied citrus, chamomille, and cinnamon/cloves. Nice!! Drink by 2027. (tasted August 2023) (in Berkeley, CA) (ABV = 13.9%)
2021 Covenant Solomon Cabernet Sauvignon, Lot 70, Napa Valley, CA – Score: 93 (QPR: GREAT)
The nose of this wine is lovely, ripe, controlled, elegant, and new-world, with intense minerality, iron shavings, graphite, and black and red fruit, lovely! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is ripe, layered, elegant, and balanced, with lovely acidity, minerality, blackberry, cassis, plum, earth, smoke, and dense, with layers of concentration, extraction, and rich smoke. Bravo!! The finish is long, dense, ripe, elegant, mineral-driven, and smoky, wow! With scraping minerality, sweet tobacco, dark chocolate, leather, and sweet spices/smoke. BRAVO!! Drink until 2033. (tasted August 2023) (in Berkeley, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)
2022 Covenant Solomon Blanc, Bennett Valley, Sonoma County, CA – Score: 92 (QPR: GREAT)
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 acid, 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! Though I liked the wine at the start it felt a bit lacking with time. It may turn into what I hope, for now, a solid wine! 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, and lemon, all wrapped up beautifully! Bravo!! Drink until 2030. (tasted September 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.4%)
2021 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Black Label, Napa Valley, CA (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: GREAT)
WOW! This is the first Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon that is Mevushal! OK, there is a first for everything! Also, this is the first vintage of Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon using an amalgamated cork. Just wondering – I drove for this for so long, just wondering.
At the start, the wine shows riper than I was expecting and used to from Covenant Cab, but with time it calms. The nose of this wine is ripe, dense, and fruity, with ripe purple and black fruit, dense smoke, tar, anise, chili pepper, white pepper, iron shavings, and an extremely spice-driven nose. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is on the edge of balance or anarchy. On one side, is an elegant bold wine showing dense fruit, with fruit focus, herbal notes, tart/sharp chili pepper, blackberry, blueberry, smoke, roasted herbs, anise, and a dense yet elegant mouth-draping tannin. On the other side is a wine that thankfully calms and becomes what I expect. The finish is long, fruity, ripe, dense, herbal, smoky, spicy, and mineral-driven, with lovely iron, graphite, intense and elegant mouth-draping tannin, juicy boysenberry, blackberry, Asian spice, cloves, vanilla, chili pepper, and anise lingering long. Lovely! Drink until 2030. (tasted September 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.8%)
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
Covenant Wines’ latest releases, five more QPR WINNER – April 2023
Well, it has been 6 months since my last Covenant Winery post and more than a month since I got the wines and tasted them, my apologies, but I am seriously behind on posts. To be fair, the weather is STUNNING now in NorCal, the rains are finally gone and that means lots of time to climb mountains and see gorgeous wildflowers, so yeah, posts have taken a backseat – apologies there. So, now on to the show!
I received the new Covenant wines in mid-march and I tasted them over a week. My initial knee-jerk reaction is that Covenant continues to show a solid focus on acidity, balance, and fruit.
Fun White Wines
The first wines I enjoyed were the new 2022 whites and rose and they were all QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) WINNERS, outside of the Tribe wines. I must be honest of the seven wines I was sent five were QPR WINNER and the Tribe was not. I know it is important to have Mevushal wines, but sadly, these did not hit the spot.
The Viognier is a wine made to make up for the lack of a 2022 white or rose wine from Israel, as 2022 is Shmita. The Rose and the Viognier were lovely, while the Sauvignon Blanc was another hit, a consistent wine indeed for Covenant.
Red Wines
The wine that really got my attention was the 2022 Mensch Zinfandel, it opened a bit slowly, but once it did, the wine was lovely, ripe, yet balanced, the way a Zinfandel should be! The 2021 Covenant Cabernet, is another hit, not as awesome as the 2020 vintage, but still another solid showing for this storied label.
My many thanks to Jeff Morgan, Sagie Kleinlerer, Zoe, and the rest of the Covenant team and family for sending me the lovely wines to taste. 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 Covenant Red C Viognier, Lodi, CA – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is varietally true, with fresh and clean aromas, tart peach, fresh cumquat, lychee, and flint. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, rich, layered, complex, and captivating, not too fussy, refreshing, and relaxing, with incredible acidity, tart, and fresh almost plush mouthfeel, peach, apricot, lychee, tart limoncello, cumquat, and ripe yellow plum. LOVELY! The finish is long, tart, refreshing, and complex, Bravo! Drink now! (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)
2022 Covenant Red C Sauvignon Blanc, Lake County, CA – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is lovely with lychee, gooseberry, orange blossom, orange notes, and some flint. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, but it starts a bit austere – give the wine time, with bracing acidity, a lovely mouthfeel, lemon/lime notes, nice gooseberry, precision, good fruit focus, and more refreshing acidity. The finish is long, tart, and green, with lemongrass, flint, orange zest, and lovely lemon notes lingering long. Nice! Drink now. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)
2022 Covenant Red C Rose, California – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine shows more Syrah/Zin-like characteristics than anything else, a very nice balanced and bright nose, with tart strawberry, raspberry, smoke, and juicy plum. Nice. This is not the classic floral or orange-based rose, this is far redder in its makeup. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely, again, this starts a bit closed, give it some time, showing incredible acidity, and freshness, with a refreshing profile, and fruit focus, and now the mouth shows more than just the red fruit from the nose, along with peach, juicy orange notes, and hints of orange blossom that linger long. The finish is long, tart, and refreshing with some tannin, smoke, and nice red and orange notes lingering long in a tart bed of acidity. Nice!! Drink now. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.5%)
2022 Covenant Tribe Chardonnay, Lodi, CA (M) – Score: 83 (QPR: POOR)
The nose of this wine shows its flaws a bit, it smells correct, but a bit muddled, with cooked/bruised apple, peach, apple blossom, and slight oxidation/reductive notes, like browning apple peel. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, it has good acidity, but the muddled apple and peach do not get elevated and while the mouthfeel is fresh from the acidity and cleanliness, the fruit is where the wine feels a bit behind. The finish is long, fruity, and balanced. Drink now. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13.8%)
2022 Covenant Mensch Zinfandel, Lodi, CA – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine shows me what a good Zinfandel can be, controlled, blue and red, none of that Zinberry (AKA a blend of Blackcurrant and boysenberry), instead you get refreshing and bright red and blue fruit, not pushed, but still spicy, herbal, and yes, fruity! This is Zinfandel! The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is where it loses that step, the mouth shows good acidity, and lovely focus, but the fruit is a bit too ripe for my tastes, still, very meaty, herbal, fruity, smoky, and spicy with juicy boysenberry, tart strawberry, ripe plum, and hints of black fruit, with mouth draping tannin. A solid wine and one that works well with some nice meaty and fatty BBQ ribs. After some time the wine opens and the heat calms to show a lovely, juicy Zinfandel. The finish is ripe, tart, and fruity, with great spice, smoke, roasted animal, and a dense presence. I always wonder if it is me or the wine! These kinds of wine make me wonder more. This one is right on the edge, one side is a fruit bomb and the other is a lovely fruity, balanced Zinfandel. Either way, this wine is a balanced, fruit-focused wine that will be enjoyed by many with my intense ailments! Drink by 2025. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.4%)
2022 Covenant The Tribe Cabernet Sauvignon, Lodi, CA (M) – Score: 83 (QPR: POOR)
The nose of this wine is ripe and not my cup of tea, it shows less about Cabernet Sauvignon and more about an early-released wine. The nose and mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine are less ripe than it is just not fully finished before being bottled, showing fermentation notes, hints of banana, black fruit, blueberry, and nice acidity, but sadly that cannot bring this all together, still, it has nice acid, mouthfeel, and tannin. The finish is long, ripe, intensely fruity, and out of balance for my taste buds. Drink by 2024. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)
2021 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, CA – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)
It may be me, but is this the first year that the Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon used an amalgamated cork? Just wondering – I drove for this for so long, just wondering. At the start, the wine shows riper than I was expecting and used to from Covenant Cab, but with time it calms, as expected. The nose of this wine is ripe, dense, and fruity, with ripe black and purple fruit, dense smoke, tar, anise, chili pepper, white pepper, iron shavings, and nice minerality. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is on the edge of balance or anarchy. On one side, is an elegant bold wine showing dense fruit, with fruit focus, herbal notes, tart/sharp chili pepper, blackberry, boysenberry, smoke, roasted herbs, anise, and a dense yet elegant mouth-draping tannin. On the other side is a wine that thankfully calms and becomes what I expect. The finish is long, fruity, ripe, dense, herbal, smoky, spicy, and mineral-driven, with lovely iron, graphite, intense and elegant mouth-draping tannin, juicy boysenberry, blackberry, Asian spice, and anise lingering long. Lovely! Drink from 2026 until 2034. (tasted March 2023) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.8%)
My top 25 kosher wines of 2022, including the Wine of the Year, Winery of the Year, the Best Wine of the Year, and the Best Mevushal wines of the year awards
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 and that I tasted it in a reliable environment, not just at a tasting, and that it scored a 93 or higher.
We are returning with the “wine of the year”, “best wine of the year” “Winery of the Year”, and “Best White wine of the year”, along with a last year’s new addition 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 easily 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 so 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, but 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 and as such, it needs a best-of-the-year moniker, so we do it once again!
This past year, I tasted more wines than I have ever, in the past. Now to be clear here, I did not taste many Israeli wines as they have proven to me over and over again, even with the much-ballyhooed 2018 vintage that they are not worth my spending my money on. Still, I did taste a large number of Israeli wines both in my home and at KFWE events. I spent a fair amount of time tasting all the French and European wines I could get my hands on and I feel that is where I added the most value, IMHO. For those that like the Israeli wine style – other writers/bloggers can point you in some direction. This past year, was a return to an above-average year but not as good as last year’s list because last year’s 2019 wines were incredible and precise.
Last year’s list was star-studded and was driven by the incredible 2019 vintage. This year’s list is solid and will highlight a few top 2020 wines, but the clear winner will highlight a 2019 wine that missed making last year’s list because it was released later.
There are also interesting wines below the wines of the year, think of them as runner-up wines of the year. There will be no rose wines on the list this year. If last year, I thought the roses were pure junk, this year, you can add another nail in the coffin of rose wines, IMHO. Last year’s list was stronger with some 123 WINNER wines, this year we had 95. Still, another overall solid year.
Royal Wines continues to impress with the wines they make or import. However, slowly, more lovely wines are being made from other sources though they are harder to find in the USA or outside of Europe.
Now, separately, I love red wines, but white wines – done correctly, are a whole other story! Sadly, in regards to whites, we had no new wines from Germany, still. Thankfully, we have some awesome entries, from the incredible 2020 Chateau Malartic Blanc to the lovely 2021 Covenant Solomon Blanc, to the beautiful 2021 Jean-Philippe Marchand Meursault.
Finally, this year is the year of the Clos! Between the awesome Wine of the Year – the 2018 Clos Mesorah and the Clos Lavaud from Domaine Roses Camille, the Winery of the year, long live the Clos!!!
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 2022 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 4 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). Along with this year’s winner, Domaine Roses Camille. Officially, Domaine Roses Camille only became 100% kosher in 2020, but for all intent and purpose, they have 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.
Domaine Roses Camille was one of those cult-like wineries at the start when they produced a stunning 2005 Pomerol. It hit that cult status when the late Daniel Rogov called it the best kosher wine he had ever had, at that point, anyway.
As always, my disclaimers. The U.S. importer of Domaine Roses Camille is Andrew Breskin, of Liquid Kosher, and a person I call a friend. This past week I spent two days with him tasting many a wine, that post will follow my year-in-review posts, along with the Four Gates Winery new releases post.
Domaine Roses Camille’s winemaker is Christophe Bardeau. I have had the honor of meeting him a few times and he always comes across as a kind and professional person. While the main two wines, Domaine Roses Camille and the Echo Roses Camille come from Pomerol, he also makes wines from other regions in Bordeaux, like the Clos Lavaud (Lalande de Pomerol), Chateau Moulin de la Clide (a wine that took on its cult-like status as it was sadly a one and done run), Chateau Marquisat de Binet, and others.
Now, to be clear, the Domaine Roses Camille, Echo Roses Camille, and Clos Lavaud – which are all in Pomerol are made in Domaine Roses Camille winery, the 2022 Winery of the year. The one-off Moulin de la Clide and the lovely Chateau Marquisat de Binet were/are made in those Chateaus. Christophe Bardeau made/makes all the other wines but I named them here for completeness.
Pomerol is a lovely location and the wines of Domaine Roses Camille continue to impress. The Clos Lavaud is a year-in-year-out QPR WINNER along with the Echo Roses Camille. They are both perennially great wines and wines we all are very lucky to have in the kosher wine market! The flagship wine, Domaine Roses Camille has never had a bad year, it is the model of consistency, and the only years it was not made kosher was during the lean years of the kosher wine market in France, 2007 – 2010 (inclusively). It does come in at a higher cost than other kosher Pomerol wines but the high-end quality of Domaine Roses Camille matches the prices and longevity potential of other high-end quality kosher wines that cost much more than the DRC does. Yeah, there, I slipped, we all call the Domaine Roses Camille, our kosher DRC, but yeah, we all know what the real DRC is and that is a different wine region and price, all together!
So, with mad props and great happiness, and hope for even more success, I say Bravo to Christophe Bardeau and Andrew Breskin for all the hard work and lovely wines. The quality of the wines that are here and will be coming, in the future (I tasted many of them over this past week), are impressive and I wish them only continued success!
Read the rest of this entryAnother round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, Seven QPR WINNERS – August 2022
OK, with all the Paris wine notes posted, the latest roses posted, and Herzog’s wonderful wines, I am finally at the finish line. This last batch of notes catches me up just in time before the next round of wines shows up. As usual, my QPR posts are a hodgepodge of wines but thankfully we have some nice QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wines.
QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines
It has been two 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 includes some nice wines and some OK wines with the usual majority of uninteresting to bad wines.
The story of 2021 Israel whites and roses is very unfortunate, it started with a bang. Matar and a couple of others showed very well. Sadly, after that, every other white and rose wine from Israel was not as impressive. They all show middling work and product, very disappointing indeed. Thankfully, this round has three Israeli WINNERS and two from the 2021 vintage. There is an 8th WINNER here but it is here for documentation purposes and not for advice on what to buy, as it is not available anymore. That being the 2012 Chateau Serilhan.
We have a nice list of QPR WINNERS:
- 2012 Chateau Serilhan Cru Bourgeois, Saint-Estephe (Posted as I have never posted this yet, strange)
- 2021 O’Dwyers Creek Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough – A perennial WINNER
- 2021 Castel La Vie Blanc Du Castel, Judean Hills – Finally a 100% Sauvignon Blanc and it is lovely!
- 2021 Sheldrake Point Riesling, Dry, Finger Lakes, NY – A lovely 2nd vintage
- 2021 Sheldrake Point Gewurztraminer, Finger Lakes, NY – Another lovely 2nd vintage as well
- 2021 Golan Heights Winery, Yarden Sauvignon Blanc, Galilee – A nice wine
- 2019 Netofa Latour, Red, Galilee
- 2020 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico – Perenial winner
There were also a few wines that are a slight step behind with a GREAT or GOOD QPR score:
- 2021 Cape Jewel Chenin Blanc, Reserve Collection – one of two wines that shocked me as I expected PAIN
- 2021 Unorthodox Sauvignon Blanc, Paarl – the 2nd shocking wine in this tasting
- 2020 Dalton Sauvignon Blanc, Reserve, Galilee
- 2021 Golan Heights Winery Sauvignon Blanc, Gilgal – not as good as his bigger brother
- 2021 O’Dwyers Creek Chardonnay, Marlborough
- 2021 Capcanes Peraj Petita, Montsant – one of the best Petita since 2015, still not a WINNER like in 2015
There are a few wines that got a QPR Score of EVEN – meaning expensive or average:
- 2021 Vitkin Israeli Journey, White, Israel
- 2021 Gush Etzion Gewürztraminer, Judean Hills
- 2021 Yaffo White, Judean Hills
- 2019 Ramon Cardova Rioja, Rioja
- 2020 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib, Montsant – nothing interesting but better than previous vintages
- 2020 Domaine du Castel Lavie, Rouge du Castel, Jerusalem Hills
- 2016 Vitkin Cabernet Franc, Galilee – Drink up!
- 2018 Vitkin Carignan, Judean Hills – Drink up!
The others are essentially either OK wines that are too expensive, duds, or total failures:
- 2016 Vitkin Shorashim, Israel – a nice enough wine but the price is crazy
- 2020 Flam Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve, Galilee
- 2020 De La Rosa Taryag Gruner Veltliner, Burgenland
- 2020 De La Rosa Chai 18 White Welsch Riesling, Burgenland
- 2021 Unorthodox Chenin Blanc, Coastal Region
- 2021 J. De Villebois Pouilly Fume, Loire Valley – so sad after last year’s lovely vintage
- 2021 Odem Mountain Chardonnay, Volcanic, Galilee
- 2016 Laufer Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Reserve, California – ripe oak juice
- 2021 Golan Heights Winery Mount Hermon White, Galilee
Some things that made me stand up and take notice (AKA QPR WINNERS):
The real WINNER here, from the entire list, is the 2012 Chateau Serilhan Cru Bourgeois, Saint-Estephe (posted as I have never posted this yet, for some strange reason), but of the available wines that would be the 2021 O’Dwyers Creek Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough. The 2020 O’Dwyers Creek Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough ran out very quickly, I guess that there was not much available or made, as it was right at the start of COVID! The crazy story of how it all came together.
So happy to see Castel finally dropped the Gewurztraminer from their La Vie Blanc Du Castel the solo Sauvignon Blanc is lovely!
Talking about Gewurztraminer, the 2021 Sheldrake Point Riesling and Gewurztraminer from the Finger Lakes shows one can make lovely and reasonably priced wines from the Finger lakes. Bravo Ari!
Nice to see a Yarden wine on this list again, other than the LOVELY sparkling wines, the 2021 Golan Heights Winery, Yarden Sauvignon Blanc hit on all marks.
The last two wines are red and while I loved the 2019 Netofa Latour, Red at the start, it seemed to fall off a bit and that is unfortunate. Finally the 2020 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico is not as good as the 2019 vintage but still a solid wine.
Other wines of note (AKA QPR GREAT or GOOD):
The fascinating wines from this list were the South African wines, the 2021 Cape Jewel Chenin Blanc, Reserve Collection, and the 2021 Unorthodox Sauvignon Blanc, Paarl. I had zero expectations for these wines, so they were a nice find.
The rest are just good enough wines, mostly well priced but not interesting to drink.
Wines that are either good but too expensive or average (AKA EVEN):
This list is also boring, the only real wine to call out, is the 2020 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib, Montsant, nothing interesting but better than previous vintages. The same for the Peraj Petita in the category above.
The rest of the wines are not interesting to me and are on this list because of either quality or price.
Wines that are either OK but far too expensive or bad wines (AKA POOR/BAD):
Like on previous versions of these lists there will always be a nice scoring wine that is so expensive it falls into this QPR list. That would be the 2016 Vitkin Shorashim, Israel – a nice enough wine but the price is crazy.
There are also, many duds to losers and I will just leave you to peruse the names and scores down below.
Roundup
Overall another nice list of QPR WINNERS and some GREAT options as well. I can always look at these kinds of lists and say there are only 7 or 8 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 7 or 8 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:
Older Wines that I have not posted (or revising):
2012 Chateau Serilhan Cru Bourgeois, Saint-Estephe – Score: 93+ (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is a blend of 57% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 8% Cabernet Franc, The nose of this wine is lovely, deeply mineral-driven, with intense rock, graphite, charcoal, ripe black fruit, balancing tart raspberry, red plum, sweet spices, and sweet oak.
The mouth of this medium-plus bodied wine is rich, layered, and well-balanced with great acidity, freshly tilled earth, mineral, smoke, hints of barnyard, mushroom, and truffle, followed by ripe blackberry, plum, dark tart raspberry, smoke, and beautiful fresh wine approach – bravo!
The finish is long, dark, green, ripe, but well balanced, with smoke, tobacco, dark chocolate, and lovely mushroom, with tertiary notes soon approaching. This wine was opened too early, such is life, still very lovely and a wine I would open again in 4 years. Drink until 2029. (tasted July 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)
2012 Chateau Cheval Brun, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 91+ (QPR: GOOD)
This wine is a blend of 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc.
The nose of this wine is another giant Brett bomb, with crazy mushrooms, rich green notes, earth, red fruit, smoke, and nice tar. The mouth of this wine is layered, ripe, and lovely, with nice elegance, showing blackberry, raspberry, mineral galore, graphite, earth, mushroom, and forest floor, The wine’s extraction has calmed down but the Brett and barnyard are in full gear.
The finish is long and earthy, with mushroom, barnyard notes, rich tobacco, and tar. Bravo! Drink till 2025, maybe longer. (tasted July 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 13%)
Herzog Wine Cellars’ latest releases – August 2022
Like much of my posts I am a bit behind, I received these wines in June 2022 and sadly, it took until this week to post them. The truth is that the notes are written quickly, but the delay is caused by the amount of time spent writing the post, with all the metadata in and around the post and the images.
In case you missed the last Herzog Wine Cellars post – please check that out here, the story and background around Herzog Wine Cellars is truly imperative to better appreciate what they have accomplished these many years! One large change since the last post would be the hiring of David Galzignato as Director of Winemaking and Operations. Joe Hurliman is now Winemaker Emeritus. As always I have incredible respect and appreciation for what both Joseph Herzog and Joe Hurliman have done for Herzog Wine Cellars. Their vision, drive, and continued passion for improving the wines and the winery are truly incredible and one that we should all aspire to learn from.
In shortened story form Herzog Wine Cellars is a fascinating story. It started with Eugene Herzog immigrating to the US from Czechoslovakia in 1948 after the war and after communism took over his winery. He worked for a small winery in NY, and by 1958 he became the majority owner of it. In deference to his grandfather, they called it Royal Wines, as he was given the title Baron in Czechoslovakia. By 1985, the family decided that they needed a California presence, and so they hired the famous Wine Maker Peter Stern, to build their initial footprint in the world of high-end wines. After that, they moved to Santa Maria, hired Joe Hurliman, and leased space from Coast Wine Services (CWS), all the while knowing that they needed a place that they could call home. In the end, Joe went looking for a plot of land, that was as close to a Jewish Community as possible (for the Kosher Wine managers) and landed on Oxnard. Not a classic place to house a winery, but one that is close to the highways to truck in the grapes and one close enough to a Jewish Community to allow for full-time Jewish supervision. The winery opened in 2005, and three years later it started hosting the International Food and Wine Festival. In my last post about this year’s KFWE I threw down a gauntlet, I wonder if anyone read/saw it, I think it is time for Herzog Wine Cellars to bring back IFWF, in the summer for a throwback! Time is ticking – the ball is in your court guys!
Now to the wines. The 2017 vintage was tough, it was tough for all of Cali, it was a bad vintage. The 2018 vintage was far better, but still not as good as the 2016 or 2014 vintages. We were all interested in the full 2019 vintage to see if Herzog could break the odd-year curse that has hung over them since the nice 2013 vintage. I guess I will have to say, the answer is maybe. There are clear QPR WINNER wines, but they do not shine as bright as in the even years of 2014, 2016, or 2018. They are riper and less focused, and while they show minerality, it feels/seems secondary to the larger picture.
Generally, when we look at Herzog, and their success for a year, we use the big three, the Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Reserve, Alexander Valley, the Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Edition, Warnecke Vineyard, and the Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Edition, Clone Six. However, there is also the burgeoning Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon, and of course the lovely Edna Valley and Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noirs, from both Eagle’s Landing and the Reserve line. There are the second-level wines from the Variations collection, which also weigh in a bit on a successful year for Herzog, IMHO, but the main wines drive the success ratio the most.
Still, Herzog is never resting on their laurels, in the past they were driving hard with a yearly Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, to add to the Cabernet Sauvignon rotation. However, in 2016, they paused the Single Vineyard Program. The good news is that starting in 2021 the Single Vineyard program is back online! After that, they started sourcing Stag’s Leap fruit in 2018 and then expanded the Special Edition line with Oakville and Rutherford.
One final statement around two wines in the lineup. One is Choreograph, it is a wine that has been around for a long time, started in 2016, the earlier name Camouflage started in 2014. It is a serious sleeper in the Mevushal Lineage line. In the first few years, the wine tasted like the makeup of the wine a hodgepodge of grapes, one of the classic issues with large field blends. The larger the number of fruit the harder it is for them to all get together and make the wine work. However, in 2020 and 2021, whatever Herzog is doing, they have been hitting a home run for the price. This is the absolute PERFECT BBQ wine, IMHO. Mevushal, served cool, with meat, chicken, or even fish, all will work if grilled or smoked, just a perfect wine with great acidity and balance.
The other sleeper is the Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon. Napa is either at max or close to the max price, at least for now, though everything was high, price-wise in 2021 and the Napa fruit prices may max out in 2022. They are not pretty! Many a winery has dropped serious money into Lake County, look at Andy Beckstoffer, AKA, Mr. Tokalon. He bought into Lake County in 1997 and continues to invest. This line has been showing great promise from the start and every year the wine improves or keeps the previous vintage’s quality. Bravo! It is not at the quality yet of Alexander Valley Cabernet, but it quickly making its way into that quality level.
Finally, this is more of a PSA, please cool your red wines in the fridge, for say thirty minutes before enjoying them, if they are at, what we call room temperature. If the room is at 75 degrees Farenheight, 20 to 30 minutes in the refrigerator will help to bring the red wine temperature down to what it should be enjoyed at, which is 60 degrees, or so.
There will be no 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon from Stag’s Leap, but interestingly, there will be a 2020 vintage, as it was picked just before the fires. There will also be a bit of 2020 Alexander Valley and Rutherford. Overall, 2019 turned out to be the best odd-numbered year in a long time, and while it does not rise to the quality of 2014/2016/2018 it is a solid showing for a not-so-good vintage.
The wine notes listed below shows seven wines that garnered the QPR (Quality to Price) WINNER score. That is a lovely list of wines the majority of them are 2020 or 2021 wines. There are two 2019 QPR WINNER wines, and they are the ususal suspects, the Alexander Valley and the Warnecke Vineyard.
I will keep this short, so my many thanks to Joseph Herzog, David Whittemore, Joe Hurliman, and Alicia Wilbur for answering my many emails and calls. Be well all of you! 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 Herzog Sauvignon Blanc, Lineage, Lake County, CA (M) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)
The nose of this wine is more restrained than other Sauvignon Blanc out there, it is less ripe, it is dirtier, with mineral, floral notes, violet, rose, lemon, lime, yellow plum, and dryer sheet notes. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is fun, refreshing, tart, acidic, and enjoyable, with green notes, lemon, lime, wet grass, mint, lemongrass, saline, hints of passion fruit, and otherwise, green notes, herbs, spices, flint, and rich mineral. The finish is long, green, spicy, and flinty, with saline, smoke, roasted herb, grass, and hay. BRAVO! Drink now. (tasted May 2022) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)
Wine Musings Blog 