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Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, Six WINNERS – October 2021
To start – I really must state something in advance. I am sorry that I missed the chance to properly remember the 10th Yahrzeit of Daniel Rogov’s passing, which occurred on September 7th, 2011 (it may have been the 6th but Israel time and all).
I wrote two of my posts about the man, you can read them here and as such, I will simply say that I miss him as do most of the kosher wine drinking public. So much has changed in the past 10 years, since his passing, and I wonder what kosher wine would be like today if he was still with us. So much of the world is open to the kosher wine world, which was not the case 10 years ago. I wonder if Rogov would have embraced the opening. I wonder if he would have liked or disliked the fact that Israel is producing and importing loads of kosher wine from France and Italy, specially made for the Israeli kosher wine buying community.
I think, in the end, he would have loved all that is changing and we are all worse off by his lack of presence in our lives today. So I raised a glass of 2011 Yarden Blanc de Blanc in his memory and may we all be blessed for having known such a man!
QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines
It has been a few months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post and many people have been emailing me about some unique wine I have tasted and some lovely wines that are worth writing about.
Thankfully, no matter how garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with quite a few wonderful QPR wines out there. This post includes superstars like Herzog Wines’s new 2019 Herzog Eagle’ Landing Pinot Noir, and a few others. It goes to show that when wineries reasonably price superior wines, even 46 dollar wines can be a QPR winner! Sadly, the Eagle’s Landing Pinot Noir is the most superior wine on this list. There are other nice wines to come but for now – this QPR wine list, overall, was not as good as previous lists.
We have an OK list of QPR WINNERS:
- 2019 Herzog Eagle’ Landing Pinot Noir
- 2017 Netofa Dor
- 2019 Chateau Genlaire Grand Vin de Bordeaux
- 2019 Elvi Vina Encina Blanco
- 2019 Pacifica Riesling, Evan’s Collection
- 2020 Domaine Guillerault Fargette Sancerre
There were also a few wines that are a slight step behind with a GREAT or GOOD QPR score:
- 2020 Domaine Joost de Villebois Pouilly Fume
- 2019 Domaine du Castel Grand Vin
- 2019 Nana Chenin Blanc
- 2019 Nana Cassiopeia
- 2015 Mad Aleph Blaufrankisch
- 2019 Aura di Valerie Zaffiro Super Tuscan
- 2020 Vitkin Israeli Journey, Red
- 2020 Domaine du Castel La Vie Blanc de Castel
- 2019 Herzog Malbec, Lineage, Clarksburg – GREAT Value for a varietal I am not a huge fan of
- 2020 Herzog Variations Be-leaf
- 2018 Binyamina Sapphire, The Chosen
- 2020 Tabor Sauvignon Blanc
- 2020 Bodegas Faustino VI Rioja
- 2020 Yatir Darom Rose
- 2020 Recanati Marselan Rose
- 2020 Arroyo del Imperio Chardonnay
There are a few wines that got a QPR Score of EVEN – meaning expensive or average:
- 2020 Herzog Sauvignon Blanc, Acacia Barrel Series – very unique but expensive
- N.V. Herzog Methode Champenoise, Special Reserve – Nice but expensive
- 2020 Herzog Chardonnay, Chalk Hill, Special Edition – Nice but expensive
- 2019 Castellare di Castellina Chianti Classico – very unique but expensive
- 2020 Matar Chardonnay
- 2019 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib, Flor de Primavera – Still too ripe for me
- 2019 Weinstock Cabernet Sauvignon, Cellar Select
- 2020 Psagot Sinai, White
- N.V. Drappier Rose de Saignee, Champagne
- 2018 Les Lauriers de Rothschild
- 2020 Pacifica Rattlesnake Hills Viognier
- N.V. Vera Wang Party Prosecco, Brut
- 2019 Or Haganuz Elima
- 2019 Binyamina Chardonnay, Moshava
The others are essentially either OK wines that are too expensive, duds, or total failures:
- 2018 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Lot 70 – Lovely wine but expensive for the quality
- 2019 Hagafen Family Vineyard Red Blend – Lovely wine but expensive for the quality
- 2020 Binyamina Moshava Rose
- 2019 Yatir Creek White
- 2019 Domaine du Castel La Vie, Rouge du Castel
- 2017 Barons Edmond & Benjamin de Rothschild
- 2018 Domaine du Castel M du Castel
- 2020 Padre Bendicho Rose
- 2020 Carmel Private Collection Rose
- 2020 Yatir Darom White
- 2019 Nana Chardonnay
- 2019 Segal Marawi Native
- 2019 Mia Luce Blanc
- 2019 Nana Tethys
- 2018 Odem Mountain 1060 Cabernet Franc
- 2018 Odem Mountain 1060 Red Wine
- 2017 Odem Mountain Alfasi, Special Reserve
- 2019 Mia Luce Syrah and Stems
- 2019 Mia Luce C.S.M.
- 2017 Tabor Merlot, Adama
- 2017 Tabor Cabernet Sauvignon 1/11,000, Limited Edition
- 2019 Chateau de Parsac
- 2019 Gurra di Mare Tirsat
- 2017 Tulip Espero
- 2019 Psagot Merlot
- 2019 Psagot Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2018 Jezreel Icon
- 2019 Psagot Edom
- 2017 The Cave
- 2018 Carmel Mediterranean
- 2020 Yatir Mount Amasa Rose
- 2020 Flam Camellia
- 2020 Netofa Latour, White
Some things that made me stand up and take notice (AKA QPR WINNERS):
The real WINNER here, from the entire list, is the lovely 2019 Herzog Eagle’s Landing Pinot Noir, another STUNNING Pinot Noir from Herzog – BRAVO!
There were other high-scoring wines in this overall list, nice wines from Covenant and others, but the prices of those wines put them at a disadvantage in comparison to others in their wine categories, and as such, they have poor to bad QPR wine scores.
In the end, IMHO, the overall list has less quality than the previous QPR list but there are a few nice wines here indeed.
The other WINNERS were the incredible 2019 Elvi Vina Encina Blanco, a lovely Macabeo for 13 dollars! Just lovely! The 2019 Pacifica Riesling, Evan’s Collection, is not as good as previous vintages – but another solid wine that many will enjoy. Finally, we have a Sancerre that I can get up and cheer about and that is the 2020 Domaine Guillerault Fargette Sancerre. It is here in the USA and it is nice!
Other wines worth of note (AKA QPR GREAT or GOOD):
Of these GOOD to GREAT wines – the most interesting of the list, for me, is the 2020 Domaine Joost de Villebois Pouilly Fume. No, it is not as good as the lovely 2019 Jean Pierre Bailly Pouilly Fume, still, it is a Mevushal wine that is reasonably priced, so it gets a solid QPR score. The 2019 Nana Chenin Blanc is nice, but for the price, it is not worth it, and it is DRINK NOW!
The 2019 Domaine du Castel Grand Vin, is nice, yes, but it is too ripe for me and the price is too much for the quality it is, so yeah, nice wine for those that like this style. The 2019 Nana Cassiopeia, is a wine that I found I could taste and at a decent enough price, so yeah, good going.
The 2015 Mad Aleph Blaufrankisch has so many stories revolving around it, that all I can say is, drink it if you like the style. I found it OK, but I do not need to buy any more.
The 2019 Aura di Valerie Zaffiro Super Tuscan is nice enough, but really, why did you need to put those words on the bottle? A Super Tuscon is a term used to describe red wines from Tuscany that may include non-indigenous grapes, particularly Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. The creation of super Tuscan wines resulted from the frustration winemakers had towards a slow bureaucracy in changing Italy’s wine law during the 1970s (from WineFolly). Why would you place those words on a wine bottle??
The 2019 Herzog Malbec, Lineage is a solid example of what reasonably priced wine from California can taste like! Finally, the newly released 2020 Herzog Variations Be-leaf – handily beats all other no-added sulfite options!
Read the rest of this entry
A lineup of the available 2018 kosher Pinot Noirs from around the world
In the past few months, there have been many releases of Pinot Noir from the 2018 vintage. For the most part, there are no real winners here, QPR and otherwise, except for two – the Herzog Pinot Noir, Reserve, and the Herzog Eagle’s Landing Pinot Noir (though the Eagle’s Landing is the only QPR WINNER).
The tasting included all the wines I could find though I left out two, the 2018 Barkan Pinot Noir and the 2018 Tura Pinot Noir. Both of them are Mevushal, and they do a HORRIBLE job on Mevushal, so I did not want to waste my money. My love for all things Pinot is well known, and I had such high hopes. I also seemed to have missed tasting the 2018 Vitkin Pinot Noir, as well.
It is funny how the media can change people’s perspectives, and in some cases twist them in a way that we would not expect. Say Pinot Noir and most wine drinkers will think of the enigmatic anti-hero Miles Raymond, and his explanation on his love for Pinot Noir; “…It’s, uh, it’s thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It’s, you know, it’s not a survivor like Cabernet, which can just grow anywhere and thrive even when it’s neglected. No, Pinot needs constant care and attention. You know?…“. Pinot is a complicated grape – but not to its detriment. Listen to Miles throughout Sideways and you may come to think that Pinot is fleeting, flinty, thin, and complicated. In the end, as you watch that horrible movie, you quickly realize that Miles was simply projecting in a fire fueled rambling and using Pinot Noir as his conduit.
To the French, Pinot Noir is called Burgundy – following the tradition of French wineries to name their wines after the region where the grapes are grown. Americans have had success with Pinot – in California, Oregon, and Washington State. New Zealand, has taken the lead in bringing the grape into the 21st century. The French Burgundy has its terroir (earthy dirt flavors, sometimes barnyard flavors as well). The New Zealand and American Pinots show characteristics that are more akin to Syrah than Burgundy – fruit-forward, meaty wines with soft caressing tannins. The rest of the world is choosing sides. Though true terroir flavors are hard to replicate outside of Burgundy, many countries have been successful at bringing out the true fruit characteristics that the land is willing to share and are creating wonderful Pinot Noirs. Israel was starting to come into its own with Pinot Noir, now all I would buy from Israel, in regards to Pinot would be from Gvaot. Yes, Vitkin does a nice enough job, but Gvaot does a better one. Right now, the best bet is France and the USA, with a drop from Israel, and after that, we are on empty. Sadly, 2018 was not a great year for Four Gates and what I had was not great, it was never officially bottled, but we have 2019 coming soon!
Sadly, Pinot Noir to me is one of those wines that is so badly mangled in the kosher wine world, that it is no shock that most kosher oenophiles, turn face when u say Pinot Noir. Not on account of the Pinot Noir grapes themselves, but rather on account of the pathetic state of kosher Pinot Noir wine on the market.
Say, Pinot Noir to me, and sadly I can only think of:
- Four Gates Winery
- Gvaot Winery
- Eagle’s Landing Pinot Noir (2016 and 2018 are great)
- 2014, 2015, 2017 Chantal Lescure Burgundy from Pommard (I hope there is a 2018 vintage, I disliked 2016)
- 2017 Jean-Philippe Marchand Burgundies (2019 vintage was just released)
- 2018 Jean Luc & Paul Aegerter Burgundies
- 2010 Domaine Gachot-Monot Beaune 1er Cru Les Cent Vignes (this is the last of good “cheap” Burgs)
- 2016 Maison Roy & Fils Shai Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley (Sadly it was a ONE and done deal)
- Hagafen and Vitkin have left me wanting more, and forget the rest of Israel’s Pinot Noirs. The same goes for Pacifica, which has also been lacking, other than one vintage.
Pinot Noir is one of my favorite wines, NO NOT because of sideways! I loved the wine long before that horrific cult movie hit the theaters. I love PN for what it stands for – complexity through things other than fruit! A well made Pinot Noir, in my humble opinion, needs to be of medium body, medium fruit structure, accompanied by mounds of dirt, mushroom, barnyard, and earthy goodness. The ultimate aspect of a great PN is the secondary flavors, not the fruit, not cherry cola, and for the LOVE OF GOD not OAK! It is all about the secondary and old age notes that come with time and love.
Sadly, look at that list. Four Gates is tough to get in quantity. The Gvaot Pinot is available, but they are more Cab and rich than a pure ethereal wine, though very impressive. The Eagle’s Landing 2013 vintage is still available at the winery, and the 2016/2018 vintages rocked! The real winners are the French options, but they are NOT cheap.
So, where are we? Some like the Galil Pinot and other such structured wines, but to me, they are just bad Cabernet in a Pinot’s clothing. This is a shortlist. Heck, there are HUNDREDS of Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, even many Cabernet Franc options. But say Pinot and numbers dwindle in the blink of an eye. Further, many of the options here are vintage based. For the true Pinot lover, Four Gates and France are your sure bets. Sadly, only the last one is pumping out wines consistently.
PSA: What is wrong with you all?? The Eagle’s Landing Pinot Noir has consistently been a high-rated wine and one that lasts for a very long time, improving along the way with great panache. Yet, you can still buy the 2013 and 2016 vintages of this wonderful wine!! I bought a bunch of 2013 from Herzog. I get NOTHING to tell you this other than pleasure. BUY the wine and enjoy one bottle now and save the others for a rainy day in 2026. Buy this now!!
Sadly, there were no surprises here, the 2018 Gvaot was nice, the Eagle’s Landing was great, and the Herzog Reserve Pinot (a return after many years of non-production) was also very nice. That is about it. The 2018 Jean Luc & Paul Aegerter Burgundies were tasted previously (the notes added here for completeness).
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here:
2018 Herzog Eagle’s Landing Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
Let me start by saying buy this wine, buy lots of this wine, I mean a LOT! OK, now this wine is a bigger and richer version of the 2013 Eagle’s Landing Pinot Noir, in other words, this wine is a beast, a winner, and yes – get this wine! My only comment is that this wine is not a classically styled Pinot Noir. This wine is full-bodied and not so much about cherry and raspberry and more about blackberry and spice, I would not have initially guessed this was a Pinot Noir, still this a wonderful wine. My only real complaint is the strangely small cork used as its closure, when the Cabernet Franc has a much longer cork, just not sure why. Anyway, I do not care about corks, as long as they last long enough to meet the drinking window.
The nose on this wine is pure heaven, coffee and chocolate, and fruit madness, with dirt, mushroom, loam, and spice, all wrapped in dark and brooding fruit, showing control, spice, earth, and sheer umami notes, wow!! The mouth on this full-bodied wine is wow! the mouth starts very softly, almost like a leopard crouching before it pounces upon its prey, this wine is beautifully structured to last, and so well made it is almost difficult to get all the thoughts out of my head, layers of fruit, acid, tannin, salinity (that is incredible), black olives, with epic fruit structure and concentration, with clear and bold and jammy blackberry, raspberry, dark cherry, with intense saline, forest floor, searing acidity, and layers of dark jammy brooding but well-controlled fruit. With time the cherry and raspberry fall behind the intense black and intense brooding fruit. The finish is equally impressive with layers of chocolate, coffee, leather, spices, nutmeg, cloves, rich earth, lovely smoking tobacco leaves, sweet and jammy fruit, all wrapped in mineral, spice, and earth. Bravo!!! Drink from 2024 until 2033 or longer.
Easy drinking white wines for 2020 – better than I expected
Well, the roses from the 2019 vintage, so far, are not inspiring, and initially, I thought the same for the white wines, thankfully, as I tasted through the last 15 bottles of wines things shifted. There is a reason why I have been pushing Price in relation to its quality, AKA QPR (Quality to Price Relationship).
For this tasting, I tasted more than 70 wines, however, I posted only some 49 wine notes here. Rest assured, the others were either not worthy or I did not have detailed enough notes to make it here on this post.
Interestingly, initially, I had zero hope for the white wines, much as I felt about the roses. However, all of this is data-driven and other than my wines notes, the rest is all prices defined by the USA market. The more, I tasted, the more I felt that there are options in the simple white wine category. I was really ready to give up hope, but thankfully, folks like Shirah, Kos Yeshuos, and other Europen wines really pulled their weight. Sadly, of the top 27 wines, there were a total of 11 from 2019. Of them, only two were from Israel. The rest hailed from California, France, and New Zealand. In the end, so far, the vast majority of the Israeli white wines I have tasted from 2019 are also highly uninspiring.
With that said, the median price for the wine category of non-aging white wines is going up! There lies in my over-arching issue, prices keep going up!! The median price for non-aging white wines, here in the USA, is now 24 dollars! Seriously!! COME ON!! This is crazy! As the kids say, total Cray Cray! Turned around, the total number of wines below the median price of 24 dollars that received a 90 or higher was 12, and many of those are our QPR WINNERS. Overall, 2019 is still a dud in Israel, of those that have made their way to the USA, and Califonia is saving the day, so far.
All the wines here are scored both quantitatively, AKA using my classic wine score described here, and using the newly revised QPR score described here. So, yes, there will be more of the QPR discussion that will arise from this post. Thankfully, we have a good number of wines, 7 from my count, that received the QPR score of WINNER, sadly, they are mostly from 2018. Therefore, I repeat again, I am highly unimpressed with how many 2019 white wines I had and how many are subpar. Please be careful with the ones you buy.
Finally, in order of price, the first of the 7 QPR WINNER wines come in at wine #38, sorted by price! That means there are loads of other wines far less interesting than the 2018 Ramon Cardova Albarino, the most expensive of the 7 WINNER QPR wines. This is the kind of data that makes me scream. This is what needs to change! Wineries are willing to produce wines that are more expensive and less interesting, than more than HALF of the wine I tasted! This is what needs to change, kosher wine has gotten out of control, price-wise.
Do yourself a favor, check the price, you do it for everything else you buy! Check the wine, check the price, and then decide!
The wine note follows below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2018 Ramon Cardova Albarino, Rias Baixas – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is just below the median price line, so this wine SHOULD get a score of GREAT for QPR. However, it is ALSO one of the few white wines that score at least a 91, and that has a price that is below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. Bravo!!!
The 2018 vintage of this Albarino, in its second vintage, shows less tropical and ripe than the first vintage, 2017. This bottle also had the thermal active label, and it shows up when the bottle is at the proper drinking temperature. My only REAL and serious complaint is the cork, why would Royal waste the money and my money of a real cork? Use a Diam or any other amalgamated cork, like almost everyone else is. I really hope I do not hit a bad cork for the wines I have.
The nose on this wine is better than the 2017 vintage, Lovely nose of rich mineral, with loads of straw, with which salinity, and lovely peach and dry pear, with honeysuckle, gooseberry, along with green notes galore. Lovely! The mouth on this lovely green and acid-driven wine has a more oily mouthfeel than the 2017 vintage, showing rich salinity, green olives, with lovely dry quince, green apples, more peach, green apple, but also with lovely lime and grapefruit, no sense of guava or melon-like on the 2017 vintage, with a tinge of orange notes. The overall mouth is lovely and it comes at you in layers. The finish is long, green, with gooseberry, tart fruit, with an incredible freshness, and orange pith, slate, rock, and incredible acidity lingering long. Incredible!! Bravo!! Drink until 2022.
2018 Hagafen Dry Riesling – Score: 91 (Mevushal) (QPR: WINNER)
This wine is in the 2nd quintile of quality scoring and it is below the Median price line, so this wine gets a GREAT score for QPR. However, it is ALSO one of the few white wines that score at least a 91, and that has a price that is below the median price line, so this wine gets the coveted score of WINNER for QPR. Bravo!!!
The nose on this wine is tropical and sweet fruit-focused, with pineapple, guava, melon, peach, but now THANKFULLY the petrol is in full gear, and it commands your attention, with the tropical fruit still very present, along with some nice mineral. The mouth on this medium-bodied wine is fun, tart, nice acidity, with more petrol funk, showing nice balance, with good acidity, still, the mouth is sweet and ripe, the petrol and tart notes help, with green apple, tart grapefruit, tart stone fruit, and slate galore, with waxy notes, and tart pineapple. The finish is long, green, with intense mineral, slate, flint, and lovely petrol that gives way to nice acidity, and hints of tannin. The wine has indeed come around and now petrol is more present and the hole in the middle is gone. Drink until 2024. Read the rest of this entry
2013 Kosher Food and Wine Experience (KFWE) lived up to all its billing
For years I have always sported a purple colored beaming grin when I finish my tasting at the IFWF (International Food and Wine Festival) in LA, which hid my grumbling stomach’s discontent. Like I have documented for years, I never get to eat at the events, even as the entire food court mocks me, attempting to pull me into their warm, delicious, and very present embrace, with their wafting and intoxicating aromas. Still, I stand strong and I taste through the night until my teeth are purple and my stomach is close to rioting on the lack of food. Truth be told, I am not that good at taking notes when eating – the flavors of the food cover up and belie the flavors and aromas of the glass that beckons me closer with its “come hither” look and aromas. So every year, after the event I go to dinner at Jeff’s Sausage (down the street from the new location of the IFWF). Which is sheer madness of course, here I have half the Pavilion at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, filled with food from one of the best kosher restaurants in the world – Tierra Sur Restaurant, and I pass on that for the spicy and homely fare of Jeff’s Sausage. In no way is this a slight to the joy of Jeff Rohatiner’s cookery and food. Rather, it has been my conscious tradeoff, throughout my many year experience at IFWF to drink through as much of the world-class wine I can before my taste-buds shutdown, rather than give them to the food court, no matter how wonderful it is.
This year was a massive shift for me, gone was the purple grin and my mutinous stomach, as I visited and added the New York KFWE to my travel dates. To say the KFWE was different than the IFWF would be an extreme understatement, the IFWF has close to 1000 people at the show, while the KFWE has closer to 2000 people. Further the event hall at Pier 60 is some 2 to 3 times larger than the Pavilion tent at the Hyatt Regency. Also, there were many options for lunch and dinner from the myriad of NY restaurants that all share half the hall, all clamoring to share their wonderful fare with great fanfare. The Pier 60 overlooks the Marina and Harbor and many folks were outside braving the cold to grab a smoke, but at least they had some comfort of looking at the marina and its waterfront.
To really appreciate the event you had to come to it with a game plan, and there were many guests who had a few of their own. The event started at Noon for those in the trade, a new thing that the KFWE started last year and something that the IFWF has been doing from the start (though initially with a smaller trade time). The trade event was crowded but there could not have been more than a thousand folks there, so access to wine was not a problem in any way. The event hall can easily handle 1000 people, it is a bit more complicated when the number swells to two thousand people, but still there was no pushing or shoving going on even at the end of the public tasting, when the number of guests was at its maximum. But I digress; the trade tasting allowed me to focus solely on wine and the winemakers, which was great. Read the rest of this entry
2012 Herzog International Wine Festival – part two of wine notes
As stated in the previous posting on this lovely event, there were many wines to taste and there was no way I could post all the wine notes in a single posting. Here is my follow-up posting on the wines tasted at the event, including the wines that I loved and did not love.
The wine notes are listed in the order that I tasted them:
2010 Domaine Netofa – White – Score: B++
The nose on this light gold colored wine shows clean and lovely nose of green apple, peach, grapefruit, kiwi, light quince, and rich/nice loamy dirt and mineral. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is rich and balanced with nice minerality, along with nice bright fruit that mingles well in the mouth. The finish is long and spicy with nice quince, tart green apple, grapefruit, and green tea.
2010 Binyamina Chardonnay, Reserve, Unoaked – Score: B
This wine did not show nearly as well as its 2009 sibling, the wine was flat without much to grab your attention. The nose on this straw colored wine has apple, lemon, nice mineral, bright acid, and melon. The mouth is somewhat plush and the finish has citrus to round out the wine.
2010 Binyamina Chardonnay, Reserve – Score: B+
This wine did not show nearly as well as its 2009 sibling, though not as bad as its unoaked twin. The nose on this dark straw colored wine has light oak, brioche, lemon, nice spice, light creme, and honey. The mouth is round with spice, summer fruit, and oak influence.
2011 Tulip White Tulip – Score: B++
This wine is a blend of 70% Gewurztraminer and 30% Sauvignon Blanc with the sweet and floral notes of the Gewurztraminer showing nicely with honey and guava, while the green apple and bright lemon notes from the Sauvignon Blanc blend together in a unique manner. The nose on this straw colored wine hits you with mineral, light honey, bright lemon, green apple, and guava. The mouth is nice and honeyed with light petrol, and citrus. The finish is long with both sweet lemon creme and bright lemon at the same time, along with fig, and tart notes. This is a great wine that would go well with fish or sushi.
NV Yarden Brut, Segal Rechasim Dishon Cabernet Sauvignon, and other OK wines
I will keep this one short, as I want to get to my top wines of the year post. However, my wife and I spent the first part of Saturday night prepping, breaking down, and rolling 60 sushi rolls filled with Hamachi, Salmon, Tuna, and julienned vegetables. All I will say is that there was little to none of it left before the evening was over.
We enjoyed some lovely still and sparkling wines, along with some very not so great wines as well. The wine notes are iffy, as I was not taking serious notes, except for one wine that was the clear winner of the evening.
The wine notes follow below:
NV Yarden Brut – Score: B+ to B++
The first interesting thing to note about this sparkler is that it was produced in 2001 and not produced again, so we are talking about a 10 to 11 year old wine made from equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The nose on this straw to pink colored wine is rich with citrus notes, peach, tart green apples, fresh flowers, and brioche. The mouth on this medium bodied wine is effervescent with a lovely mousse of many small bubbles, creamy and delicate attack of tart green apple, citrus, and acid backbone that is definitely not dead in any way. The finish is long, creamy, and moussy with brioche, toast, tart apples and lemony goodness. Fun stuff that works great with sushi.
2007 Segal Rechasim Dishon Cabernet Sauvignon – Score: A–
The nose on this black colored wine is super rich with rich cedar, tobacco, cassis, rich ripe plum, licorice, raspberry, and chocolate. The mouth on this rich and medium bodied wine is mouth coating with lovely tannin, raspberry, rich ripe plum, cassis, integrated tannin, and cedar. The mid palate is rich and lovely with good acid, tobacco, cassis, chocolate, tobacco, and cedar. The finish is long and rich with sweet cedar, tobacco, cassis, ripe plum, chocolate, and tobacco. This is a rich and concentrated wine that has just enough to grab your attention but is also a bit played out with its not so unique flavor profile. Still a fun and rich wine that has two or so years left in its legs.
Baron Herzog Brut Champagne – Score: B-
Sorry this wine did not make the mental cut for me – the flavors do not meld in any way that makes sense to me.
2006 Rotheberg Cellars Pinotage – Score: N/A
DOA, OK but really not that interesting.
Rosh Hashanah 2010/5771 – Friday Night
To start, Friday Night was not Rosh Hashanah; I just put Rosh Hashanah in the title of this blog posting because it came right after it, and to be true I could not come up with a better title 🙂 There were six meals in total eaten during the three day holiday time, and we had guests for two of them and ate in for the rest. It all started with the wonderful meal and get together on Wednesday Night, as described in my previous post. The next meal we had with guests was on Friday Night. Sandwiched in between them were three meals on our own, where I enjoyed wine from the first night. Thursday and Friday afternoon we enjoyed brie, fresh vine ripe tomatoes, and avocado. Thursday Night we had some more simanim, along with a sneak peek of Friday Night’s main course, along with some Roasted Fresh Green Beans, sliced onions, and a fresh salad.
Friday Night started with Lox and Boiled Eggs, along with Benyoganoush. Benyoganoush is Benyamin Cantz spin on Babaganoush. I call it a spin, because until we enjoyed the dish at Benyamin’s house, we were used to only store bought Babaganoush that is normally roasted eggplant submerged in a pool of mayonnaise – Yuk! However, Benyamin taught us that the recipe is truly as simple as it comes! The main course consisted of Tri-Sausage Stew, Brown Rice, Parve Spinach Kugel/Soufflé, and a fresh green salad. The Tri-Sausage stew consisted of three different sausages, as the name suggests; 12 oz of Merguez cut into chunks, 12 oz of Italian Sausage cut into chunks, and 12 oz of Tofurkey Kielbasa sausage. The rest of the Kielbasa Stew recipe stands (pretty much).
One of our guests brought us a Bordeaux, while I struck out with a so-so to bad bottle of Segal Fusion and a not so bad bottle of Vouvray, which is a Chenin Blanc wine that turned out to be quite nice.
The meal was a joy, because we got the chance to stretch our legs from the grueling Rosh Hashanah services that were long, and well worrisome. It is after all the Day of Judgment, with Yom Kippur being the day our judgment is sealed. We sang some lovely Shabbos songs, spoke about the week’s Torah portion, and just kicked back a bit. It was a wonderful meal, with a lovely group of friends, along with nice food and wine. Again, may God seal us all for a year of life, success, joy, and health – Shana Tova and Gamar Chatima Tova!
The wine notes follow below in the order they were served:
2007 Segal Fusion (Israel, Galilee, Upper Galilee) – Score: B
The nose on this purple colored wine shows clear effects of mevushal, the nose has cooked plum, blackberry, raspberry, black fruit, loamy dirt, spice, and oak. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is spicy with black pepper, cooked blackberry, plum/prune, and dirt. The mid palate is balanced with oak, nice tannins, and tobacco. The finish is long and spicy with cooked black fruit, raspberry, loamy dirt, and licorice.
2008 Clos de Nouys Vouvray Moelleux (France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray) – Score: B++
The nose on this straw to gold colored wine is rich and honeyed, with wet grass, floral, green apple, honey, guava, pear, and citrus. The mouth on this medium to full bodied wine is rich with honey, floral notes, green apple, and tropical fruit. The mid palate is semi-sweet with bracing and balanced acid and orange peel. The finish is long with honey, floral notes, tropical fruit, and citrus. A nice wine that has just enough complexity to get your attention and keep it, but not for long enough. This is pairs nicely with spicy food, medium to hard cheese, and rich white sauces.
2005 Château Le Bourdieu (France, Bordeaux, Médoc) – Score: B to B+
The nose and mouth on this wine starts off very slowly and can definitely use some air, but it is also a wine that is at its peak or a bit behind it, so it is a very careful balance that you need to keep an eye out for. The nose on this browning garnet colored wine has cherry, raspberry, currant, a hint of plum, along with coffee, smoke, bell pepper, and mineral. The mouth on this medium bodied wine has raspberry, currant, plum, and cherry. The mid palate is acidic with oak, almost integrated tannin, and oak. The finish is spicy and long with mineral, acid, coffee, and vegetal notes. This is a wine that works well with light meat, chicken, and medium cheese. The wine is one that can is medium weighted with enough to get some attention, but not enough to make it worthy of must have wine. Open it an hour in advance and then start enjoying it. Also, it is really nice chilled down to about 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cholent, Spicy Food, and Segal Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve
This past weekend saw us sharing a Kiddush with my Brother and family after my nephew completed his Bar Mitzvah portion splendidly well. The spread we were presented with was absolutely outstanding! It included a North African Cholent called – dafina (wheat berry, onions, and meat), and a European Cholent (potatoes, meat, onions, etc.). In addition to the cholent(s), there were an assorted number of chicken options, along with tons of other salads and side dishes (including some smoking hot peppers and olives).
Well, before Shabbos I picked up two bottles of wine. One was a 1999 Nebbiolo wine that I found at the wine store, and it was DOA. The other was a 2004 Segal Cabernet Sauvignon, which was quite nice.
The wine went well with the cholent and spicy dishes and was enjoyed by others at the table.
The wine note follows below:
2004 Segal Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve – Score: B+
The nose on this dark garnet colored wine is hopping with sweet oak, blackberry, cranberry, and dark chocolate. The mouth on this fat yet not complex full bodied wine is somewhat mouth coating, and carries along with it the fruit characteristics from the nose, with blackberry and cranberry. The mid palate is balanced with well integrated tannins and acidity, that pick up the fruit flavors while adding some fullness to the mouth. The finish is medium long with more black fruit and a nice chocolate presence. The wine is effective, but not a complex wine, like the 2003 Ella Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.
Lasagna, Cotes Du’ Rhone, Segal Dishon Cabernet Sauvignon, and Psagot Cabernet Sauvignon
This past week we had a table full of friends and family that went late into the night. It was a grand time for sure, and the table was graced by a few bottles of yet unreleased wines, along with some enjoyable wines that are readily available as well. The evening started with my now signature olive soup, that I modified from Mollie Katzen original vegetarian cookbook, which is getting harder and harder to find. The soup is so nice because of the Kalamata olives that are used in the recipe. We tried to cook this soup once without Kalamata olives – and in the end, you could have just eaten the olives, it would have been a better use of them. The soup loses all reasons to exist, without the Kalamata olives. The lima beans that are in there as well complete the flavor and texture profile of the soup.
We followed the Olive soup with a meat only version of Lasagna. We have made the meat lasagna many times, and its only real fault is that it is not as gooey as cheese lasagna. The cheese adds the glue that is needed to keep the whole package together. In its place the meat only lasagna, has no real glue, but the texture is still nice and the flavors are really well accentuated. The recipe comes from a cookbook I have, but its main idea is browned ground meat, sautéed onion, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and mostly herbs – with a few spices. Place the andante lasagna noodles on a layer of sauce at the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Then place meat sauce on top of the bottom layer, followed by another layer of lasagna noodles, and then another layer of meat sauce, and then the final layer of lasagna noodles, followed by a light layer of meat sauce, to keep the top moist.
The 2007 Le Mourre de L’Isle Côtes du Rhône excites me because of its A.O.C., more than its score. There are not that many Côtes du Rhône kosher wines around, and it gives us a chance to taste this interesting wine. It is made with 60% Black Grenache – 40% Mourvedre, which are not very common kosher wine varietals.
We paired the lasagna with bold red wines and I think they paired well. The wines notes follow below:
Psagot Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 – Score: B+
The nose on this garnet colored wine is another nice Israeli Cabernet. It is packed with chocolate, raspberry, blackberry, and serious amount of oak. The nose is not hot and is enveloping with heavy oak and chocolate. The mouth of this full bodied wine is soft and almost mouth coating. This wine required a long time to open up, and the patient wine connoisseur will be rewarded. The soft mouth melds well with raspberry, blackberry, and cassis. The mid palate is balanced with bright acidity, large amounts of oak, integrated tannins, and chocolate. The finish is long with more chocolate, leather, and a final dollop of oak. Another nice Israeli Cabernet that shows like a California Cabernet.
Segal Cabernet Sauvignon Single Vineyard Kosher Kerem Dishon 2005 – Score: A-
The nose on this red garnet wine is screaming with oak, cassis, blackberry, raspberry, and tons of dark chocolate. This nose on this wine is really quite special, and in many ways its nicest feature. This full bodied wine coats your mouth with oak first and foremost, almost reminiscent of a California Cabernet. The mouth follows with blackberry and cassis. The mid palate is packed with acidity, more oak and softening tannins. The medium long finish is flush with oak, coffee, and chocolate. This is a fun wine and one well worth the cost.
Le Mourre de L’Isle Côtes du Rhône 2007 – Score: B+
The nose on this purple colored wine is filled with blackberry, cranberry, cloves, coffee, and initially hot. After it has enough air, about 1 to two hours, the nose cleans up, and a bit of oak is noticeable, along with black cherry and more cloves. The mouth on this dense and interesting, yet not so complex wine starts with layers of black cherry, followed by hints of blackberry and a sensation that can only be described as chicken cherry cola. The dense flavors roll into a soft and oaky mid palate. The finish is medium long with a trail of oak, pepper and coffee.
Cheese with Four Gates, Galil Rose, and Segal Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve
This past week we had a cheese and wine party with our friends from around the area. The evening started with a mixture of hard and soft cheeses. We had a plate of Asiago, Swiss, and Cheddar cheese. Another plate of Muenster, Baby Gouda, Monterey Jack, Brie, and Chive augmented cheese as well. We had a bowl or two of walnuts. Finally, we had a few plates of latkes that disappeared quickly upon arrival to the table from the oven, and a quiche that a friend brought by.
To match all this yummy stuff we opened two bottles of wine and some friends brought some wine as well (along with more cheese!). We opened two Four Gates Winery wines, a Pinot Noir and a Syrah. Our friends brought over a bottle of Galil Rose 2007, while another friend brought over a bottle of Segal Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve 2004. A VERY important note, the Galil and Segal wines were nice out of the bottle, but became really yummy a few hours after it was opened.
We wanted to thank all the guys that came on over to share our holiday cheer. The wine notes follow below.
Four Gates Pinot Noir N.V. – Score: A-
Our previous notes are holding quite nicely, but I wanted to add that the mouth on the wine this time tasted far more full bodied than before. The tannins are slowing down a tad, and allowing more of the fruit to show through, under the wine’s velvety covers.
Four Gates Syrah 2004 – Score: A-
Our previous notes are holding quite nicely, and this wine was not only the favorite of the evening, but it went exceptionally well with the Asiago.
Galil Mountain Rose 2007 – Score: B to B+
The nose on this vibrant pink colored wine was filled with grapefruit, raspberry, cherry, citrus, and floral notes. The nose is the true highlight of this wine. The mouth on this light to medium bodied wine is not very complex, but still a nice quaff. Raspberry hits you first, with wave after wave of acidity, citrus, and cloves. The finish is long with more acidity and spice. This is a truly acidic and citrus packed wine, with a bit of fruit to round out the wine.
Segal Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve 2004 – Score: B++
The nose on this dark garnet colored wine is packed with blackberry, cassis, raspberry, sage, mint, cherry, and oak. The nose was really nice and kept going and going, really nice. This full bodied and mouth coating wine starts with blackberry, cassis, sage, and mint. The mid palate has a nice acidic core with integrated tannins, and a touch of coffee. The finish is long with more coffee, oak, and integrated tannins. This is another nice wine for the buck.
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