As many have read on these pages, a few wine events have come and gone – with one last one happening today in NY, the City Winery event held in agreement with the Jewish Week and their kosher wine list for Passover. Not to throw the baby out with the bath water, but the list of wines that were chosen for winners this year, are fine and many that I really like, but I hope you all love the wines I have listed here too. As I walked around KFWE this year, and IFWF, and Gotham’s Kosher Wine Extravaganza, I was asked over and over for a simple list of great and reasonably priced kosher wines.

So, with two weeks before Passover – here is my list. A few caveats first, this is MY list! This is not a list that will make many happy. These wines are the wines that make me happy. No wines here would be considered over ripe, over sweet, or all over the place. The wines here are listed in the order of cost. That said, the top line wines – what I call Top Flight wines, are not defined by cost at all. In that list you can find a 2013 Yarden Sauvignon Blanc, one of the best kosher Sauvignon Blanc wines I have ever tested. At the same time the list includes some of the best high-end kosher wines I have ever tasted that go for $100 or so a bottle. The list of Top Flight wines, are ALL wines that I would buy without hesitation, no matter the cost (if I can afford it of course).

Passover is time of year when Jews buy the most wine, along with Rosh Hashanah, and the American New Year. That is why all the kosher wine events happened a month or two before the Passover festival. It gives the wineries and distributors a chance to showcase all their wines that each appeal to different market segments. So, no there are no sweet or semi-sweet baseline wines here. There are many very good 15 or so dollar bottles of wine, that can be bought at Skyview, Gotham, and all the other wine stores I have listed on the right hand side (as always I NEVER make money from them and I never know or care what people buy, the list is whom I buy wines from and so I can recommend them to others).

Also, the amount of money you spend does not define the value or quality of the wine. Take for example the 24 dollar Lewis Pasco Project #1 wine – a stunning wine that needs time or needs serious decanting, an insane wine that kills it for the price. Same goes for the Vignobles David Reserve or the Capcanes Peraj petita, and many others.

Seeing the list and checking it twice (could not help myself), I am sure there will be a question – what defines a wine as a Top Flight wine and why are there wines that are not on it? The Top Flight wines, is a list of wines that personally was wowed when tasting them. That does not mean that the Peraj Petita, as wonderful as it is may or may not compare to another wine on the 50 dollar and above list – that would not be fair. What it does mean was that when I tasted it, I was wowed, and I said this is a wine that everyone should get – no matter the price. In the end, this is not about which is better than the rest it is a way to whittle down the list of wines that I enjoyed from a massive set of thousands of kosher wines available here in America. That is why I made the list. In hindsight, I am sure I will have missed some wines, but you can be always look at the blog and if a wine you want is not on the list, by my omission, but scored an A- or higher, it was probably a good bet to have been on this list.

Finally, it is our custom to drink four cups of wine on Passover, but to power down these wines is far to hard for me. I rather decide to drink simple wines like the Tabor Via bubbly red, non mevushal wine. It is simple to chug, tasty, and perfectly fulfills the custom. For the main course, I am happy to open a Top Flight wine and enjoy that at a calm and enjoyable pace.

In the end, these are my picks, they are easy to find and in my opinion, really good. There is also the Jewish Week’s list and Yossie Horowitz (of Yossie’s Corkboard) also comes out with a list.

So there you have it – enjoy good kosher wine for a reasonable price and enjoy the Passover holiday for what it should be, which is enjoying time and our heritage with our families! Happy Passover to you all. Post what wine you will be enjoying, I would love to hear from you guys on what you will be drinking throughout the holiday!

Wines below 20 dollars:

2012/2013 Domaine Netofa White 2013 Domaine Netofa Rose (QPR) 2012 Domaine Netofa Red 2010 Barkan Pinotage, Special Reserve 2011 Barkan Cabernet Sauvignon, Winemaker’s Reserve 2012 Galil Viognier (un-oaked) – the one with not as nice 2012 Yarden Chardonnay, Odem Vineyard 2012 Recanati Chardonnay, reserve 2013 Recanati Yasmin Cab/Merlot (mevushal) 2013 Recanati Yasmin White (NOT mevushal) 2011 Weinstock Petite Sirah, cellar select (mad QPR) 2010 Weinstock Cabernet Franc, Cellar Select (mad QPR) 2010 Weinstock Zinfandel, Cellar Select 2012 Capcanes peraj petita (mevushal) (QPR) 2012 Capcanes peraj petita (non mevushal) (QPR) 2012 Tabor Sauvignon Blanc, Adama 2011 Tabor Shiraz, Adama 2009 Carmel Appellation Cabernet Franc 2012 Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2012 Goose Bay Fume Blanc (QPR) 2012 Goose Bay Chardonnay 2012 Baron Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso (QPR) (do not laugh 2012 is lovely!) 2011 Dalton Alma, Caberent and Merlot 2011 Dalton Petite Sirah (QPR) 2011/2012 Le Mourre De Lisle Cotes du Rhone(mevushal) (QPR) 2010 Chateau d’Arveyres (QPR) 2012 Beit El Carignan 2012 Tulip White Tulip 2013 Hagafen Sauvignon Blanc 2012 Don Ernesto Collage