In the world of Kosher wine, we are currently in the absolute most exciting part of the year. From January through March, the vast majority of this year’s wines are released so that they can be sold between Purim and Pesach. In order to sell these new releases to the stores and the consumers, a whole slew of events are held. In Israel, the 2 major events are the Sommelier Wine Expo and KFWE run by Royal’s distributor here in Israel – Zur. This year these events worked out to be a week apart and Moises Cohen of Elvi Wines which is distributed by Royal and Zur decided to be here for the entire week. That presented me with an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up and so I contacted Moises who graciously agreed to a tasting here in Israel. As all of the new releases were going to be tasted by most who would come at either of the 2 aforementioned events, I suggested maybe doing a vertical of something.Moises came through with not one but two verticals – and of 2 out of 3 of Elvi’s premium lines – Clos Mesorah and Herenza Rioja Reserva (the third being EL26)! To make things convinient, I asked my dear friend Simon Jacob if he could host at his home in Yemin Moshe in the heart of Yerushalayim (coming to me in Beit Shemesh would have been a schlep) and we were good to go.

Before I get to the wine specifics – which will be rather easy, and I’ll explain why – let me give some background on Elvi. Much has been written already and for broader write-ups you can see David Raccah’s blog or Yossie Horwitz’s. I will stick to the pieces of the story that are pertinent here. Dr. Moises Cohen and his family got into the wine business sort of by the back door. Moises and his family made Aliyah when Moises was in high school. Moises continued his studies eventually ending up at the Technion for a doctoral degree in Agricultural Engineering. I beleive he mentioned that he finished his degree or perhpas his practical requirement in Spain. He eventually ended up as a consultant to many excellent Spanish wineries as an agricultural engineer. Through this he started to gain a love for wine and wine-making and began producing wines for his family. Actually, Clos Mesorah, one of the Elvi’s premium labels, started as the “family wine” being produced only for personal consumption. The commercial enterprise began in the early aughts and has grown in size since.