This past week I had the privilege of attending a tasting given by Menachem Israelievitch of Royal Wine Corp. Menachem is the winemaker responsible for all of Royal’s French releases since the 2014 vintage – and until then served as assistant to his predecessor Pierre Miodownick. The man is super humble giving most of the credit to the incredible fruit and estates and winemakers he works with – but really, it takes a tremendous amount of skill to be able to manage this massive operation and produce SOOO many quality wines. I over the course of my KFWE tour I tasted (and enjoyed) all of the 2016 red releases repeatedly – but never really had time to sit down with any of them for a dedicated amount of time. So when I heard that Menachem was doing this tasting I was super excited. What I didn’t know is that 2 new French whites that he had told me about at KFWE were already bottled and would also be on deck for this tasting – these being tasted in their finished form for the first time by anyone but Menachem himself. What a treat!

The whites in question are made from neighboring appellations by the same producer – Domaine de Panquelaine which is part of the Vignerons Indépendants de France trade association which helps promote small independent producers. The appellations in question are Coteaux du Giennois and Sancerre. Sancerre needs no introduction, many kosher sancerres have been produced with the 2012 Roger Moreux Chavignol being my all time favorite Sauvignon Blanc. Coteaux du Giennois on the other hand was new to me . I don’t remember another kosher production. The appellation was only recognized in 1998. Much like it’s more famous and older Loire Valley neighbors, Sancerre and Pouilly Fume, Coteaux du Giennois is also made of 100% Sauvignon Blanc. SO tasting these neighboring appellations by the same producer would be interesting in it’s own right. Both of these are very nice – and mevushal. Having said that, I always wonder if the wines would have been even better had they not been made mevushal. Of course Mencahem has had success with making these small producer whites like the Les Marronniers Chablis mevushal. That wine is a QPR star and holds up nicely. The 2016 is drinking incredibly right now, so you never know.