• KFWE Miami 2025, a new venue is not always the best idea

    WIZO – Women’s International Zionist Organization is a worthy cause that hosts an annual KFWE (Kosher Food and Wine Extravaganza). KFWE is a Royal Wines idea for implementing Kosher Wine education. The event may appear on Royal Wine’s KFWE page, along with NYC/NJ and CA (which will return next year), but the Miami event is run by WIZO.

    KFWE Miami

    The KFWE Miami, which happened two weeks ago, on December 10th, 2025, was held at a new location, the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach. If we can start with the obvious, the event was moved from the longstanding location of the JW Marriott Turnberry Resort in Aventura. It had been there for about 5 years. Before that, it was a mix of the Gulfstream Park’s Sport of Kings Theater and the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood. Before we get to the food, wine, and such, we need to talk about the layout and the premises.

    I have been to all the locations, and I still think the JW was the best. It was the largest, though the racetrack was a bit larger, but poorly laid out. The Fontainebleau may have a bit more glitz on the outside, but inside, it pales in comparison to the JW’s staff and quiet elegance. Beyond that, the amount of available space and how it was used were big misses this year.

    Looking at the pictures above, you can see absurd crowding around the food options in the back aisle. Looking closely at the second picture, you can tell why. The space in the room was poorly used. The tables were laid out so there were three aisles instead of 5 or more. All that empty space was wasted, and it could have been used to manage crowds or to provide seating to enjoy the food and wines. Instead, it was literally used for a couple of screens, and that was it!

    This caused intense crowding in the back aisle, where all the California wines, M&M Wines, and other wines were being poured. This was a nuisance for the people who came to taste those wines and for those who wanted to enjoy the food options.

    The food setup was very much the same as in previous years, outside of the layout and locations. However, for the first time, in Miami, they seemed to be cooking food there on the premises. The smells were so strong, I had a SERIOUS issue smelling any wine. The food options were once again a miss, either overcooked or tasteless. The only reasonable option, food-wise, was the sushi, and the long lines proved it. Krudo continues to impress with their fish and flavors!

    I will stress that this event, year after year, seems to be well attended, and the people there seem very happy and enjoy their time. My points are more from a wine-tasting perspective and far less about the ambiance, noise, and food. If I were to comment on the event based on how most attendees saw it, I think they would agree that the layout needs to be fixed, but otherwise, they were all happy.

    Wines

    At the current time, there are just a few new 2023 French wines in the United States. Since the Miami event, a bunch more have arrived. However, what was poured at the event was current wines, at that time, given the logistics and travel times.

    Most of the wines were current, and the pouring process was done well. Regarding representation, Menahem Israelievitch was there to talk about French wines. Amichai Lourie from Shiloh Winery, along with Gad Elbaz (promoting his namesake wine), GAD from Shiloh Wineries. Roni Jesselson, President of Carmel Winery and Yatir Winery. Herzog Winery was represented by David Galzignato, Director of winemaking and operations, at Herzog Wine Cellars. Sagie Kleinlerer, Managing Director of Covenant Wines. Itamar Alperin, Export Manager. Alex Haruni and Shai Ghermezian from Dalton Winery and Allied Wines, respectively. Isaac Porzia for M&M Importers.

    If you were looking to be educated overall, I think they missed the opportunity, which was unfortunate, given that this is the only KFWE in the USA open to the public! Again, KWD will act as the Public KFWE going forward, but that does not excuse this oversight. IMHO, Miami is the next NY/NJ in terms of sales and prospective buyers.

    A few years ago, Jay Buchsbaum, the executive vice president of marketing and director of consumer education at Royal Wine, asked me to choose three wines I liked from the KFWE Miami event. Since that year, I have taken it upon myself to find good, new Israeli options, and once again, I was successful! As usual, I did so minus my usual crutches, like French and Italian wines from the usual suspects, and stuck to new to less-known wines. This was no easy task!

    Also, I tasted every Israeli wine at the event. There was one new Italian wine that I wanted to add to the list, but it showed very poorly at the event. In the end, my three winners for KFWE Miami 2025 are:

    So, for all intent and purpose, I tasted every wine at the event and these are the three I chose:

    1. 2023 Feldstein Roussanne, Galilee – Score: 92+
    2. 2023 Pinto Wadi Shualim, Negev – Score: 92
    3. 2024 Goose Bay Small Batch Pinot Noir, East Coast (M) – Score: 92
    4. 2024 Psagot Peak White, Judean Hills – Score: 91+ (Honorable Mention)
    5. 2024 1848 Orient White, 5th Generation, Galilee – Score: 91

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  • California Dreamin’ about more 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 vintages and a Herzog Event

    The last large post on California wines was at the beginning of 2025. Then life took over, and I have been dribbling posts out. It was time to get the next big California post out! This will not be a retrospective, like I did here. This will be more like the 2024 post I did here, covering the California wines I have recently enjoyed.

    It has been a long time since my last post, and I am a good 100 wines behind, at this point, so these next few posts will be short and to the point.

    In September, I got into my car and drove to Hagafen Winery. Covenant Winery sent me their samples. There are no new wines from Marciano Estates or Shadybrook Estates. I also had many wines shipped to me from Herzog and Shirah. I also went down to a large event at Herzog Wine Cellars and tasted all their new wines, more on that below. So, this is not as full a tasting of California wines as last time, but very close. This is NOT a list of available wines and scores for each of these wineries’ wines, but rather a set of tastings of what I have not yet had from these wineries. I have two Invei wines, too!

    The plan here is to list the wineries and their wines in the order I tasted them (since I did taste some wines more than once). As I stated before, Covenant continues to impress, as does Shirah, recently, with some of their new wines, which are pretty remarkable!

    Many thanks to each and every winery here for putting up with me and sharing their excellent wines.

    My overall feelings about the California 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 vintages

    Let us start with the facts: the 2021 vintage for California was the best I can remember. Yes, better than 2012 or 2014, and all around, everyone, and every winery came out with fantastic wines. Why? Because God gave each winery enough time to not screw it up, and even when they wanted to screw it up, he made sure they could not! DONE! Look, God gave them a raw deal in 2020, across the state – and we all know it! So, in 2021, he made up for it in spades (whatever that means)!

    The 2021 vintage stood out in BOTH the Mevushal and non-Mevushal wine categories. For white and red wines. It was a shockingly good season all around, and everyone came out smelling like roses!

    Fast forward to 2022, and yeah, things were quite different! The wines are classic Cali ripe, and while that works for some, I prefer my wines balanced and focused.

    The 2023 vintage is looking good, but the REAL focus here is on the non-Mevushal wines! The Mevushal wines are showing success, but side-by-side with their non-Mevushal counterparts, they are paling in comparison. Add to that, scale and winery focus, and I am finding some REAL steals in 2023 and 2024! Read the notes, but focus primarily on the non-Mevushal wines in 2023, IMHO!

    The 2024 vintage is a bit early to call. So far, I have found the white wines lovely, and some of the reds have exceeded my expectations. The vintage was smoking hot; I live here, so I would know. However, some wineries managed this by picking earlier, using water in the vineyards or in the wine, or improving canopy management. The intense heat waves came at the end of the very hot summer, but there were some cooler times in between. In the end, time will tell, but what I have enjoyed so far, and posted here, shows promise!

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  • The 2025-2026 kosher wine-tasting event season is upon us

    KFWE has been around in NYC since 2007, and it keeps evolving. The Los Angeles version was initially called the International Food and Wine Festival (IFWF). It started in 2008. Neither of the KFWEs (NYC/NJ or LA) is the oldest kosher wine-tasting event; that would be the now-defunct Gotham Kosher Wine Extravaganza. Sadly, they stopped hosting those tastings; such is life. Their first one ran from 2004 to 2014. In 2015, the first year that the IFWF became the West Coast KFWE, David Whittemore and the gang from Herzog Winery pulled out all the stops and created what I still think was the best KFWE, with the first-ever VIP session, which was copied in almost every KFWE version, and hey, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” I was sad to see the L.A. KFWE move from the Petersen Automotive Museum, where it had been for three years, in 2016, 2017, and 2018. However, the 2019 and 2020 KFWE L.A. at the Palladium were freaking EPIC. Then we had COVID and no in-person events for 2021, though the innovative approach with those bottles, while flawed, was a hit. Today, Herzog is sending their club members a better version of those tiny bottles, which looks really cool! Followed by a KFWE – Jr in NJ, which I reviewed here. Then, the whole gamut of KFWE in 2023 is also reviewed here. The 2024 KFWE turned into a different beast; you can see my comments here.

    As I have pounded on and on in these virtual pages, we need more wine education, and the wine education leader, IMHO, is also the kosher wine 800-pound guerilla, Royal Wines. Recently, I quickly checked my mind of the top kosher wineries or kosher wine runs worldwide, and Royal probably imports about 85% of them. Sure, there are tons of wineries they do not import, but they are also not wines I mainly buy and covet. It is just a fascinating fact, in my opinion. It is somewhat scary but also very telling. Here is a wine distributor and importer that gets what sells and what does not, has successfully found the better options out there, and keeps adding more.

    Remember, once again, KFWE will be open to the wine trade ONLY in the USA. KFWE in London and Miami are the only ones open to the public. KWD will return in 2026 for their third run, but links are not yet available. I will add them to this post as they become available. KFWE LA is NOT returning this year, sadly.

    Overall, I think Florida needs more from Royal. The Wizo event is run by Wizo for the benefit of Wizo, and it is a worthy cause, indeed! However, I think Royal Wines should ensure more winemakers from their wineries participate in this event. Florida is becoming too large a buying public and is only growing! Given this is the ONLY publicly accessible KFWE in the USA, the event can be improved. To start, have a short trade event two hours earlier. This will enhance winery representation, benefiting both the trade and the public. It needs better food options and a bit more marketing punch by Royal. Then, we are looking at a killer event and a winning opportunity for Royal Wines.

    2026 KFWE – Kosher Food and Wine Experience (KFWE)

    Two years ago, I initially had serious doubts about the changes surrounding the Kosher Food and Wine Event (KFWE). Gone was the public access to KFWE. Throw in the fact that there was no European KFWE (London) in 2024, nor a Tel Aviv option, and I thought this was a bad idea.

    Fast-forward to 2025, and I rewrote my thoughts regarding the 2024 Wine Tasting events. I still think the lack of a 2024 KFWE in Europe (London/Paris) or Tel Aviv was a mistake, and thankfully, that has been rectified this year, at least for London. As of this moment, London KFWE is open to the public, but we have no word yet on Tel Aviv.

    When I first wrote this last year, I was worried about the lack of public access to wine education. Miami continues to excel, as it is open to the public, but at the same time, we have always had issues with the KFWE in the USA. The KFWE has always been very crowded, and the public was not allowed to appreciate the wines. As I wrote in my closing thoughts on wine tastings, this new approach may work well. It will depend on whether more events like KWD step up to fill the gap. For now, KWD is the only kosher wine tasting open to the public in 2026, and that was not the idea! Thankfully, this year’s timing is MUCH better than last year’s. First, we are not facing a Sunday Super Bowl; they finally decided to look at the NFL schedule. Also, as there is no KFWE in LA, wineries will be able to fully make both events (KWD and KFWE) and still promote wines in the NY/NJ area. This would have been the PERFECT year for the return of the Jewish Link Kosher Wine Festival. Sadly, that’s not in the cards this year either! So, we are looking at diminished public access and limited wine education opportunities. Which makes no sense when the VERY THING that the millennial and Gen Z need more than anything at a time like this, is more wine education!

    Sadly, the KFWE London/Europe event needs to be a week later due to Wine Paris, a massive event that wineries all need to attend.

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  • France, May 2025 – Part 2 – IDS – Short, but very sweet…

    As always, one of the highlights of my trips to France is our visit to IDS. For a number of years, I used to make a single trip in November, as this is when Royal released their wines – and with all due respect to everyone else, no one produces as much wine with such consistent levels of quality as Royal. So, November each year it was. But, while I was making annual trips in November, David Raccah of Kosher Wine Musings. who always organizes everything for all of these visits, was making an additional yearly trip in May – and this is when he would usually taste the IDS wines as they release a few months later than Royal. Therefore, when we would get there together in November, he had already tasted a bunch of stuff – and I would miss out.  I corrected this mistake a few years ago – and if there was ever a reason to justify a second trip, this was the visit. 2022 was a special vintage with some truly awesome wines produced – but the top of the heap, perhaps the GOAT, is the 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte. My notes for that are below, but while tasting, I noticed something that I had ignored each time I had tasted an SHL -there is QR code on each bottle that attests to its authenticity. Each bottle has a unique code – and each case lists the bottles contained therein.

    There is a time stamp showing when the bottle was activated and a separate timestamp on the case showing when the case in question was packed. This is something that has been going on for the kosher releases as far back as 2009. And if you look at the results, the kosher releases are given unique trackers – in other words, the inventory is carefully managed down to the bottle.  In the kosher world, I believe this is unique to SHL and just shows you how much the brand puts into making sure its customers – kosher included – are getting the quality product they expect. Anyhow, enough wine-geekery – though I can say, if there was ever a wine that deserved high-end inventory control and tracking, it’s this one. On top of the SHL we have wonderful showings from Château Lafon Rochet (a QPR superstar especially in France) and Domaine de Chevalier. We only tasted six wines in total (one of which was not an IDS wine and so is not included here but will be included in my next post) – so this visit was relatively short, but super sweet! Here are the notes:

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  • France, May 2025 – Part 1 – Royal

    Sorry this post is so late – but I have been travelling for work, wine, and family on and off since May – and then of course there were the holidays. I hope to catch up quickly now with at least the May France posts coming out in quick succession. As always, when I do these tastings in France, I do them together with my buddy David Raccah of Kosher Wine Musings who really does all of the work in terms of setting things up with everyone (he is a French speaker after all). Thanks buddy!

    This trip to France was a three-parter for me – first was three days of work, then a few days in Paris with my wife Michal – and then four days of tasting with David. Altogether it was almost two weeks – which is a long time for me. David only got to France in the early afternoon Monday, which meant we started the hotel tastings that day and that’s it. Our first day outside of the hotel was Tuesday, and we started as we often do visiting Menachem Israelievitch of Royal to taste through the new whites and rosés of the season. As always, I have stress, there is no one who is producing in quantity with the consistency and quality of Royal. Period. This year is no different.

    In total we tasted 31 wines. Of the rosés, while obviously there were some favorites, they were all wines I would drink happily. On the whites there were maybe two out of fourteen that I would likely pass on – but even there, the lowest score was an 87. Some of the whites are absolute QPR superstars IMHO, and one is a must have. The reds were the only weak spot – and these are the lower end – not really meant to be the stars of the show. There was really only one wine there (Trijet) that worked for me. It’s very hard to follow a vintage like 2022 – but it does look like these are rough vintages – time will tell.

    Here are the notes:

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  • A Royal Wine tasting in NYC featuring some serious QPR WINNERS!

    Last week, I found myself in the JFK/Queens area for the first time in my life for longer than a few hours. I was there for the wonderful Bar Mitzvah of my Nephew, and it was a great time to meet up with my family and friends. Most of the time, JFK is a way in or a way OUT of NYC. This time, it was the gateway for my entire trip, and I would not be surprised if that continues in some proportion going forward.

    Anyway, while I was there, I took it upon myself to buy my own wines because the timing was too tight and I could not get to NJ and get back. I was in NY for essentially three days, and I worked two of them. So, yeah, it was fun and hectic, and YES, the best part was Shabbat and the Bar Mitzvah, but I made sure to taste some wines.

    Wine Tasting

    Zev Steinberg was kind enough to pick up the phone and call me – we seem to have issues when typing over WhatsApp – a story for another time! After a short conversation, I worked the phones, WhatsApp, and many other communication tools, and thankfully, I was able to corral the wines I thought were possible. The shocker would be a bit later in the evening!

    My job was to get all the new wines that Royal had brought in from France and from South Africa. So, I got:

    • 2025 ESSA Altira
    • 2024 Baron de Mamour Chenin Blanc
    • 2024 Baron de Mamour Pouilly-Fume
    • 2024 Baron de Mamour Pinot Noir
    • 2022 Marchesi Fumeanelli Terso Vento Bianco
    • 2021 Cascina Minot Langhe Nebbiolo
    • 2023 Le Comte de Malartic Blanc
    • 2023 Chateau Malartic Blanc

    I tried to get the Gazin Blanc, but it slipped through my fingers. In the end, I was able to get what I could from Midwood Wine Merchants. I am not promoting things here for the sake of a dollar. It was very challenging to obtain the Baron de Mamour wines, which had just been released, along with the rest of the Malartic white wines (there are three), and the two Italian wines. My tight schedule and insane timing meant I had to PUSH people/stores to try to get the wines from Royal, and thankfully, the Midwood guys came through! Midwood also sent me a bottle of 2023 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Aera, North Coast.

    Zev brought the 2023 Chateau Gazin Rocquencourt Blanc, and ALL the Arnaud Burgundies, more on that in a bit, and a VERY special wine – the 2021 L’interdit de Valandraud! Just a crazy wine indeed! Very unique, and while many think it is a 100% Cabernet Franc wine, in reality, it is a blend. It shares the distinction of being my highest-scoring 2021 Bordeaux wine, along with the 2021 Chateau Marquis d’Alesme Becker and the 2021 Chateau La Gaffeliere.

    Finally, MS brought a lovely bottle of the 2019 Domaine Roses Louise, Pomerol. Then Zev brought out a bottle of the 2020 Echo de Roses Camille, Pomerol! It was quite the evening!

    Arnaud Baillot Burgundies

    Arnaud Baillot has been making wines since 2017, when he bought his first vineyard. That soon expanded when he bought even more plots, and slowly he expanded to many more regions with Burgundy. He is one of those up-and-coming, rising stars within the region, and it is great that we are getting more Kosher Burgundy options.

    In the first Kosher vintage from Arnaud Baillot, Royal made five red Burgundies: Bourgogne Hautes-Cotes-de-Beaune, Monthelie, Savigny-les-Beaune, Beaune Premier Cru, and Volnay. What was very interesting was the opportunity to taste a red Monthelie; we have already tasted a kosher White Monthelie. The Savigny-les-Beaune is also new in Kosher. The other sub-regions have existing and successful iterations of those grapes.

    I really need to shout out Zev and Royal for making these wines available to us! Thanks!

    Tasting

    I have kept names out of this post, other than Zev, because he works in the business, and that is fair game. The others are regular folks like me. That being said, the host for the event was terrific – and I thank him for the wonderful home, atmosphere, and good nature. Anyone who hosts me for a tasting understands that things need to be orderly and professional, to whatever extent it can be. This host went beyond, and I really appreciate that! That being said, good lord was it a long tasting, but it was a TON OF FUN!

    Well, with that, I will let the wine notes talk for themselves. We did retaste the wines twice, but it is not the same as tasting the wine over a day. For example, the Chateau Malartic Blanc really came into its own after a few hours. In some ways, other wines moved in the wrong direction after a few hours as well. All of this is compiled, and the final scores reflect the final state of the wines we tasted.

    The wine notes are listed below in the order in which they were tasted. The explanation of my “scores” can be found here , and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

    2025 ESSA Altira, Elgin – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is lovely, bright, effusive, with white peach, grapefruit, saline, smoke, and lovely brightness. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is lovely; the acidity is off the charts, the complexity is not as pronounced as in previous vintages, and the notes of peach, grapefruit, and melon are on point, with lovely tension and a deeply refreshing finish. The finish is long, tart, refreshing, and fruity, with lovely saline and a lovely bite. Drink by 2027. (tasted August 2025) (in New York, NY) (ABV = 13.5%)

    2024 Baron de Mamour Chenin Blanc, IGP Val de Loire (M) – Score: 91+ (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is classic with Chenin notes of smoke, grass, straw, hay, and yellow peach, very nice, but a bit simple. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine has excellent acidity, great attack, good fruit, nice hay, smoke, and lovely gooseberry, grapefruit, honeysuckle, and honeyed peach – lovely! The finish is long, dry, with ripe fruit, smoke, and hay, lovely! Drink by 2027. (tasted August 2025) (in New York, NY) (ABV = 11.5%)

    2024 Baron de Mamour Pouilly-Fume, Pouilly-Fume (M) – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is lovely, classic Pouilly Fume, crazy good, with rich smoke, flint, intense minerality, ripe fruit, intense citrus notes, good nectarines, honeysuckle, orange, and funk. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is smoky, tart, and acidic, with incredible honeysuckle, grapefruit, orange, nectarines, great smoke, funk, and crazy acidity. Bravo! The finish is long, tart, smoky, with intense minerality, flint, and rock. Bravo! Drink by 2028. (tasted August 2025) (in New York, NY) (ABV = 13%)

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  • Hotel Wine tastings – the final tastings from my trip to Paris – May 2025

    As stated in my previous post, I was in Paris in Late May, with Avi Davidowitz from Kosher Wine Unfiltered. This trip was not about numbers, but rather about sheer logistics. The number of boxes across the number of hotels was more than I wished for! Of course, this was totally self-inflicted, as Avi was coming in for business the week before, and I was juggling too much at home. In the end, it was a far more relaxing trip, as the sheer number of wines was more in the 40s than the usual 60 or 80 wines. A lot of that can be blamed on the number of 2024 or new 2023 wines on the market – there are just ZERO new wines out there. There are loads of old 2022 and 2023 roses in the stores in Paris, and the same can be said for older whites and reds. Wines are not moving, and as such, there was less new stuff to taste.

    Two years ago, we had some 80 wines; this May, we were at 40+ wines. There were a few wines that Avi missed, and a few I wished he was able to see evolve, but that is the game as we know it!

    The wines were tasted in classic region/style order: Rosés, whites, Wines from Spain and Italy, a single Burgundy, Bordeaux/Blend wines, and I think that is it.

    Rose Wines

    We had a total of 10 Roses, and there was just one 2024 Rose in the stores. The rest of the wines came from a combination of Mercier Wines, Capcanes Winery, Terra di Seta Winery, and Taieb wines. The hands-down best Rose I had so far this year is locked away in Paris, and that is the 2024 ChaĚ‚teau Sainte Roseline Lampe de MĂ©duse – Cru ClassĂ© RosĂ©. This is the first time I have tasted this wine, and it was clean, controlled, and refreshing. That is a wine to BUY lots of for the summer.

    I have often posted about Taieb wines, and if you want to read the whole background, read the first post I made here.

    The 2024 Cave D’Esclans Whispering Angel and the 2024 ChaĚ‚teau Sainte Roseline Lampe de MĂ©duse – Cru ClassĂ© RosĂ© are the two Rose WINNERS from the tasting. The 2024 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Rosado was a solid wine, along with the N.V. Summer Ice Rose.

    White Wines

    We tasted through a lot of white wines. One of them I brought from the USA for Avi to taste was the 2023 Alex Rubin Arinto. That is a wine that I posted about earlier and one that Avi loved as much as I did. The 2023 Chevalier De Marmorieres Blanc was a shocking WINNER find along with the always enjoyable Herenza White. I have no idea why the Herenza White doesn’t move well in the USA; I have no idea! Folks buy a few and try.

    On a slight rant, I will start with the positives, thankfully, we have more kosher white wine available now than ever before, PERIOD! However, what is clear is that the kosher-buying public has made Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay their next Cabernet Sauvignon! I am happy you are all starting to enjoy white wines – finally! But good Lord, there are OTHER white wines out there! As stated, I am firmly on the ABC train, outside of a few Cali and France. Sauvignon Blanc is a wonderful grape and please ignore EVERYTHING that Avi says to the contrary, it is not his fault, he has issues with good wine!

    Now, all I see is that white wines that are not Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc linger on physical or virtual shelves. Thankfully, most of you get Riesling, almost. But that is it! You guys killed the only good Albarino from Ramon Cardova because you all refused to buy it! The Herenza is the same, and this wine is 30 to 40 percent Sauvignon Blanc! OK, I’ll give up and stop my rant here! TRY OTHER white wines – please!

    The rest of them are wines that you can try and see if you like.

    Italian and Spanish Wines

    Overall, the red wines were split between Italy/Spain and Burgundy/Bordeaux. However, the hands-down leader in QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) WINNER scores was Spain and Italy. Spain and Italy had 12 wines, and 7 of them won the QPR score of WINNER.

    I must be honest here, I drove everyone crazy! Moises at ElviWines, Jurgen at Capcanes Wine Cellars, and Daniele at Terra di Seta. All of them were very kind to send us samples. The cool thing is, we got to taste Terra di Seta wines long before they appear on the USA shores, or at least before they are released for sale. The same can be said for Elvi Wines; we tasted yet unreleased wines here in the USA. Finally, the Capcanes wines may be released, but either way, they are solid. Our sincere thanks to all of them for taking the time and sharing their excellent work with us!

    The seven QPR WINNERS were the

    • 2022 Elvi Wines Adar
    • 2022 Elvi Wines Herenza, Crianza
    • 2023 Capcanes Peeraj Ha’abib
    • 2021 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Riserva
    • 2021 Terra Di Seta Guiduccio
    • 2022 Elvi Wines El26
    • 2019 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Assai, Gran Selezione (which Avi did not taste).

    The 2022 EL26 was another stunning Grenache-based red wine, and I cannot say it enough, Elvi is crushing it over and over and over again! The Adar is a lovely Mevushal option that is not sold here in the USA, though it sells nicely in Israel. The 2022 Elvi Herenza Crianza is equally impressive.

    Terra di Seta has once again released some lovely new wines, but they will not be available in the USA for a bit. The 2021 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Riserva is beautiful, along with the 2021 Terra Di Seta Guiduccio, which shows more refined than the 2020 Guido. Finally, the wine that Avi did not taste, the 2019 Terra di Seta Chianti Classico, Assai, Gran Selezione, is mind-blowing! Pure mushroom and soy sauce heaven.

    A single Burgundy and Bordeaux Wines

    As is familiar with our hotel wines, they open slowly and they are very hard to get a grip on until we are almost on a plane home. I have no idea why this is the case; it feels like it is the curse of the hotel, but we have stayed in different hotels, and the theme remains the same. Also, this phenomenon happens ONLY with Bordeaux wines. The rest of the red wines we taste and the whites open as we expect. The 2020 and 2021 Chateau Olivier Blanc are wines that took 6 days to come around. The 2023 Chateau de Rayne Vigneau Grand Vin Blanc Sec took 6 days to open! I have no idea, no explanation. I am not a chemist, and I am not going to speculate. What I will state is FACT! Wines we taste in the hotel room, for reasons unexplained, just take a LONG time to come around.

    So, it was NO surprise when the main wines we were looking forward to tasting went silent for three days. The 2022 Château Angelus Carillon de l’AngĂ©lus was closed for four or more days. The 2022 Relais de La Dominique was literally red water for three days. The 2022 Chateau Haut Condissas Prestige was an open book from the start. The 2022 Château Tour Baladoz was closed for two or more days. The 2022 Chateau Haut Brisson may have been the WORST of the bunch – changing over four days from red water to a lovely wine. The 2022 Chateau du Courneau was there and available from the start! The 2022 Vieux Chateau Chambeau Reserve was as open as the time I had it in San Jose. I bought it to make sure that Avi tasted it.

    The TRUE SHOCKER was the 2022 Chateau Rocher Gardat! Yes, you have a good memory. We tasted this wine back in 2024. However, my memory isn’t as good, so when I am walking around Paris, I buy what I see. Turns out it was indeed a wine we had tasted and given time to come around, and it never did. HOWEVER, this time, the wine was a shocking WINNER! It showed incredible acidity, pop, and fruit structure, and for the price, GOOD LORD, that is a clear WINNER for Bokobsa! The joy of a feeble mind when in Paris!

    In case you were wondering there were four QPR WINNER wines. I will leave it up to you to guess, or you can look below. One of them should be STUPID obvious, the other two, not so much, but hey, that is the joy of wine!

    The rest of the wines were average and available, but not exciting.

    Where can you buy these wines?

    The Taieb wines will find their way to the USA through a menagerie of importers. Those include Liquid Kosher, Kosher Wine, and Victor Wines, which I continue to be baffled at where these wines actually sell, outside of Florida! The Elvi wines are already available in the USA. The Capcanes Cellar wines are already here. The Terra di Seta wines are now available in the USA, but their release will be delayed until the current stock is depleted. Then you have the Mercier Wines, none of which are here, I think. The 2022 Chateau Haut Brisson, 2023 Chateau Angelus Tempo d’Angelus, and the 2022 Château Angelus Carillon de l’AngĂ©lus are either available in the USA or on their way; I’m not sure. I saw a bottle on social media, but we can’t be sure if it’s actually here or was brought in by hand.

    The 2022 Vieux Chateau Chambeau Reserve is readily available in the USA,

    The Mercier wines will find their way here once the previous vintages are sold. As for the rest of the wines, I have no idea!

    As always, the 2022 Pavillon de Leoville Poyferre is the Non-Mevushal version of the wine, and is only available in France, the UK, and Israel. We bought it because we couldn’t get a tasting of it – sadly, it didn’t show any better than its Mevushal version.

    I have no idea what is going on with all the 2022 Rollan de By wines. These were all made by Taieb, but for some reason, they are not being imported into the USA, and they are hard to find in France, as well. The Condissas is a clear WINNER, but that only helps if you can find it!

    Thoughts on this tasting

    OK, so overall, this tasting was great! This was better than previous tastings because the 2022 vintage has shown far better than I originally imagined, unlike other hotel wine tastings. Of the 40+ wines that we tasted, 31 of them garnered scores that would be acceptable to most people. That is a great showing! 31 of 40+ wines! Good stuff! Still, Kosher plonk exists in spades in all regions of the world! The USA may have the largest availability to them, but Paris is not far behind!

    Regarding other wines from France that people will ask me about, the answer is that we tried. We sent out emails and received initial responses, but all subsequent follow-up emails were directed to the Spam Bucket. Sometimes, I wonder if French people hate us Americans! Anyway, the winning lineup is impressive and holds wines that you should be buying. I sure will! There are a couple of wines that were not in that picture, but the scores will make clear they deserved to be there. The issue was that one wine was not delivered until after Avi left, and the others improved after that time as well. So, like I said, these wines take time to come around.

    Before I forget – Avi took all the pictures from this trip, so if you dislike them, blame him. If you love them, disregard the previous sentence! Thanks, buddy!! Thankfully, this time we got all the wine pictures!

    Finally, 100% of the deliveries were to the hotel this time. I have essentially stopped bothering my man Ari Cohen, AKA El-Presidente of Bakus Wines. He has essentially become totally AWOL on our trips. I think the more I go to Paris, the less I get to see him – maybe I am finally becoming a Parisian! Thanks for all the help, as always, buddy!

    The wine notes follow below in the order that they were tasted. The explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

    2023 Jean-Philippe Marchand Aloxe Corton, Sous Chaillots, Aloxe Corton – Score: 92 (QPR: GOOD)The nose of this wine is solid, with pomegranate, dried cranberry, plum, cherry, rich smoke, roasted herbs, minerality, and red floral notes. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely; it is ripe, not candied, more like a Pommard or Volnay, with incredible acidity, nice balance, along with layers of ripe and juicy pomegranate, dried cranberry, tart and juicy Bing cherry, all wrapped in mouth-draping tannin, rich smoke, and lovely roasted herbs. The acidity, juicy fruit, and smoke take center stage. Bravo! The finish is long, ripe, balanced with smoke, ripe, tart, and juicy fruit, with floral notes, and bitter mint flavor. Bravo! Drink by 2030, maybe longer; it feels missing in the tannin. (tasted May 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

    2024 Elvi Wines Vina Encina Tinto, La Mancha (M) – Score: 82 (QPR: EVEN)The nose of this wine is a bit too ripe and shows more like a Beaujolais than a Tempranillo. Showing candied lifesaver and blue fruit. The mouth of this light-bodied wine is ripe, candied, without the acidity it needs, but it has fruit that is candied and is a bit green as well. Drink by 2025. (tasted May 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

    2022 Elvi Wines Adar, Ribera del Jucar (M) – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is ripe, but more controlled than previous vintages, with nice minerality, smoke, soy sauce, and roasted meat aromas. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is ripe, and the acidity is great, with notes of soy sauce, sweet oak, blackberry, plum, nice graphite, soft tannin, and roasted herb. The finish is long, ripe, and candied, yet balanced with acidity, featuring notes of charcoal, sweet vanilla, roasted meat, and soy sauce. Drink by 2027. (tasted May 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 13%)

    2022 Elvi Wines Herenza, Crianza, Rioja – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is nice, showing good acidity, pop, tart fruit, loads of smoke, intense sweet dill, hickory, ripe fruit, nice coffee, and umami. The mouth of this full-bodied wine is lovely. There is nice sweet oak, but the wine is balanced, with great acidity and smoke. At first, it is closed, but with time, it reveals blackberry, plum, and dark cherry flavors, along with a smooth mouthfeel, fine tannin, and lingering smoke. The finish is long, ripe, and balanced, with more sweet oak, intense sweet dill, lovely vanilla, and deep loam. Nice!! Drink by 2028. I think this vintage will not last as long. (tasted May 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 14%)

    2023 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib, Montsant – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)This is a return to what I liked about Peraj Ha’abib in the past: smoky, dirty, earthy, charcoal, and tar-driven wine, with nice red and blue fruit. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine, with ripe blackberry, plum, juicy boysenberry, smoke, tar, charcoal, intense tannin, and layers of fruit that come at you, and yet you are almost refreshed – an intense experience that has the bracing acidity to pull it all off. The finish is long, spicy, with smoke, cloves, vanilla, cinnamon, and more tar and charcoal. Bravo! Drink until 2030. (tasted May 2025) (in Paris, France) (ABV = 15%)

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  • IDS tasting of current releases in Paris – Late May 2025

    As stated, I was in Paris in May, and the second tasting I had on the trip was at the offices of Les Vin IDS. This post, like many of the other Parisian posts that are not yet posted, is horribly behind. My sincere apologies to Ben Uzan and the IDS team. So, without further ado – the tasting! Oh, and yes, Avi Davidowitz, from Kosher Wine Unfiltered, finally made a trip to Paris in May! Congrats, my man!

    Le Vin IDS Wines

    As is customary, I ask Ben to open the windows to air out the room as soon as I enter, as the smell of tobacco ash is always insufferable. I understand France is one of the last few advanced nations in the world where smoking is still a thing. I have never tolerated it; the smell makes me retch, so Ben is always so kind to air out the room before we begin tasting his excellent wines.

    Before entering, I knew there were at least two wines we were tasting, but thankfully, there were five, four of them from Bordeaux. I am not sure if these wines are in the USA yet, but I am sure they will be very soon!

    Two “White Wine” and a blind red wine

    This is the second vintage of the 2024 Tokaj-Hetszolo Sarga Muskotaly. To me, this one was less ripe, more balanced, and had lovely acidity to make it all work. The price in France is a no-brainer, while here in the USA, it is a solid choice.

    The next White wine was the 2022 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, a lovely wine, layered and expressive, still, a slight step behind the 2021. That said, it is a wine for holding, and I think the acidity I crave will come out after the fruit and oak calm down.

    It was followed by a blind tasting of a red wine, and I was unimpressed with it – the first time I had it, and I continue to be unimpressed by it at this time, as well. It was the 2017 Le Petit Trianon. It feels as hollow and empty as the first time I had it.

    Red Wines

    After that, we tasted three of the most highly anticipated wines of the 2022 vintage. The 2022 Chateau Lafon-Rochet, followed by the 2022 Domaine de Chevalier, and then the 2022 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte.

    These wines all met and matched the elevated expectations we had for them. They showed the ripeness that the 2022 Bordeaux vintage is now famous for, but they also showed incredible balance and acidity. The Chevalier, like the Blanc, didn’t quite show the acidic pop I hoped for, but I am sure that will come with time. The Lafon Rochet and Smith Haut Lafitte both showed incredible balance and pop.

    Now, if there was one wine I was asked to share the notes for early, for all the wines we tasted in Paris, on this trip, it would have to be the 2022 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte. I must admit that when tasting the Lafon Rochet, we knew, essentially, what we were going to get: a crazy good wine for the price, with loads of potential. However, when the 2022 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte was poured, it reminded me of when I tasted the 2019 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte, blind, with a bunch of other people. The room went absolutely silent; you could hear yourself thinking. It was intense. This was a wine that showed everything to you at once, and yet did it in elegance and control. Notwithstanding, it could have used a dollop more control, but in the end, it may well be the best Kosher wine I have ever tasted.

    In comparison, the 2009 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte is a wine I haven’t had in a few years, but it is a beast without the restraint and acidity of the 2022. That wine came in at 14% ABV, and that was insane back then. The 2022 comes in at 15% and while it is more balanced, it still has to contend with all that fruit. The 2022 does not come across as hedonistic as the 2009 did. The 2009 felt fat and heavy and yet almost balanced. The 2022 is balanced, but the pop I crave, at that level, demands more. So, when you look at the 2022 price and say, “How can that be so expensive?” look at the 2009 price, even back in 2010, when Kosherwine.com was run by a very different outfit. They brought the wine in and charged an ungodly amount of money, back then, all on the back of the 100-point score Parker gave it in his heyday!

    Back then, the 2009 Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte would have set you back 180 dollars. According to inflation numbers, $180 in 2010 is now worth approximately $270, and there were cheaper options, still. Well, that will get you most of the way there if you buy the wine in France. At this point, due to various issues, the wines we tasted in May have not yet arrived; time will tell when they will reach these shores.

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  • Dalton Winery Visit – January 2025

    Note – This article was written prior to the recent war with Iran – which even further delayed its release. Of course, with the war’s successful resolution and a return to normalcy, it remains as relevant as ever – and hopefully with a return of regular flights into Israel, we will see an increase in wine tourism!

    Since October 7th, it has been difficult to write about wine in general. At first it seemed totally frivolous – and I really didn’t write for months. Additionally, Israeli wineries were having a super tough time – in the North due to the fact that MANY wineries were in firing range from Lebanon – and to a somewhat lesser extent in the south (missile range of the Hamas terrorists was shorter that the Hezbollah terrorists – and there are simply far fewer wineries in the south than in the North). But no matter where they were located, wineries were going through a tough time. In the north, just completing the vinification of the ’23 vintage was an issue. And ’24 was no easier, as there the harvest took place during a peak in hostilities. Let’s not even talk about the lack of tourism during this period – not just external (due to a lack of flights) – but regular internal Israeli wine tourism all but ceased. It was simply too dangerous.

    For me, as I usually contain reviews of the wines I taste – and NEVER wanting to be not truthful, I decided it was simply better to not post reviews about specific bottles – outside of the context of perhaps a specific occasion (an RCC – or picking wines for the Seder – where for the most part (especially in the case of the seder), I am writing about wines that I have  selected, and therefore the notes would be positive. I certainly did not want to be put in the position of giving a critique of Israeli wines – not now. They have enough on their collective plates – and who am I to open my mouth. For me, it was simply safer to avoid the topic altogether and generally send out supportive posts about buying Israeli wine.

    But, in November of 2024, a ceasefire in the North was finally reached – and that meant a return to normalcy – to a degree – for the wineries up north. While there are still far too few flights due to the Houthi problem – internal wine tourism has certainly picked up, though slowly. I felt that, rather than simply tasting through a bunch of wines and providing notes, it would be nice to actually support local tourism and write a few posts about the wineries themselves – with a spotlight on how they dealt with the current situation. Within this context of wine education, I feel no qualms about including wines that I think highlight what makes the winery special !

    First on my list was Dalton Winery. Throughout the conflict, I found owner Alex Haruni’s posts (mostly on LinkedIn) downright inspiring. They was a mix of resiliency, dedication, and urgency that really shined a light on what people and businesses in the north were experiencing on  a  day-to-day basis just a stones through from the daily bombardments across the border with Lebanon.

    Just a brief history before we go on – especially as Dalton is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year! Dalton Winery, located in the heart of the Upper Galil in Northern Israel, is a celebrated name in the world of wine. Founded in 1995 by the Haruni family, the winery has grown from humble beginnings into a beacon of quality and innovation in Israeli winemaking. Situated at an altitude of about 800 meters above sea level, the unique terroir of the region is characterized by its rich volcanic soil and a climate that balances warm days and cool nights.. Over the years, Dalton Winery has gained a reputation for producing a diverse range of premium wines, including rich reds, elegant whites, and refreshing rosés, each reflecting the distinctive characteristics of the Galil region.

    Alex Haruni, the owner of Dalton Winery, has been the driving force behind its success. With a deep passion for wine and a commitment to excellence, Alex has transformed Dalton into a leading name in the Israeli wine industry. His vision extends beyond mere winemaking; he has fostered a culture of innovation, sustainability, and community involvement. It is quite evident upon visiting that the Harunis have invested a great deal in keeping the winery up to date – across the board – from the winemaking vessels to the bottling and boxing.

    Guy Eshel, the talented winemaker at Dalton Winery, brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the team. With a background in viticulture and oenology, and his attention to detail, Guy has been able to create wines that are both expressive and balanced.

    Dalton has embraced modern winemaking techniques while staying true to traditional methods. The result is a commercial winery that aims to service the Israeli market and the kosher market aboard with quality professionally made wines across most standard price points. This is no small feat. What I love about Dalton is that it was designed to be a commercial winery from the ground up. Many wineries pursue some upper tier wines and their lower tier wines are an afterthought. Other wineries grow into the upper end without having planned for it. The Harunis have set these goals for Dalton from the outset, and I believe this is a key to their success.

    Dalton Winery is located in the northern moshav of Dalton, and is set in the beautiful green, mountainous country of the Upper Galil – five kilometers from the Lebanese border.  This location, while picturesque, has significant implications for the winery, especially during times of conflict, due to its proximity to Lebanon. The tense border area can be clearly seen from atop the Dalton Winery’s fermentation vats. Seeing the proximity up-close was eye opening.

    During the worst of the conflict, there were obvious manpower shortages and challenges in working in the fields. But luckily both the 2023 & 2024 vintages were able to be produced. The 2023 vintage was already harvested when the war broke out, so vinification and the rest of production was tricky, but successful. With 2024, the opposite problem existed in that harvest was impacted – though most of harvest was completed before things really heated up in October of ’24. As a ceasefire was declared in in late November ’24, most of the production process was thankfully less eventful.  Hopefully the quiet will continue into the ’25 vintage as well.

    While visiting, besides climbing the fermentation tanks, we also toured through the rest of the facility. As I mentioned above, the Harunis have really invested in both the winemaking equipment – including wonderful massive imported clay Amphorae as well as the bottling and boxing. There is a real care about quality all the way around.

    Guy and Alex shared a number of wines while I was there, and I took notes on all of them. Unfortunately after writing this article the first time, the file got corrupted and I no longer had my original notes. Luckily I shared  my notes or at least my impressions on individual wines with various people  (people often ask about individual wines – and I always try to answer)- and so I do have most of the wines covered, just not ALL  ((I am fully missing notes on the last 2 wines we tasted) – and  in some cases without as much detail as I would usually provide. So my apologies to the readers and certainly to the folks at Dalton. Here are the notes:

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  • Paris tasting of Royal Wine’s 2024 Roses and Whites – Late May 2025

    Thankfully, Avi Davidowitz from Kosher Wine Unfiltered is now able to join me on my visits in May and November. This trip was once again very complicated, given that another late Passover occurred, and then Avi had business trip issues, but it all worked out. It never ceases to amaze me how many days the French take off in a year! Thankfully, the trip was successful; we arrived and returned home, so I would call that a success.

    We did little to no wine searching, once again. Other than one store, there are very few, if any, new 2024 White or Rosé wines in Paris, anywhere. All the stores are still selling the 2022 or 2023 white and rose wines. This is the same issue that exists in the USA. Online and brick-and-mortar stores are loaded with old wines. So, yeah, not much going on right now! Furthermore, the kosher wine-buying public has all but given up on rosé. This is NOT the case in the non-Kosher market, but it is in the Kosher market. White wines are far out-selling rosés, and the difference is significant.

    Additionally, I remain surprised by how little wine French people consume. It’s a declining Kosher wine demographic, for sure! Israel is drinking more kosher wine, as is the USA, but Europe, as a whole, is drinking less kosher wine. The UK is a demographic that seems to be holding its own, but this is mainly among wine enthusiasts. Visit a store in London, and you’ll typically find kosher wines that are a year or more out of date.

    As on past trips, the hotel knows me by now; they are very gracious and put up with all the wine deliveries, always making sure to handle them with care. Kudos to the team! This time, we had multiple hotel shipments as Avi was there for Business the week before we hung out. It was challenging wrangling all the shipments, but we managed to get it done, and many thanks to all the wineries and producers for their assistance!

    Avi was in France the week before we met for business reasons, and he stayed at a different hotel. Many of the boxes arrived there, and yet more boxes came to our shared hotel. The most amusing thing was that we had so many boxes that we lost track of them, and the hotel did too! B”H, all the wines arrived and we tasted them all. Some wines came after Avi left – but that will all be described in the Hotel Post.

    The next morning, we made our way to the lovely home of Menahem Israelievitch, Managing Director and Winemaker at Royal Wine Europe. At the tasting, we enjoyed many lovely wines, and you can read the notes below. I would like to share a few thoughts on them.

    • The 2024 Roses, which I have tasted, are showing better than the 2023 vintage. I found some of these wines enjoyable.
    • Overall, I think Rose production is slowing down, and stores I visited in NYC and NJ said they are being very diligent about which/Roses they bring in. Further, Paris and much of Europe are still sitting on 2022 Roses. The USA has stores with 2023 Roses. As stated, we hit Peak-Rose in 2022, and we are living off the leftovers.
    • We had eight WINNER White wines. Two of those wines are repeats. These are lovely wines, and they should all be available in the USA in the Mevushal status that I tasted in France

    The tasting was great as always. We tasted about 31 wines, 10 of which were red. Once again, the wines have been very slow to get to the USA from France; as such, this was the first time I had a chance to taste almost any of these wines, other than the two repeated Chablis. There was a lovely new Chenin Blanc, the 2024 J. de Villebois Chenin Blanc from the Val de Loire, IGT. There was also a new port from Portugal, the N.V. Porto Cordovero Ruby Port, Porto. Other than those two wines, the rest were just new vintages of past releases.

    With that said, the La Maison Bleue wine line continues to expand with yet another label and blend, the 2024 La Maison Bleue Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre. Nice!

    Avi took all the pictures so if you have any issues blame him! Thanks, buddy!

    My thanks to Menahem Israelievitch and Royal Wines for hosting us and letting us taste the wonderful wines. 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 wine notes are in the order the wines were tasted:

    2024 Chateau Les Riganes Rose, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)The nose of this wine features notes of peach, flint, orange, cherry, and ripe fruit. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice; it has good acidity, nice fresh notes of orange, peach, lemon/lime, raspberry, and lovely tart fruit. The finish is long, tart, refreshing, with notes of flint and a nice finish. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wines Tasting, France) (ABV = 12%)

    2024 Rose Adasa Rose, Bordeaux (M) – Score: 90 (QPR: GREAT)The nose of this wine shows more red fruit, fresh notes of strawberry, lemon/lime, orange, and slate. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, with good acidity, nice peach, raspberry, and strawberry, slate, nectarine, and orange notes. The finish is long and refreshing, with a nice slate note. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wines Tasting, France) (ABV = 12%)

    2024 Roubine R de Roubine, Mediterranee – Score: 89 (QPR: GREAT)The nose of this wine is almost classic Provence, with notes of strawberry and crème, as well as nice raspberry, smoke, and floral aromas. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is less interesting than the first two RosĂ©s; it has a bit less acidity, with strawberry, but not enough acidity to pump up the wine. The finish is long, spicy, with notes of cloves, sweet spices, and herbal elements, finishing with a hint of slate. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wines Tasting, France) (ABV = 13.5%)

    2024 Roubine Hippy, Mediterranee – Score: 88 (QPR: GOOD)The nose of this wine is ripe, with strawberry, rose hip, fleur de orange, rose water, and spices. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine lacks the acidity needed to make this work, with strawberry, raspberry, and spices. The finish is a bit short, featuring notes of spices, roasted herbs, cloves, and slate. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wine Tasting, France) (ABV = 13%)

    2024 Sainte Beatrice B Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 89 (QPR: GOOD)The nose of this wine is classic Provence, with rich strawberry and crème, lovely slate, nice rose aromas, and citrus. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, with almost enough acidity, but it lacks the pop, with pith, strawberry, orange notes, and grapefruit. The finish is long, not tart enough, fruit, slate, and pith. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wine Tasting, France) (ABV = 13%)

    2024 Roubine La Vie en Rose, Cotes de Provence – Score: 90+ (QPR: GREAT)The nose of this wine is classic with strawberry and creme, less pith than B, and with more acidity, showing nice lemon/lime, nectarines, and smoke. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is nice, showing good acidity, nice mouthfeel, almost no pith, with strawberry and creme, nectarines, ripe orange, and nice slate. The finish is long, tart, and ripe at the same time, with good mouthfeel and nice attack. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wine Tasting, France) (ABV = 13%)

    2024 Chateau Roubine Rose, Premium, Cru Classe, Cotes de Provence – Score: 90+ (QPR: GREAT)The nose of this wine is nice, with tart strawberry, no creme, rhubarb, rose hip, and lime. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is leaner than the others, without the weight to match the desire, with strawberry and rhubarb, with just enough acidity, though I wanted more pop. The finish is long, tart, and nice, with notes of slate and more strawberry. Drink now. (tasted May 2025) (in Royal Wine Tasting, France) (ABV = 12%)

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