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Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, 21 QPR WINNERS – June 2025
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Israeli Wine, Kosher French Wine, Kosher Red Wine, Kosher Rose Wine, Kosher Sparkling Wine, Kosher White Wine, Kosher Wine, QPR Post, WineAlex Rubin, Arinto, Bien Nacido Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chateau Lavagnac, Chenin Blanc, Chianti Classico, Clos de Menuts, Covenant Winery, Cumulus, Dalton Winery, Family Collection, Fiano, Fume Blanc, Generation IX, Hajdu Wines, Herzog Cellars Winery, Jean-Philippe Marchand, Latour, Limited Edition, Matar Winery, Mensch Red, Zinfandel, Mystic, Napa Valley, Netofa Winery, O’dwyers Creek, Otter & Fox, Pommard, Proprietary White, Puzzle, QPR, Quinta do Cerrado da Porta, Red Blend, Red C, Reserva, Reserve, Rose, Sauvignon Blanc, Sleight of Hand Cellars, Stags Leap, Syrah, Terra di Seta, Troviscal Tinto, Tzahov, Vermentino, Vieux Chateau Chambeau5 comments on Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, 21 QPR WINNERS – June 2025 -
A tasting of M&M Importers’ current wines – June 2025
I did it again; too much time has passed since my previous post on M&M imports, and this follow-up post is now some 16 months later. This post aims to catch up on the wines I missed in my last post, unlike my last post, which was a total encompassing list of the wines M&M has available. Between these wines and the ones posted in my previous post, there should be very few wines missing.
It is always a pleasure to taste the wines from Ralph Madeb, president and CEO of M&M Importers.
Where can you find the wines?
Let us get the obvious out of the way first: tracking what M&M imports and where they are sold is challenging. The big news is that some of his wines are now available on kosherwine.com! I really hope this helps to spread the good word about the work that Ralph and his team do! More information on M&M Importers can be found here. The store with the biggest selection of M&M wines in NYC has to be Idrinkkosher.com (IDK). They are solid, both in terms of pricing and in what they purchase. However, knowing what is ACTUALLY available at IDK is almost impossible unless you show up at the store. I have visited the store a few times, and they offer great prices and good storage. Again, the issue lies in knowing what is actually for sale, as the website has never been updated. Calling in does not help much either, but this post is here to shed more light on the matter. I know Ralph is working very hard on this matter, and I hope we get more news on this soon. My friend Zev Steinberg is working there now and I hope things will get better!
However, the best news is probably that you can now purchase many of the SKUs directly from elkwine.com! Elchonon Hellinger is a dear friend, and as always, I make NOTHING from your purchases. However, if you live or are visiting the Miami area, please look him up! If you cannot find what you need on the site, please text him on WhatsApp at 17867501019. He is adding more SKUs as fast as he can!
Portfolio
If anyone wants to get a bird’s eye view of Ralph Madeb they should listen to the great podcast series from Simon Jacobs – The Kosher Terroir. The episode that focuses on Dr. Ralph Madeb and M&M Importers is this one.
From a Fifty-Thousand-Mile view, Ralph started his adventure by importing IDS wines while also creating his own. Even when he was bringing in some IDS wines, it was not all of them, and access to them was almost impossible.
Since then, things have grown by leaps and bounds, and now they produce or import more than 90 wines. You can read more about the entire portfolio over here at my last post!
Vallepicciola Wines
This is a second line of wines that M&M are importing from the Chianti region. This includes Super Tuscans and Chianti Classico wines. What is interesting is that, beyond those two styles of wine, he has brought in more wines from this producer, including a rosé bubbly and two Pinot Noirs. They are all solid wines, and two of which I gave my QPR (Quality-to-Price Ratio) score of WINNER! Great work! There is also a Super Tuscan in this release, which was also quite impressive.
Two Chianti Classico Wines
While I loved the Tuscan wines, the two Chianti Classico wines were solid but did not quite have the complexity to get the QPR WINNER scores.
Rocca di Frassinello
These wines continue to impress. These are the 2nd releases in kosher, and I continue to be impressed by them. There are three of them here in this post, and two of them were awarded the QPR WINNER score, and the other one (Baffonero) is equally impressive, but priced a bit higher, so the QPR score is lower.
Castellare Sodi
This is the second release of Castellare Sodi, and they are both incredible wines! These are big and bold wines that need many years before they reach their potential!
Masseria Frattasi
I have added three wines that Ralph made but are now sold through Royal Wines. These wines are made by Masseria Frattasi from the Beneventano IGT. There were two Falanghina wines imported from Masseria Frattasi last year, and both were solid. The three new Masseria Frattasi wines are nice to excellent, and I would like to try them again. There are two Aglianico wines: one made the traditional way and one made using the Appassimento method (drying the grapes). They are both solid wines! It’s impressive that the 2021 Masseria Frattasi Kapnios Agliancio, produced using this method, doesn’t come across as overripe or unbalanced. It has lovely dried fruit and a nice texture. Further, it comes in at 13.5% ABV!
Closing notes
This tasting was not done in a day or a week, like last time, it took over three weeks to taste through the lineup and throughout it all, I kept to the same approach. Write the initial notes at the opening, then a few hours later write any changes, and then finally over the days I would add thoughts. The wines did evolve, other than a few, and when/if they did, the notes reflect those thoughts and concerns.
My sincerest thanks to Ralph and his partner at M&M Importers for sharing their wonderful wines with us all! The wine notes follow below, listed in the order I tasted them – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here , and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2020 Castellare I Sodi S. Niccolo, Toscana – Score: 94.5 (QPR: GOOD)The nose of this wine pops and is lovely, with ripe cranberry, raspberry, dark cherry, soy sauce, earth, smoke, menthol, and mint. The nose is intoxicating, rich, and redolent. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is layered, earthy, tart, precise, tense, and elegant, with rich notes of mushroom, soy sauce, lovely raspberry, dark cherry, smoke, and a hint of smoking tobacco, all enveloped in a mouth-draping curtain of elegant tannin. The finish is long, earthy, and dirty, showcasing dried tobacco and soy sauce, all of which are lovely. Incredible! Drink from 2025 until 2033. (tasted April 2025) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)
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Aglianico, Baffonero, Boscobruno, Castellare, Caudium, Chianti Classico, di S. Niccolo, Extra Brut, I Sodi di S. Niccolò, Kapnios, Kottabos, Le Sughere di Frassinello, M&M Importers, Maremma, Masseria Frattasi, Merlot, Perlinetto, Pievasciata, Pinot Nero Rosso, Pinot Noir, Riserva, Rocca di Frassinello, Sparkling Wine, Toscana Rosso, Vallepicciola -
France, January 2025 – Part 4 – Hotel Tastings
As always, my last post in the series deals with the hotel tastings that I do each trip with David Raccah of Kosher Wine Musings. At this stage, while there are still some more big wines to taste (IDS and a couple of Mercier releases primarily), I have already reached conclusions about the ’22 vintage. In a nutshell, and this plays out among the wines represented here – small wines did NOT do well in ’22 – not a disaster like ’21, but really, nothing to write home about. The big wines almost universally did exceptionally well. Certainly the best vintage since ’19. I would even say that in kosher it was better than ’18 and ’20, which were both hot ripe years as well. I think the key here is that France is learning to manage the climate change. The wineries are more and more prepared for what G-d has planned, and therefore those wineries with staff on hand throughout the growing season who decided to pick early and then continue picking each plot as it reached its optimum maturity, did well. On the small wines, where grapes are simply picked once for the most part – I think you ended up with some anemic wines – likely because some plots ripened VERY early due to the heat. But this is just my conjecture. And honestly, the “why” is of much less import. The bottom line is that the big wines did very well – and quite frankly I am very excited to taste the rest of the ’22’s on my next trip in May. On top of that we got our first real taste of ’23. So far – it’s an “OK” vintage. Nothing as bad as ’21. Maybe in line with ’17 quality wise.
This trip in addition to standard tastings we also received barrel samples of the 2023 Domaine de Montille Burgundies. As they were barrel samples, I will not give notes here, but I will say that the whites showed well, while the reds were likely bottle shocked – so we’ll have to wait for the real releases. The ’23 Marchand Burgundies were the real deal and will be included below. ’23 in Burgundy seems to have real potential. Anyhow, enough chitter chatter, this post is long and a good four months late, so here are the notes:
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2023 Joseph Mellot, Alphonse Mellot, Aux Herbues, Barolo, Baron David, Beaujolais, Blanc, Blaye-Cotes de Bordeaux, Bodega Marco Abella, Bodegas Faustino, Bokobsa, Bordeaux, Bordeaux Superieur, Bourgogne, Bourgueil, Cantine Leuci Brunese, Cascina Perrone, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, Côte de Brouilly, Côte de Léchet, Côtes du Rhone Villages, Chablis, Chardonnay, Chateau Cantemerle, Chateau de Cor Bugeaud, Chateau de Fieuzal, Chateau de L’Anglais, Chateau Grand Corbin, Chateau Lamothe-Cissac, Chateau Teyssier, Chateau Tour de Bellegarde, Chateau Vieux Taillefer, Château de Rayne Vigneau, Château Fayat, Château Haut-Marbuzet, Château La Naude, Château Meilhan, Château Olivier, Château Tournebrise, Chinon, Chiroubles, Cuvee Prestige, Daleah, Dampt Freres, Domaine de  Montille, Domaine de Grava, Domaine La Martinelle, Domaine Lebrun, Dominique Piron, DOP Manduria, Elysee Palace, Elysee Palace Chardonnay, Gevrey Chambertin, Gigondas, Grand Cru Classé de Graves, Grand Cru Classe, grand vin, Grand Vin de Bordeaux, Hans Wirsching, Haut-Médoc, Hautes Cotes De Beaune, Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Iphofer, Jean Philippe Marchand, Joseph Mellot, JP Marchand, La dame de Baladoz, La Graviere, La Moussiere, La Petite Métairie, Lalande de Pomerol, Le Chant des Vignes, Le Chene de Margot, Le Nardian, Le Parc De Faye, Les Hauts de Mole, Les Jardins de Soutard, Les Pierres Blanches, Les Remparts de Bel-Air, Les Sec de Rayne Vigneau, Loire Valley, Lugaignac, Madame de Rayne, Medoc, Merlot, Meursault, Moise Taieb, Nuits-Saint-George, Pays d'Oc, Pessac-Leognan, Pomerol, Pouilly Fumé, Premier Cru, Primitivo, Priorat, Puisseguin Saint-Émilion, Puligny Montrachet, Reserve du Fondateur, Riesling, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé, Saint-Estephe, Sancerre, Sauternes, Sec, Shomer, Syrah, Vieilles Vignes, Vielles Vignes, Visan AOP -
ESSA Wine’s latest wines – May 2025
This is my first post in some time, and my apologies for that, but I hope all is well with all of you. Until all the Jews around the world are safe, I often feel these posts are trite. Still, it is our duty to support those in need, and it seems that these posts help others. With all that said, expect changes in the near future for this site, but until then, let us get to the subject at hand!
ESSA Wines is helmed by the married duo of Josh and Chana Rynderman. I have spoken and written about my friends often. The ESSA Wine group produces a diverse list of great wines and was worthy of this year’s Winery of the Year award.
The history of ESSA and Kos Yeshuos can be found on this blog; however, I will repeat it here for completeness.
Kos Yeshuos History
It’s incredible to think that Kos Yeshuos started “unofficially” in 2015! I was not even scoring wines with numbers back then! Ten years ago, Kos Yeshuos made a lovely Vin Gris from Cabernet Sauvignon, and the game was afoot! From there, Josh made wine for sale in 2016, the first “official” vintage of Kos Yeshuos, with two reds, a Syrah and a Grenache (I had just turned over to numerical scores and started to dabble with QPR). The 2016 Syrah was excellent last year!
Then came the 2017 wines, a Viognier and a Syrah. We flew in for the wedding in January 2018 and suffered through some horrible wines for that Shabbat. Joburg in the “winter” (AKA glorious Summer) was not bad at all. The lack of good wine was unacceptable! Thankfully, that is no longer an issue for those who seek good wine!
In 2018, Kos Yeshuos evolved to more playful labels, with a woman’s touch to say it correctly. We had the California Kid and another Viognier. The move to whites was required to make the dual-hemisphere dream a reality. In 2018, ESSA Wine came to life, and the 2018 ESSA Malbec was sold here in the USA!
Then, in 2019, Kos Yeshuos released four white wines, including a Joburg Girl! Then, miraculously, we survived the world’s curse, and its reward was one more year with Josh and Kos Yeshuos, along with more new 2019 ESSA wines! The Orange Sidewinder was nice enough, but the Viognier was indeed on point. ESSA was now in full sprint, producing top-notch wines like the 2019 Cabernet Franc and the 2019 Emunah. I am sure Josh was happy to not be flying back and forth, and the dual-Hemisphere thing had run its course. With the added time, ESSA evolved and added the Altira, and then more red wines followed.
Current day Lineup
Today, ESSA stands at 10 wines, at least from my count. The Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Emunah, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Riesling, Essa Liv & Luv Rose, Franschhoek Cabernet Sauvignon – Merlot, Fume Blanc, and Altira. A few new wines are coming, and I have a bottle of one of them here, the Semillon.
As you will see in the wine notes below, ESSA is excelling, almost across the board. Look, I may not love wines like the Petit Verdot, given their fruity style, but that does not mean it is a bad wine. The same can be said for Malbec. They are just grapes that rarely excite me. However, the classic grapes are doing very well under the care of Josh and Chana (yes, I know PV and Malbec are Bordeaux classic grapes, but who cares? They are rarely used, and when they are, it is a rounding error).
No matter the fact that Josh is a friend, he makes good wines, guys, and that is plain to see. What confuses me is why the red wines do not sell as well as they should. You have the big red wines (PV and Malbec) for that kind of folks. You have a crazy QPR with the Cab/Merlot mix. Then you have the higher-end reds with the Emunah, Cabernet Franc, and so on. Let alone the crazy white wines – each of them is a CRUSHING WINNER! Folks, taste the wine and tell me what I am missing!
The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:
2020 ESSA Emunah, Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is lovely, with notes of dirt, earth, and smoke, followed by mushroom, loam, and dense smoke, all complemented by black and red fruit, which is lovely and elegant, evoking an old-world approach. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine reveals great acidity, accompanied by a funky and earthy character and lovely mouth-draping tannin. It is elegant, not overly extracted, and features a nice focus on fruit, complemented by notes of raspberry, blackberry, and plum. Bravo! The finish is intense, with great acidity, funk, smoke, and toasty notes. The tannin lingers forever, accompanied by lovely minerality. Bravo. Drink by 2028. (tasted February 2025) (in KFWE, NJ) (ABV = 13.5%)
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Seder 2025
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France, January 2025 – Part 3 – The Wines of Christophe Bardeau
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France, January 2025 – Part 2 – IDS
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The Best/Top kosher wines for Passover 2025 in all price ranges
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Kosher Wine Tasting events of 2025 – Wrap-up
After the perfectly timed, strategized, and executed Kosher Wine Tasting events in 2024, the 2025 events had massive shoes to fill. While there were some clear highlights in 2025, there were also some things missing. We sadly did not have the Jewish Link Wine Guide Grand Tasting, and once again, KFWE chose to do the tasting the day after the Super Bowl. Further, can food stop being a part of these events, period? The food options at KFWE NY/NY were Falafel, Pizza, or fruit. At the KWD event it was cholent? These events are not being presented to most as the Food Extravaganza – that nomenclature should be removed, IMHO.
KWD’s Wine and Food Night
However, let’s zoom in and start talking events. Unlike last year, KWD’s event was first on the list—not last. This was a forced matter because of the return of KFWE LA and the fact that KFWE NJ was hosted the day after the Super Bowl! This forced KWD to have their event the week before. Again, as I spoke about in the preamble post, this was a horrible idea!
Still, I think KWD did a splendid job. I will ignore all food for all of these events because food was a non-factor. In ALL the events, food was essentially a non-starter. The only place that is NOT true was KFWE Oxnard, as the food from Tierra Sur was probably the main event along with Herzog Wines. Still, I will comment on the one word that should never be stated at a wine tasting event – Cholent – even worse, Cholent-Off. Apologies to all the Easties, that is as bad an idea or worse than buying Cholent Thursday night at a 7-11. Maybe next year, forget the food and forget about ideas from a promoter, that is more about himself than the product! Now, let us get to the good stuff!
Let us start with the ONLY things that matter regarding wine tasting. First, the wine glasses were great! There is ZERO point in pouring whatever wines you have and forcing me to taste them in a tiny glass. Bravo! Next, there were no drunk people, at least not by the time I left, which was around 9:15 PM. There was water on all the tables, and the spittoons were emptied somewhat consistently (this was the only minor slight). There were crackers and the tables were not overly packed. When you put this together you have a WINNER!
This year’s KWD was even better wine-wise, IMO. Royal’s wines at the event were mid-level with a few higher-level wines. Royal was able to highlight some real winners, like the 2022 Royaumont, Mevushal, the 2023 Vitkin Pinot Noir, and the excellent ESSA wines. The 2023 ESSA Riesling is quite a wine along with the 2020 ESSA Emunah and the 2022 ESSA Cabernet Franc.
The entire M&M lineup was impressive. That table was the REAL WINNER! M&M continues to impress with solid to great wines. I had already tasted those and posted them; otherwise, I would be screaming their praises.
The wines at Narrow Bridge were nice enough, and I see Josh Klapper’s hand all over them. Good on you all! The wines by Ari had a lovely wine – the 2018 Allegory Cabernet Sauvignon, Mount Veeder, that is a sure BUY IT NOW wine. Sadly, I had to leave and missed the wines from Bam, I had tasted them all before, and I hope to taste them again soon.
Red Garden had a couple of lovely wines. The 2024 Bat Shlomo Sauvignon Blanc is a sure QPR WINNER. The 2024 La Foret Blanche Talpiot, Dry White Wine, is not bad, but is not yet available here.
Happy Hearts also had a lovely wine, the 2024 Puzzle Rose. It is a WINNER. Allied had some nice wines like the 2023 Dalton Wild One and the 2023 Dalton Sauvignon Blanc, Family Collection, which is a WINNER.
River Wine had some lovely Shirah Wines, like the incredible 2021 Shirah Pinot Meunier and others.
Overall, I think the crowds, the passion, and the interest people had in the wines more than in getting drunk made for an enjoyable and successful second event by the KWD crew! Bravo, guys!
KFWE NY/NJ
The 2022, 2024, and now the 2025 KFWE NY/NJ needs to change the name. I am sorry, guys, there is no Food Extravaganza here. I know, I said it above, and I am repeating myself, but I feel a poor showing of food actually makes the overall event look lackluster. Make more pizza (the only edible food at the event), or just skip the pizza and the food altogether and stop the charades. Worse were the odors of burning dough and frying Garbanzo beans. Try tasting a 2022 Philippe Le Hardi Clos De Vougeot, Grand Cru with Pizza baking in the background. Yeah. If this event is meant to portray the best that Royal Wines has to offer, then let the wine speak and not Pizza (no matter how enjoyable it may be).
Moving past the only real issue, we can move on to the rest of the event, which for me was all roses. As stated above, let us start with the usual list of basic needs for a wine event to work. Let us start with the ONLY things that matter regarding wine tasting. First, the wine glasses were great! There is ZERO point in pouring whatever wines you have and forcing me to taste them in a tiny glass. Bravo! Next, there were no drunk people, at least not by the time I left, which was at closing time. There was water on all the tables, and the spittoons were emptied consistently (at a better rate than at KWD). There were crackers and the tables were not overly packed. When you put this together you have a WINNER! Do not get me wrong, there were far more people at KFWE NJ than at KWD, but overall the flow worked. Finally, unlike previous times at the Hilton (now called something else) – the hall had no lingering smells of new carpet, formaldehyde, paint, or horribly bad smelling cleaning spray or equipment.
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France, January 2025 – Part 1 – Royal
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1er Cru, 2022 Chateau Roubine, Aloxe-Corton, Baron Edound de Rothschild, Barons Edmond & Benjamin de Rothschild, Blanc de Blanc, Bordeaux, Brut, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cahors, Carte D’Or, Castillon Cotes de Bordeaux, Cave De Tain, Chablis, Champagne, Chateau Bellefont-Belcier, Chateau Bellevue, Chateau Clarke, Chateau d’Agassac, Chateau de Parsac, Chateau Fontenil, Chateau Fourcas Dupre, Chateau Giscours, Chateau Greysac, Chateau La Fleur, Chateau LaGrange, Chateau Larcis Jaumat, Chateau Le Crock, Chateau le Rey, Chateau Leoville Poyferre, Chateau Les Riganes, Chateau Malartic Lagraviere, Chateau Malmaison, Chateau Meyney, Chateau Montviel, Chateau Moulin Riche, Chateau Piada, Chateau Pontet Canet, Chateau Romefort, Chateau Royaumont, Chateau Saint-Corbian, Chateauneuf du Pape, Chevalier de Lascombes, Clos De Vougeot, Clos Triguedina, Cotes de Provence, Crozes Hermitage, Cru Bourgeois, Cru Classe, Cuvee Hautes Terres, Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils, Drappier, Fronsac, Gazin Rocquencourt, Grand Cras, Grand Cru Classe de Graves, Grand Cru Classe en 1855, Haut-Medoc, J. de Villebois, La Maison Bleue, Lalande de Pomerol, Le Comte de Malartic, Les Champs Michaux, Les Lauriers de Rothschild, Les Marronniers, Les Roches De Yon, Les Rocheuses, Listrac-Medoc, Malbec, Malbec du Clos, Margaux, Medoc, Mercurey, Merlot, Montagne Saint-Emillon, Morgon, Moulis en Medoc, Pauillac, Pavillon de Leoville Poyferre, Pessac-Leognan, Petit Chablis, Philippe le Hardi, Pomerol, Premier Cru, Premium, Probus, Rose, Royal, Saint Emilion Grand Cru, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe, Saint-Estephe, Saint-Julien, Sancerre, Sauternes, Silex, Vielles Vignes
