• California Dreaming about the 2020, 2021, 2022, and early-2023 vintages – a retrospective

    In May 2024, WOW, I have to get used to the new 2025 thing; I wrote a post about wines I had tasted in the past month or two. However, after tasting through so many excellent California wines from 2021, I decided it required a retrospective.

    Some of these wines will be new to the blog, some will be reposts, and some will be reposts with a change in the scoring (I will denote those clearly).

    The 2020 vintage was blighted by many fires, smoke taint, and a poor overall showing. The 2021 vintage was far more controlled, with almost no heat spikes. Though there was little rain before it, the vintage came out smelling like a rose. In the 2022 vintage, we saw far too many heat spikes. Add in many days of over 100-degree weather, and it is shocking that anything good came out. Still, I found some winners. The 2023 vintage is looking like the best of BOTH worlds: rich, layered, with incredible balance. The California whites from 2023 outshined all of Europe and Israel, and we wait now for the release of the higher-end red wines to make a conclusive decision.

    As you read through this post about the Kosher wineries that reside in California, understand that California is not Napa Valley. It is a vast state with many wine regions. California is massive. It has four main wine-growing regions and 147 viticultural areas (AVA). If California were a country, it would be the fourth largest in regard to wine production.

    At the start, in 1985, when Robert Parker and Michel Rolland took over the world and drove wine production toward a more fruit-driven approach, Napa Valley was the poster child for what a “proper” wine should be. The fruit was very prominent, the tannins were round, not astringent, and the alcohol levels were high. If you watch and listen closely to the videos of Peter Koff, MW, and Dr. Pat Farrell, MW, you will learn so much! Listening to them, they describe the wine critics at the tasting/judgment of Paris who were looking for the ripest fruit.

    Looking at current wines, I feel such a tasting would have very different outcomes. First of all, Bordeaux’s ABV is climbing, and there is no end in sight. This is not a choice by the wineries; instead, it is a choice of nature. Secondly, Napa Valley, which was the California area of choice, is even riper than in those days, and I think they would stick out badly. Many Napa Valley wineries are trying to bring their approach back to the middle, but they run up against the same issues Bordeaux is facing, and really the entire world.

    When you look at the notes below, you will find three camps. One is the tried-and-true camp of Alexander Valley, AKA Sonoma. It has continuously shown control and power, though at times lacking acidity and finesse.

    Next, you will find Napa Valley split between two camps: the bid, bold, in-your-face Robert Parker dream, fruit-forward, powerful, fleshy, and alcoholic to the max. The other side of this camp is the more controlled, sinewy, and acidic, though showing Napa’s power, with a steady hand and clear horizon towards Old-world style wines.

    Finally, you find the wild-wild-west at its greatest in areas like Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, and the other regions to the south. Here is where folks like Shirah Wines live. Wines that are more Rhone-style, off-the-beaten-path varietals, exciting, and not yet fully commercialized ideas that bring a smile to most who try them.

    As you read through the notes, you will find that I look for balance. I like power; I do not crave it. I desire a wine with rich acidity, balance, clean lines, power or not, but a wine that makes you want to take another sip, because it is refreshing. Balance is the definition of a glass of wine that clears your palate not by giving you a headache but rather by having acidity and pop that can have power but more assuredly has an acidity that works in conjunction with the fruit.

    To that point, you will find wines below that get high scores because they are balanced. Examples of wines I bought, which is the highest proof of a wine I like, are the 2021 and 2022 Marciano Estate, 2021 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, 2021 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, Lot 70, 2022 Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon, and the 2021 Herzog Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2021 Napa Valley Cabernet, Reserve is a clear WINNER and one you should all seek out.

    The 2023 Pinot Noirs from Herzog and Covenant prove that this vintage has potential, but again, we will not know where it lines up until after the full lineup of red wines is released across California.

    Finally, the higher-end white Sauvignon Blanc wines from Marciano, Covenant, and Hagafen are worth finding – they are lovely! I wrote a separate post, mid-2024, about the top white wines from 2021 through 2023, which are well worth buying!

    Pricing

    I am fine with writing about kosher wines, but we cannot talk about Kosher Napa Wines without addressing the large elephant in the room, which is the elevated prices. I stress Napa Valley because there are no Kosher California Wines above 130 dollars outside of the Herzog Sonoma Clone Six and the new Herzog Double Creek. Please do not talk to me about Four Gates Wine. Respectfully, it is a drop in the bucket and does not move any needles, industry-wise, other than for its quality.

    The number of bottles produced at the price range that raises eyebrows is starting to make people like me wonder. How many people are buying wines priced at 200 or more dollars? Many of the wines listed below are 300 or more dollars. How do you build a brand and a list of people for wines at that price?

    Yes, there are more expensive wines out there, but that is one or two, and they are from storied old-world marks and vineyards, meaning they have a track record. Of course, runs at cult-like Napa Wineries have been going on underground for a very long time. Now, we are seeing Kosher Napa Wines selling in the 200-plus to 360-dollar range on store shelves, and it is all new for the kosher-wine-buying public.

    There is a clear cost to everything that happens in making a wine kosher, and those people deserve to be paid. A few hands in there also need to be paid for fronting the money, marketing, and so on. However, the per-bottle “kosher tax” does not need to be commensurate with the cost of the non-kosher base price. Again, there is a cost for working in Napa and making Kosher wine there, but as proven by Hagafen and Herzog, wine can be produced without those high Kosher wine taxes.

    Ultimately, I am at the mercy of those who feed me. As always, I openly state that I go and taste wines; when I do, I do not pay to taste those wines. At the same time, I post what I taste and never change a score because of the situation in which I may be placed. There is a clear reason for why I have stopped going to specific wineries and regions to taste – because the outcome was getting too awkward, and the posts were becoming a chore. I am always very thankful for the chance to taste wine, and I am always honest about what I taste, and for the most part, I stay out of wine business commentary. However, when everyone asks me the same question, I suppose I cannot just ignore the elephant.

    Criteria and Process for this post

    I thought long and hard about how I would manage this post. At first, I thought I would do a total dump of all the wines across wineries from both the 2021 and 2022 vintages. However, that would end up as a massive mess; there are far too many wines. So, I decided to list all the wines from all the California wineries I tasted, scoring a 91 or higher from the 2021 and 2022 vintages. There are still a lot of wines, but that is the only way to get a list in one post, and that is not insane.

    I will leave the red wines from the 2023 vintage alone for now. There are too few wines from that vintage at this time. Still, I will post some 2023 white wines as they are showing well, and they were tasted at the same time! Also, Four Gates has yet to release their top 2021 or 2022 wines, so we may need yet another retrospective after that. LOL, I think not. There is one exception, Kasher Wines, which I first tasted in November, has a 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon.

    You will not find Four Gates Winery here because they have yet to release the 2021 vintages, and they are so small that it is impossible to really compare them with these other players. You can look here if you want to find my posts on Four Gates Winery. Other wineries make Kosher Wines in California but I did not find their 2021 vintages that interesting to me to make it into this post.

    Closing Thoughts

    This post is massive and took a crazy amount of time, thought, effort, and tasting! People ask me about wines and respectfully never really think about the amount of effort it takes to put it down on paper. Of course, none of this could have happened without the kindness and generosity of the wineries in sharing their time and wines, which took them far more effort to make. Many thanks to Elk (Elchonon Hellinger from Elkwine) for helping set up a lot of this. David Edelman for sharing his time and wines as well. Many thanks to all the wineries, Marciano Estates, Ka.sher Winery, Hajdu Wines, Shirah Wines, Herzog Wine Cellars, Covenant Wines, Hagafen Cellars, Tench Vineyards, and Addax Wines.

    This content is for members only. Please Login  or Subscribe Here to continue reading!

    Share This:

    Like This:

    , , , , ,
    , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    10 comments on California Dreaming about the 2020, 2021, 2022, and early-2023 vintages – a retrospective

  • Elvi Wines Visit – December 2024

    I have tried to visit Elvi a few times over the years – always combining it with work travel – but it has never worked out. Each time I was in Spain for work, the Cohen family was not available. So when in the course of planning this year’s trips with my friend David Raccah (of kosherwinemusing.com) Elvi came up as a possibility, I was thrilled – and thankfully the timing worked out for all involved.

    I have written about Elvi before – so no reason to review the history here. I do want to provide a couple of updates about exciting things happening there though. First – the wineries are expanding. And yes, I said wineries. Why? Because for each of the regions that Elvi produces in, they produce in a winery on the estate. So for instance, even though they are only about five minutes from each other, Elvi maintains two separate wineries – one for EL26 (Priorat) and one for Clos Mesorah (Monsant). Herenza is made on estate in Rioja, which I unfortunately did not get a chance to visit this time around – but next time for sure! Let’s start with EL26 – the vineyards there have been greatly expanded and will include in the near future a forest vineyard – where, rather than clearing a forest and planting a vineyard, a section of the forest was left intact, and the vineyard will be planted within. In addition, the physical winery itself, named “La Saltadora,” is massive and encompasses a beautiful tasting room as well as a wine bar – all of which should formally launch in January or February of 2025. With the vineyard growth there is talk of finally letting the “EL line expand – both ways – perhaps and “EL24” – for everyday drinking and an “EL52” as an even more premium label (think Clos Mesorah Sublim but for the El line) – but this is all very preliminary. On the Clos Mesorah side, they have bought out their neighbors’ vineyards and have been able to replant. I would say the vineyards are at least four times as large as they were originally. Some of this fruit is just coming online now, though it is not all ready just yet. But this is why you can see the expansion of the Clos Mesorah line – first with the Grenaxta and continuing with a new Sublim release and also on the other side of the spectrum for this year will be the new Siblings label – more on that below. In any event, the point is that there are big things happening in terms of the vineyards and wineries themselves.

    The second big update is on the personnel level. When I first got know the Elvi brand (wow – looking back, I think that was about 2012 or so in Israel) Moises was the face of the brand. Now while Moises was very involved in the vineyards with vineyard management and the whole biodynamic philosophy that Elvi adopted, what I came to learn was that he was NOT the winemaker, but rather his wife Ana was. Ana though rarely travelled and so until now I had a never had the pleasure of meeting her – but she is fascinating! She is wholly self-taught. (The Cohen’s purchased the estate as an outgrowth of Moises’ consulting work with various wineries in Spain. Ana then decided to teach herself winemaking in hopes of producing some wine for the family (as the Clos Mesorah’s label states – it was originally designated as the family wine….) And from there, things just took off. So I have to say it was an honor and a pleasure meeting Ana and sharing her wines and food. Just a stellar experience. But the update is in the next generation. As many of us who follow Elvi know, Moises and Ana’s son David has taken on the role that Moises filled previously and is now the public facing persona of the brand. You can find David promoting the wines and brands in every major kosher market and a big part of the current growth and success of the winery is due to his active involvement. The only downside is that I get to see Moises much less than I did a decade ago. But the news is on the other side of the business. Moises and Ana’s daughter Leah has moved into the assistant winemaker role at the winery. This is after having completed her Bachelor’s degree in Oenology & Viticulture at Universitat Rovira i Virgili (the first University in Spain to offer a full degree program in Oenology!), her Masters from the  University of Rioja in  Wine Technology, Management & Innovation, doing internships  in each local that the family produces (Rioja, La Mancha, Alella, Montsant, and Priorat) in addition to Santa Rita winery in the Maipo Valley, Chile and an internship at Chateau Mont Redon in Chateauneuf du Pape, CĂ´te du Rhone! On top of that, she sits on the regional tasting panel of both Monsant and Priorat (all of that and she is only 23!) – super impressive! When you think about it, the second generation really completes the skillset required to manage a modern winery. While Moises brought the vineyard management and farming techniques side with him, Ana then moved the circle further by bringing the most important element of winemaking. David then brought in the required business knowledge to grow the business, and Leah now brings in the technical know how from a winemaking perspective to take on the massive growth, while keeping the quality at the level that the Elvi clientele have come to expect from their established brands and expanding those brands with new wines targeted at different segments. And as mentioned, there are a LOT of new wines in the pipeline. All in all, it’s a very exciting time at Elvi.

    Before I move on to the wines, I really do have to take a second to describe our stay. First, and anyone who has met them even for a short time will agree, the Cohen family is just awesome. Each and every member. The sweetest most generous people you could dream of. They opened their winery and their home to us for a couple of days and couldn’t have been more gracious. David and I had lunch with Moises prior to touring the grounds and then again with the family after the tasting, which lasted until close to midnight. Really, just super warm and friendly with excellent food and even better conversation. The only downside was that David was in the US, so we missed him – but Ana, Moises and Leah were all just great. The wineries themselves are stunning, both the Clos Mesorah winery with its beautiful and one-of-a-kind barrel room, as well as the new La Saltadora, which is shaping up to be something absolutely stunning – being built with incredible attention to detail. Of course we can’t not talk about the vineyards themselves. It is clear that these are Moises’ pride and joy. Such care has gone into maintaining these vineyards and replanting the new ones – it’s hard to really put into words without actually being there. But take my word – and what you can tell from the picture – the vineyards and the wineries are absolutely stunning. It’s simply criminal for a lover of kosher wine to be in Spain and not try to arrange a visit. The amount of labor (and capital) and love required to put that all together is immense – but the payoff is in the product. And speaking of that….

    Let’s get to the wines. Usually when tasting wines at a winery, the winemaker guides the tasting and presents them from lightest to fullest body – or lowest quality to highest, or grouped by variety, etc. While presenting the wines Ana had a very specific journey she wanted to take through, and so I will list them here in the order they were served:

    This content is for members only. Please Login  or Subscribe Here to continue reading!

    Share This:

    Like This:

    ,
    , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    2 comments on Elvi Wines Visit – December 2024

  • Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, 17 QPR WINNERS – Dec 2024

    I have been behind on this post. After I do this post, I owe three more: a retrospective on the Kosher California Wine Scene for 2021 and 2022, a write-up on my visit with Avi Davidowitz to the newly built Elvi Wines winery in Priorat, and finally, my yearly Four Gates Wine post.

    This post may be one of the largest overall QPR roundups I have done, wine-wise, weighing in at 90 wines. The last one I did was in August 2024. That one had 26 or so wines, and 7 of them garnered a QPR WINNER score. The latest post with the largest number of wines winning a QPR Score of WINNER was the May 2023 post, with 19 wines garnering a QPR score of WINNER.

    QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines

    It has been four or so months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post, and many people have been emailing me about unique wines I have tasted and lovely wines that are worth writing about.

    Thankfully, no matter how much garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with several wonderful QPR wines.

    Throughout the year, I post many QPR posts for almost all of the main categories. I will continue down this road until I find a better way to categorize and track QPR WINNERS wines. People are still asking me what a QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wine is and what the score of WINNER denotes. Once again, those are explained here in this post.

    Some things that made me stand up and take notice (AKA QPR WINNERS):

    There are 17 wines that won the coveted QPR score of WINNER this round, and they are all worth your attention.

    The Chateau Fayat got a MONSTER quality score, and given its cost, it squeaks into the QPR WINNER score by a hair.

    The same can be said for Chateau Trianon. It, too, garnered a massive score, and the price barely got it in under the wire.

    The 2022 Philippe Le Hardi Aloxe Corton, Aloxe Corton, Burgundy, is a lovely wine for a challenging vintage. The Clos Vougeot may get a better score but at 5 times the price, it does not equate to a desirable QPR score.

    The 2022 Eola Hills Wine Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, proves that we can get QUALITY Pinot Noir that is drinkable now at a QPR WINNER price. That deserves a shoutout!!

    We have a SOLID list of QPR WINNERS:

    1. 2022 Chateau Fayat, Pomerol – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)
    2. 2022 Chateau Trianon, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
    3. 2022 Chateau Montviel, Pomerol – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
    4. 2022 Philippe Le Hardi Aloxe Corton, Aloxe Corton, Burgundy – Score: 93 (QPR: WINNER)
    5. 2022 Chateau Royaumont, Lalande de Pomerol (M) – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
    6. 2023 ESSA Altira, Cape South Coast – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
    7. 2022 Domaine Raymond Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf du Pape, Vielles Vignes, Chateauneuf du Pape, Vielles Vignes – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
    8. 2022 Chateau Larcis Jaumat, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
    9. 2023 Cave De Tain Crozes Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
    10. 2022 Chateau La Fleur, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
    11. 2022 Philippe Le Hardi Mercurey 1er Cru, Mercurey, Burgundy – Score: 92+ (QPR: WINNER)
    12. 2018 Dalton Semillon, Tic Toc, Galilee – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
    13. 2022 Chateau Piada, Sauternes – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)
    14. 2022 Chateau la Clare, Medoc (M) – Score: 91+ (QPR: WINNER)
    15. 2022 Eola Hills Wine Cellars Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon – Score: 91+ (QPR: WINNER)
    16. 2023 Baron Rothschild Flechas De Los Andes Gran Malbec, Mendoza – Score: 91+ (QPR: WINNER)
    17. 2021 Dalton Chenin Blanc, Wild One, Galilee – Score: 91 (QPR: WINNER)

    Other wines worth noting (For good reasons!):

    1. The 2022 Chateau Leoville Poyferre, Saint-Julien, may not be priced to fit into the QPR WINNER circle, but it is another EPIC showing for this winery. Well worth finding this wine!!
    2. The 2022 Chateau le Gay, Pomerol – is an excellent wine, but it is a tad too ripe for me. Still, this is the first time it has been made kosher! Bravo!
    3. The 2022 Philippe Le Hardi Clos De Vougeot, Grand Cru is the first Clos Vougeot made kosher in some 18+ years. So, while the price is steep, the quality is there.

    This content is for members only. Please Login  or Subscribe Here to continue reading!

    Share This:

    Like This:

    , , , , , , , ,
    , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    9 comments on Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, 17 QPR WINNERS – Dec 2024

  • The 2024-2025 kosher wine-tasting event season is upon us

    KFWE has been around since 2007 in NYC, 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 KFWE (NYC/NJ or LA) is the oldest kosher wine-tasting event, which would be the now-defunct  Gotham Kosher Wine Extravaganza. Sadly, they stopped hosting those tastings, such is life, their first one was in 2004, and it ran until 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 has 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 be returning again—links are down below. KFWE LA is returning again this year, only for the wine trade.

    KFWE Miami 2024

    The KFWE Miami, which happened last week or so on December 17th, 2024, was okay for me. I had tasted almost all the wines there, minus a few new 2022 French Bordeaux that arrived recently. 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.

    Most of the wines were current, and the pouring was done well. There were a few misses, especially on the Israeli side. Regarding representation, Menahem Israelievitch was there to talk about French wines. Avi Feldstein was there for Feldstein and Barkan Wineries. Herzog Winery was represented by David Galzignato, and Covenant Winery was represented by Jeff and Jodie Morgan. If you were looking to be educated overall, I think they missed the opportunity, which was unfortunate, given 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. LA continues to be a dream that Royal refuses to give up on, and while I appreciate that, the only value for KFWE LA is maybe a few caterers and restaurants and ONLY Mevushal wines. Which, for all intent and purpose, is the definition of Herzog wines. A winery that produces good to great Meuvshal Cabernet wines.

    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 single Israeli wine they had at the event. One side was totally Israeli wine and the other side was everything else, including French, Italian, USA, and everywhere else.

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

    1. 2021 Odem Mountain Volcanic Merlot
    2. 2021 Vitkin Old Vine Carignan
    3. 2023 Baron Rothschild Flechas De Los Andes Gran Malbec

    So, there you go, Jay. It was great seeing you and hanging out for a bit, both at KFWE and the event the night before. Thanks for your continued work!

    My disclaimerTo be clear, there were some lovely new 2022 French wines—a few winners. Four new Burgundies were also released, including the return of a Clos Vougeot! The 2022 wines showed well enough. There were a few misses and some nice QPR WINNERs as well.

    However, as stated, I did not want to use French and Italian wines—those are too obvious a choice. Covenant continues to impress. They were my 2023 Kosher Winery of the Year, and they continue to excel. Their wines were all wonderful. Herzog also had a few solid QPR WINNERs, but I had already tasted them and posted them here. ESSA Winery also showed well and had a large selection to choose from. Elvi Winery was also a Winery of the Year winner in 2021, and they had their full lineup for tasting, minus the EL26, for reasons no one knows!

    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 needs to ensure that more winemakers represent the wineries at this event. Florida is becoming too large a buying public and 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 allow for better winery representation, benefiting BOTH 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.

    This content is for members only. Please Login  or Subscribe Here to continue reading!

    Share This:

    Like This:

    ,
    , , ,
    6 comments on The 2024-2025 kosher wine-tasting event season is upon us

  • Five new Portuguese releases from Kiddush Wines

    Some new Portuguese imports have been hitting the Israeli market over the last year, and I thought it would be useful to review them all as a set. Until now, for the most part very few kosher Portuguese wines have been made. Usually, we get a steady stream of port – in the past the Royal produced Porto Cordovero, both Ruby and the legendary 2004 and 2005 LBVs (this production has ended) and we currently have Porto Quevedo ruby ports under various different labels. Once in a while, a one-off Douro kosher red would make its way into the world, but these were infrequent and inconsistent from a quality standpoint.  Last year in Israel, we saw the introduction of kosher versions of the mass produced the Porta 6 line of Vidigal wines – rosĂ©, white, and red versions. It is unclear whether these too were a one-off production, or if this is a long-term plan to have kosher versions (my guess is the former). I can say that those wines were not the best quality. I chose to only include a review of the red here for comparison, as the rosĂ© and white are both likely dead at this point.

    This content is for members only. Please Login  or Subscribe Here to continue reading!

    Share This:

    Like This:

    , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    No comments on Five new Portuguese releases from Kiddush Wines
  • 2016 Chateau Croque Michotte, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru; 2020 Chateau Haut Brisson, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru; 2020 Pavillon de Taillefer, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru; 2021 Relais de La Dominique, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru; 2022 Chateau Tour Perey, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru; 2022 Chateau La Fleur Perey, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru; 2022 Les Hauts de Mole , Puisseguin Saint-Emilion;

    France – May 2024 – Part 3 – Hotel Wines

    Note: I am embarrassed at how late this post is. It was 95% complete by mid-June. I just never got around to finishing and editing due to my work schedule and of course the ongoing situation here, which as I have noted, does not leave me in the headspace for writing. But as I have a whole bunch of posts that I need to catch up on and other trips that are just around the corner – so I decided to get off my butt and get writing. I hope to get a number of posts out in the coming weeks. Again, my apologies. Back to the post (as if it had been written just after the last one.)

    Now comes the most fun part of each of these France trips with my friend David Raccah of Kosher Wine Musings – the Hotel tastings. Gear up, this is going to be a long post.

    I wish people could somehow get the full experience of the bedlam that is these tastings. Our suite is filled to the brim with wine. New wines get delivered every day, and the concierge can’t keep track of the various deliveries. The place is a wreck. We keep the air conditioning as low as it will go – when it’s working, it’s freezing. When it’s not, its super stuffy. There is no room to move. Fast food containers, laptop chargers, Glasses, makeshift spittoons, open bottles everywhere. The bathrooms where we dispose of the wine and “do the dishes” are a wreck. Quite frankly, I am surprised they let us back each year. And then of course there are the tastings themselves. We land, get to the hotel, get our stuff settled, do inventory – and start tasting. There is no time to waste. We want to taste at least twice, usually three times, and if we can, even four when necessary. You can’t do that unless you are on the ball and getting this process going immediately, so we can have time to let the wines rest and taste them again the next day – and the next – all the while fitting in the organized tastings we do with various producers. We usually are up before 7 and we usually finish tasting after 1am. There is no other way to do it. When people ask why we don’t go around seeing some of the sites in Paris and beyond – this is the reason. No time! It’s also why we stopped going to visit Taieb in person or make visits to Strasbourg/Alsace like we used to. There simply is not enough time to physically get to these places AND taste all we need. Thankfully Yoni Taieb is gracious enough to send samples to the hotel each visit – as if he didn’t, we really WOULD have to go to Lyon, as Taieb is an important producer as IDS or Royal – and in a way, even more important. There are wines that we simply cannot taste outside of France that are Taieb wines, whereas most of the IDS and Royal wines do make their way at least to the US and usually to Israel too. And so Taieb is a MUST. But thankfully Yoni takes care of us each time. Quite honestly, IMHO Taieb reaps a benefit that other IDS and Royal do not in that we give those wines 3-4 days to show their best – whereas with Royal and IDS, they are really just snapshots of what a given wine tastes like then and there. 

    So, with all that, there is also the interpersonal aspect of these tastings. As I have mentioned before – I taste hundreds of bottles a year with David. I can give you his score based on my tasting, and he can give you mine. We have impacted each other’s preferences ever so slightly – and overall, we are more or less in synch on the big picture at this point – and that is why this works so well. I can say though that where we are woefully NOT in synch is in music preferences. Music plays a big part of the background when we taste in the hotel – and David has a soft spot for early 80’s pop-rock/soft-rock. Think Peter Cetera, Journey/Steve Perry, Starship (no not Jefferson Airplane, not even Jefferson Starship – just Starship), Foreigner, Heart (no – not “Dreamboat Annie” era Heart like “Baracuda” or “Crazy on You”, etc , think 80’s era Heart like “These Dreams” or “What About Love”). You get the picture. I tend more to the Classic Rock/ Rock/ Alt Rock etc.  – and so, there is a battle that ensues. As to finding songs that are palatable to us both, for instance I can dig “Alone” by Heart, great vocal there. Instead of Peter Cetera, I suggest “25 or 6 to 4” by Chicago with Peter Cetera on vocals. I trim down the Journey playlist etc. But it’s a battle. And I often lose. So by the end of these trips, I am usually whistling Kenny Loggins or Falco or some other trash and I need a week to detox of the early 80’s pop-rock that David so adores. But that’s what makes this all fun. And fun we had.

    Back to the wines. As I was saying, it’s a lot of work. Production of kosher wine in Europe is through the roof. It gets harder each year to keep up and do this at the level that we do. There are only so many hours in the day. Also, I tend to go through a number of editing rounds before I have finished notes. Not in the basic descriptors. Those are what they are – but notes for me are stream of consciousness at the beginning. David has this down to a science and basically gets his notes into a near finished format during the tasting. All of that takes TIME. In the future, something is going to have to change. I’ll give you a great example. We had every intent of doing the Hotel tastings blind. IN fact, we have a really great system worked out that tries to cancel out many of the issues one faces when tasting blind. The problem is, it is VERY time consuming. On top of that, it is dependent on a HUGE amount of room as all of the bottles need to be grouped and orders maintained. Sometimes the suite we get, while enough for tasting and for both of us to sleep – really leaves no room for the spread that occurs and is required to logistically make blind tastings a reality. And so, after the first round of tastings this year, it became apparent that it was NOT going to work. The only way we can do this is by getting another space to store all of this wine, lay it out properly, and manage it – and someone to help out – so that we aren’t wasting time getting all of the bottles numbered, covered, etc. This is something we have spoken about – and we will have to see how to deal with this in the future.

    In terms of the wines themselves, we can now basically put a pin in the ’21 vintage. Outside of random stragglers that will pop up over the next couple of years – we are done. Outside of a few bright spots from IDS and Royal, ’21 was dismal. ’22 is still an open question. I know, you are thinking to yourself that last November, I was already down on ’22. Yes, I still am. But what has been proven in ’21 is that even with a dismal vintage, good wines can be made. What’s crazy is that we have barely seen any ’22 mid-range wines and no ’22 big wines yet from Bordeaux. And of the few that we did see, it was a mixed bag.  So let’s give the ’22 vintage a chance.  ’23 also is way too early to call – with very few of the little wines being released as of yet. 

    We did seem to get a ton of other wines from Italy, Spain, and regions in France other than Bordeaux – from a variety of vintages. Overall, the quality of kosher wine, like in the non-kosher world, has drastically improved over the last decade. There are very few HORRIBLE wines being produced. (I said few, not none!) In fact, I think this hotel tasting was overall super successful. Yeah, maybe there were no superstars – but overall, it was a much more solid lineup than usual. It is really nice to see the kosher options expanding. I usually try to travel very light, but I took two wines with me that I wanted David to taste, which I thought he would like. Both scored well – one from Rioja (I’m a diehard tempranillo fan –and am over the moon when I can try something new) and an Israeli white Sauvignon Blanc (yes, Israeli SB – which I am not usually a fan of, but this one is stellar). So overall, this was a really successful set of tastings any way you measure it. 

    I am going to present the wines by flight – and not necessarily in the order we tasted them as we kept on retasting over the trip, and it got hard to keep that straight for me especially as we started out blind and then abandoned that.

    This content is for members only. Please Login  or Subscribe Here to continue reading!

    Share This:

    Like This:

    , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    No comments on France – May 2024 – Part 3 – Hotel Wines

  • A tasting of Domaine Roses Camille’s latest releases and Taieb wines

    After the tasting and the Herzog KFWE LA VIP Experience, I drove down to San Diego. When GG drives down it is easy to sit in the passenger seat, but doing the driving myself, with all that traffic, UGH! Still, once I was down in San Diego I made my way to Parisien Gourmandises, where I picked up a great lunch sandwich, some lovely Croissant, and a nice pear tarte. I enjoyed the Croissant with some Starbucks coffee (I hear you sneering Elk, be quiet, I have no time for your foo-foo coffee predilections). With all that said, if you are in the San Diego area, I would happily recommend Parisien Gourmandises. After my coffee fuel, I made my way to the home of Kosher Liquids, Andrew Breskin in sunny San Diego! Andrew and Shauna Breskin are the best hosts out there and I always feel at home in their surroundings. Mind you that is Dr. Shauna Breskin, or very soon, to be a Doctor, when at that point she will start taking over universities in desperate need of management and a conscience.

    After a quick look around and a chance to enjoy my lunch sandwich, it was time to get to work, tasting through all the new wines.

    Wines in the tasting

    I continue to question the validity of the love and hype being heaped upon the 2022 Bordeaux vintage, at least among the kosher options, so far. Of what I have tasted it has not reached anywhere near 2019, 2016, or 2014, and even 2015. So, time will tell. At this tasting, we had a couple of 2022 Bordeaux from Taeib Wines, but the stars of the show and the stars of any wines I have tasted so far this year were the 2018 releases from Domaine Roses Camille. Still, there were some very nice 2022 options from Bordeaux.

    My last post regarding the incredible Domaine Roses Camille highlighted some of the wines I tasted at this event, which, again, can be found here, those were the 2020 Chateau Les Graves de Lavaud, Lalande de Pomerol, and the 2020 Clos Lavaud, Lalande de Pomerol. These two wines continue to show the power of Pomerol, the right bank, and how we can get great wines for a reasonable price.

    Next was the best QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) wine I have tasted so far this year, the 2018 Echo de Roses Camille, WOW, that is a wine that would have been the best wine of the year in 2022, when things were a bit slow. The 2019 Echo de Roses Camille was too closed for me to get a real sense of the wine and sadly, I could not return to taste it again, in the morning because of circumstances beyond my control. I hope to taste it again soon, so the score below is a temporary one and is not official. Andrew threw in a 2012 Echo, a wine I have not had in some time and that wine is in the window, for sure, but has loads of gas in the tank, no rush on that one!

    The best wine of the evening was the 2018 Domaine Roses Louise, the grapes for which are sourced from a different vineyard than those for the Camille. This wine is not new, it has been produced and sold non-Kosher for many years. This is the first vintage of a kosher Domaine de Roses Louise. We also tasted the 2017 Domaine Roses Camille, and while that wine was nice, it showed far riper than when we had it in January 2023. Still, it is a nice wine, though, at this point, from this tasting, I wonder about its longevity.

    Next came the Taieb wines, and a couple of them I had already tasted in Paris, you can see those notes here and they tasted the same, which makes sense as it has only been a few months since late May. Those would be the two new wines from Chateau Tour Perey, the 2022 Chateau Tour Perey, and the 2022 Chateau La Fleur Perey. By the way, they are two QPR WINNER, so yeah, enjoy!!

    After those two, we enjoyed four wines from the 2022 vintage, three of them are well-known producers from the Taieb wine portfolio and one is a new winery. The new wine is the 2022 Chateau de Come, a very nice wine indeed, and another option from Saint-Estephe, a region that has not been hitting it on all cylinders, in regards to Kosher wine production, but this one will help! The other three are the 2022 Chateau Castelbruck, the 2022 Chateau Haut-Breton Larigaudiere, and the 2022 Château Roquettes. These wines showed control and pop and are a good sign for the rest of the 2022 kosher wines from Bordeaux that are yet to be released.

    After tasting the wines, the kids arrived from school, and then Elk and Alex Rubin made their entrance. It was fun tasting with Alex at Herzog Winery and it was interesting tasting with him again that night. Everyone has the things they like in wine but Alex has a very different approach to wine tasting and I enjoy tasting with him.

    The evening continued with the appearance of the queen of the house, Doctor-to-be Shauna, and then Andrew cooked dinner. It was a truly enjoyable evening. After that more folks swung by and we moved outside. It was a lovely evening and a lovely day for all.

    My thanks to Andrew and Shauna Breskin for hosting the tasting and for putting up with me and everyone else who crashed their home for an entire day! The notes speak for themselves.

    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:

    2020 Clos Lavaud, Lalnde de Pomerol – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is crazy closed but lovely with rich cherry, raspberry, loam, dense violet, rich clay, rock, and gravel, lovely! The mouth of this full-bodied wine is dense, rich, layered, scraping, and refreshing but so astringent at this point that it is inhuman to taste, with rich loam, dirt, clay, minerality, intense acidity, black and red fruit, black plum, raspberry, cherry, and scraping graphite. The finish is long, dark, brooding, smoky, and earthy, with minerality, acidity, and fruit interplaying at all times. Fun! Drink from 2025 until 2030. (tasted September 2024) (in San Diego, CA) (ABV = 14%)

    2020 Chateau Les Graves de Lavaud, Lalande de Pomerol – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is deeply floral, with rosehip, violet, dense minerality, dense clay, rich gravel, and tart red fruit, really lovely. The mouth of this medium-plus bodied wine is lovely, tart, precise, floral, deeply acidic, fresh, and refreshing, with vibrant sour red cherry, raspberry, and rhubarb, with intense minerality, rich dense tannin, intense clay, gravel, and rich rock, lovely! The finish is long, tart, refreshing, grippy, gripping tannin, slate, rock, and graphite, Fun! Drink from 2025 to 2029. (tasted September 2024) (in San Diego, CA) (ABV = 14%)

    2018 Echo de Roses Camille, Pomerol – Score: 94 (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is lovely, with a classic Echo nose of wax, lanolin, and yellow flowers, some espresso chocolate, sweet oak, garrigue, loam, minerality, and roasted herbs. The mouth of this full-bodied wine has my attention, with intense acidity, gripping tannins, rich fruit, layers upon layers of concentrated and complex fruit, rich raspberry, plum, dark cherry, and strawberry, all wrapped in elegance, power, intense minerality, verve, and garrigue, wow! The minerality, tannin, acidity, and complex red fruit all work together to build a bombastic wine that is just impressive! So impressive to be doing with just red fruit. The finish is long, tannin, bold, big, and rich, with more coffee chocolate, graphite, pencil shavings, iron shavings, lovely salinity, green olives, and rich smoke. Drink from 2030 until 2040. (tasted September 2024) (in San Diego, CA) (ABV = 14.5%)

    This content is for members only. Please Login  or Subscribe Here to continue reading!

    Share This:

    Like This:

    , , ,
    , , , , , , , , , ,
    2 comments on A tasting of Domaine Roses Camille’s latest releases and Taieb wines

  • Four solid QPR WINNER from Portugal – imported by Allied Importers

    This content is for members only. Please Login  or Subscribe Here to continue reading!

    Share This:

    Like This:

    , , , , ,
    , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    1 comment on Four solid QPR WINNER from Portugal – imported by Allied Importers

  • Herzog Winery Visit and KFWE VIP Experience 2024 – another successful event

    Six-plus months ago, Kosher Wine had its start to the wine-tasting season, for 2024. First, it was a trade-only KFWE (Kosher Food and Wine Festival in New Jersey), then the Jewish Link Grand Wine Tasting (also in New Jersey), and then A Wine & Food Night by KWD, in Brooklyn. I wrote about the three-day extravaganza here in this post. In the long post, I wrote that I thought it was time to move from the public-laden KFWE Kiddush to the more nimble area-based tastings. The scale of the three tastings, even the KFWE-trade tasting was far more in line with what people needed to taste and be educated. Still, there was no public option for Royal wines, but actually, the two tastings were better for Royal than KFWE could ever be. The point of the area-focused tastings was to make sure that the people who live in those areas are represented by what they may wish to taste. I hope that in the coming years, the wine stores will be allowed to weigh in on what wines should be showcased at these area-specific events, from massive portfolio distributors, like Royal.

    In the post, I wrote that the ball was now in Herzog Winery’s court to bring back the IFWF of old. The vast majority of the people at the KFWE VIP Experience 2024 event at the Herzog Winery in Oxnard, this past week, came and left experiencing EXACTLY what I hoped for 6+ months ago. Herzog did exactly what it was supposed to do, it highlighted the quality of their wines and the quality of their restaurant, and it allowed Royal to curate the wines it wanted to promote to the folks in Southern Califonia, whether that was actually implemented or not.

    I will say, that I hope Herzog Winery continues this idea, having a more intimate interaction/experience for their customers, by hosting the event at the winery. It showcases what they do/have best. The naming (AKA KFWE) I think is a mistake. The point here is that it was NOT a KFWE, it was a Wine and Tierra Sur Tasting at Herzog Wine Cellars, with a smattering of other wines. That overall approach used to be called IFWF (International Food and Wine Festival). However, that was also a misnomer, as the focus was more on Herzog and some French wines, even in 2008. In the end, trying to sell this event as anything more than Herzog and Tierra Sur undermines what Herzog sells. With that said, no one left there unhappy, to me, and from whom I spoke at the event, it was a hit and it should be continued!

    Herzog Wine Tasting

    A few hours before the KFWE event took place, Elchonon Hellinger, owner of Elk Wines, and I made our way to Herzog Wine Cellars to taste some Herzog wines I had yet to taste. Before Elk arrived I was speaking with Joseph Herzog (Vice President and Partner) and David Galzignato (Director of Winemaking and Operations) about many a thing and the California 2021 vintage came up. Up until this tasting, I had tasted all of the 2021 wines that were released, except for a few. With all of them, I was highly impressed and posted about them a few times, here, here, and here. The wines before me, other than a few 2021 wines, were all from the 2022 vintage. I can tell you now, the 2022 vintage does not show as well as the 2021. Simple. It is riper, less controlled, and feels like one that may not age as well. That said, at the end of the wine tasting I made this statement, the work you have done over these past two years clearly shows that you have raised the floor for Herzog Wine Cellars. The issue I have is that fewer wines push the ceiling, at least these past two years, than in previous years. I am sure that has a lot to do with the viticulture and the direction of the winery, as a whole, and I think that overall it is a win.

    With that said Herzog Winery continues to win as the top Mevushal wine option every year. They also do very well with the QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines. I expect them to be on those lists every year, Herzog Wine Cellars excel at the Mevushal Process and they excel at making quality wines for a reasonable price, across their portfolio, and with the work of David and his team, they have raised the floor of those wines over the past two years.

    The Yesod Wines, a new wine label, does not show the name Herzog anywhere on them. It is their first foray into making some of the best wines in the world. While tasting them I said that while I feel the work in these wines, the clear effort to raise the floor of the overall wine approach, it lacked the pop for me. The best wines in the kosher world, when you smell them, make you salivate, they make you want to taste more, and the alcohol levels on them allow you to do that without feeling off-kilter. The Yesod wines, in my opinion, are well-made wines for the sort of Kosher wine drinkers that are targeting. Classic Napa wines with a big body, enough acidity, and loads of fruit.

    The wines I oohed and aahed about were the 2023 Herzog Chenin Blanc, Clarksburg Reserve (mevushal), and the 2022 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, Special Reserve. Why? Because, in the past, these two wines (Herzog white wines in general) and the Napa Blue Label Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, were rarely on point. These two wines showed me the biggest change, the raising of the floor, and the focus, overall. A steady-eddy approach to winemaking, which may not garner you as many ceiling-pushing wines, at the start, but an approach that raises everything and one that I am sure will eventually get Herzog to even further heights.

    My many thanks to Joseph Herzog, and David Galzignato for setting up the meeting, sharing your wines with us, and taking time out of your busy schedule (the day of the event!) to meet with us. The wine notes follow below in the order they were tasted – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

    2023 Herzog Chenin Blanc, Clarksburg Reserve, Clarksburg, CA (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)The fruit had botrytis, modeled after Savennieres, old vines Chenin Blanc. The nose of this wine is lovely, showing white peach, pear, apricot, quince blossom, rich honeysuckle, pear blossom, sweet Lipton lemon tea, and sweet oak. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is fun, it is bone dry, showing great acidity, lovely mouthfeel, almost oily, with a lovely plush mouthfeel, starting with Lipton tea, honeysuckle, honeyed melon, pear, white peach, lovely mouthfeel, a true joy! The finish is long, tart, funky, and rich, with green notes, floral notes abound, and bone dry and rich sweet oak. Drink by 2028. (tasted September 2024) (in Oxnard, CA) (ABV = 14.50%)

    2023 Herzog Chardonnay, Russian River, Russian River, CA (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is lovely, tropical, fruity, smoky, and ripe, with hickory, sweet vanilla, butterscotch, sweet dill, and peach/pear. The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is ripe, and balanced, with lovely acidity, with rich pear, apricot, sweet oak, butterscotch, buttery brioche, and sweet dill, with rich sweet fruit that works with the American Oak. The finish is long, ripe, and a bit candied, but balanced with great acidity, smoke, rich vanilla, hints of banana, and oak. Drink by 2028 (tasted September 2024) (in Oxnard, CA) (ABV = 14%)

    2023 Herzog Chardonnay, Chalk Hill, Special Edition, Chalk Hill, CA (M) – Score: 92 (QPR: WINNER)The nose of this wine is nice with great bright fruit, lovely tart peach, pear, melon, and great sweet oak. The mouth of this medium-plus-bodied wine is lovely, tart, and balanced, with rich acidity, nice smoke, and good weight, showing pear, peach, melon, and hints of tropical, but balanced, and nice focus with good oak. The finish is long, and tart, with no butter here, great wine, more Chablis than Burg in style. Nice! Drink by 2028 (tasted September 2024) (in Oxnard, CA) (ABV = 14.50%)

    This content is for members only. Please Login  or Subscribe Here to continue reading!

    Share This:

    Like This:

    , , , , ,
    , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    4 comments on Herzog Winery Visit and KFWE VIP Experience 2024 – another successful event

  • Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, Seven QPR WINNERS – Aug 2024

    This may be one of the smallest QPR roundups I have done. The last one I did was in December of 2023, and that one had many more wines than this one. I will be having a follow-up QPR post to this one, but I wanted to get this one out now.

    There are 26 total wines with 7 QPR WINNERS, so that is a good average to me. With this post, I will finally be caught up, though I have a bunch more wines to get through and more to come. That will lead us into the 9-Days, and I wish you all an easy, meaningful, and hopeful two weeks ahead.

    QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Wines

    It has been seven or so months since my last QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) post and many people have been emailing me about some unique wines I have tasted and some lovely wines that are worth writing about.

    Thankfully, no matter how much garbage and pain I subject myself to, we are still blessed with several wonderful QPR wines out there.

    We have a SOLID list of QPR WINNERS:

    1. 2021 Shirah Pinot Meunier, Santa Maria, CA  – LOVELY and unique wine that should improve!
    2. 2018 Golan Heights Winery Blanc de Blanc, Yarden, Galilee – the bubbles return!
    3. 2022 Chateau Hauteville, Saint-Estephe – solid 2022 Bordeaux
    4. 2020 Chateau La Tonnelle, Haut-Medoc – nice 2020
    5. 2022 Dampt Freres Bourgogne, Bourgogne – a SOLID Burg without Burg pricing
    6. 2020 Chateau Greysac, Medoc (M) – Nice Mevushal Bordeaux
    7. 2022 Lovatelli Nebbiolo, Monferrato (M) – Nice Mevushal Italian red

    There were also a few wines that were a slight step behind with a GREAT or GOOD QPR score:

    1. 2021 Netofa Latour, Red, Galilee -Showing better than I had in Israel
    2. 2022 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib Pinot Noir, Catalunya – Not a great vintage
    3. 2022 Chateau de Parsac, Montagne Saint-Emilion (M) – 2022 will be hit and miss for sure
    4. 2022 Rocca delle Macie Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico – Good enough just simple
    5. 2022 Chateau Le Petit Chaban, Bordeaux (M) – Again 2022, hit and miss
    6. 2022 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Reserve, Alexander Valley – off year for the Alex
    7. 2020 Elvi Wines Herenza Crianza, Collection, Rioja (M) – The Mevushal version is nice enough
    8. 2021 Pacifica Malbec, Washington – Nice but a bit too rough for me

    There are a few wines that got a QPR Score of EVEN – meaning expensive or average:

    1. 2021 Lovatelli Toscana Rosso, Tuscany – Solid wine just a bit overpriced for the quality
    2. 2021 Cantina Giuliano Super Tuscan, Tuscany – This entire line disappointed me
    3. 2022 Cantina Giuliano Cabernet Sauvignon, Tuscany – Same as above
    4. 2021 Chateau Mayne Guyon, Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux (M) – 2021 Bordeaux – tough year

    The others are essentially either OK wines that are too expensive, duds, or total failures:

    1. 2023 Nana Grenache, Negev – Average wine for a crazy high price
    2. 2020 Cantina Giuliano A Mano Cabernet Sauvignon, Tuscany – Expensive and poor
    3. 2021 Cantina Giuliano Chianti, Tuscany  – poor quality
    4. 2022 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib, Montsant (M) – poor quality and expensive
    5. 2021 Cantina Giuliano Merlot, Tuscany (M) – poor quality
    6. 2021 Le Pletzl, Bordeaux (M) – poor quality
    7. 2022 Herzog Pinot Noir, Lineage, Clarksburg, CA (M) – poor quality

    Some things that made me stand up and take notice (AKA QPR WINNERS):

    The real stunner here is the 2021 Shirah Pinot Meunier, Santa Maria, CA! I have posted already about how the 2021 vintage SAVED California. Sadly, that may have been short-lived, with the recent raft of vineyards being ripped up and wineries closing. Still, the 2021 vintage has been a boon for Cali after the horrific 2020 fires.

    The 2021 Shirah Pinot Meunier has to be one of the most unique and wonderful wines I have had in a very long time. It is not quite a Pinot Noir and yet it is also captivating. Sim ply said, read the notes, and buy!

    The 2016 vintage of the Golan Heights Winery Blanc de Blanc, Yarden was a miss, but that is fine, they are normal in the wine business. The 2018 returns the bubbly to its crown position as the QPR sparkling wine.

    The 2022 Chateau Hauteville, Saint-Estephe continues the streak for this wine. It is another WINNER after how well the 2021 vintage showed and the 2020 before that.

    The 2020 Chateau La Tonnelle, Haut-Medoc, is a return to its status. This vintage is nice.

    The 2022 Dampt Freres Bourgogne is the answer we need for non-Burgundy-priced wines from Burgundy. It is 2022, so it is ripe, but it is balanced and refreshing, and in the end, that is what Burgundy MUST BE!

    The 2020 Chateau Greysac, Medoc, is a solid option for those who want a simple but fun and refreshing Mevushal Bordeaux.

    Finally, this wine surprised me, the 2022 Lovatelli Nebbiolo, Monferrato (M) came in under a fair amount of internet chatter. However, I found it refreshing and for a Mevushal wine – a solid showing.

    I was UNIMPRESSED by Royal’s new import – Cantina Giuliano, all of the wines were a hard miss. The Lovatelli wines are either a miss or a hit. The 2021 Lovatelli Barbera d’Asti and the 2022 Lovatelli Nebbiolo are WINNER to me. The other Lovatelli are either hard misses or just OK, so far. Still, two hits for a new brand is a good average!

    Other wines worth noting (AKA QPR GREAT or GOOD):

    I tasted this wine in Israel blind and I found it less than desirable. This time the 2021 Netofa Latour, Red showed better.

    I had hoped for the 2022 Capcanes Peraj Ha’abib Pinot Noir, Catalunya, but it did not have the refreshing approach that I needed.

    The rest of this group is just good enough wines to get these QPR scores. The miss here is the 2022 Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon, Special Reserve, Alexander Valley. It used to be that even vintages were the WINNER, but with 2021 things switched, 2021 was the WINNER vintage, and 2022 was a miss. Still a nice wine, but it lacks the refreshing aspect I expect.

    Wines that are either good but too expensive or average (AKA EVEN):

    As stated above, this post includes almost all the wines from Cantina Giuliano and in the end, for me, they lack balance, plain and simple. Two of the Lovatelli have that balance.

    Wines that are either OK but far too expensive or bad wines (AKA POOR/BAD):

    Not much here mostly poor-scoring wines. There are also, many duds to losers and I will just leave you to peruse the names and scores down below.

    The wine notes follow below – the explanation of my “scores” can be found here and the explanation for QPR scores can be found here:

    2021 Shirah Pinot Meunier, Santa Maria, CA – Score: 92.5 (QPR: WINNER)This may well be the first time I have tasted the single varietal called Pinot Meunier. Of course, it is the grape used to make Champagne but I have never tasted a single varietal that I know of. How does Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier differ? Pinot Noir is leaner and richer, earthier, dirtier, all of what you crave from Pinot, Meunier is fruitier, ripens faster, grows in very hard areas, and colder regions, and has citrus notes that a truly unique! Bravo Weiss Brothers! The nose of this wine is unique, yes I would have said this was Pinot Noir, sorry, this is new, tasted blind I would have also said it was a riper Pinot, and the citrus would have made me think of a blend, but I am really not sure. The nose is ripe, not candied, blunted a bit by the oak, with rich floral notes, yellow and jasmine, very unique, with oolong tea, orange/Meyer Lemon, like what! Followed by sweet oak, roasted meat, and rich red fruit. Bravo! The mouth of this medium-bodied wine is on point, showing great acidity, lovely cranberry, dark cherry, Cherry Cola, and hints of blueberry, this is one strange cat, with nice mouth-draping tannin, and yes, sweet orange. The finish is long, plus, almost round, but with great acidity, and sweet notes that carry this wine. Bravo!! Drink by 2027. (tasted July 2024) (in San Jose, CA) (ABV = 14%)

    This content is for members only. Please Login  or Subscribe Here to continue reading!

    Share This:

    Like This:

    , , , , , , ,
    , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
    5 comments on Another round of QPR (Quality to Price Ratio) Hits and Misses, Seven QPR WINNERS – Aug 2024