2012 Gotham Wine Event and Jewish Week's Grand Wine Tasting

[David Raccah]

OOPS! Indeed Sunday night or Monday night will work. Though if the gang is there on Sunday - why not do it then?

David

[Yossie Horwitz]

Someone PM me & I'll give you Golan's cell phone - use my name & they will make a reservatiion. Aweseome panini, pizza and salmon buirgers. Cheeses are spectacular as well.

[Isaac C]

I made reservations for Le Marais for after the wine tasting. So far there are five of us (and one is a maybe). If anyone else would like to join please email me so I can adjust the reservation.

[David Raccah]

Just got back from the tasting and dinner,and no way am I posting notes. That said, clear winner for the evening was the 2010 Bravdo wines - mega kudos!

Fred David's two wines, including the reserve was tasting quite nice. At the VIP, all the new cool recanatis were in the house. Love the new white RSR and the Carignan with deep animal flavors. Truly exotic and hedonisti, as the late Rogov said.

Shiki poured many Teperberg wines, and it was a good thing as the KWS of NY did not have Shiki pouring this past Thursday night. Most of the wines were B+ to A- or A-. There were some quite unique wines, including a new Permium blend and a reserve blend that is being sold ONLY in magnum. Then the recanatis were poured at the VIP - SICK!

Costas was in classic style along with the two Josh and another guy who's name I forget now. Pouring away, while Costas in his calm humble style - giving over good info and great ideas.

The Recanatis will be in the area soon, not here quite yet, but available now at Gotham, from what I understood,or very soon.

Then we had the two Cave wines - sorry, yes the Cave Old Vine Cab is nice, but not worth the cost, in my humble opinion. Also, two gvaot wines - the 2010 gvaot herodian blend and the 20100 herodian merlot. The blend was nice, the merlot was super green and average.

Then he popped open an old Carmel zarit cab - nice smelly socks and green notes

Finally,lovely Dalton Anna Muscat and Teperberg Nevel port, which Adam M raved about,and I thought was OK.

Then on to the main tasting. A heads up, KUDOS to the importers! Tons of new wines, no rehashes. Also, yarden was a no show - no idea why. Instead, in their place was tons of quick eating crackers and chocolate company. To me THANK YOU for the crackers - really saved my palate!

Also, besides the new vintages, there were new wineries thanks to Red Garden, the new boutique wine importer. They had Livni wines and Tanya wines - ALL 2009 vintages! Yes, Yoel - both had a PN and nice blends! They tasted just like they did at Sommelier, just the crazy tannin has now subsided a bit.

Also, clear notes of green are running all over the new wines. we are talking nice green almost fresh forest. So,if you do not like green beware - many of the Israeli reds from 10 and 09 are greener than normal.

Still not a fan of the Rose Louis de Sacy Grand Cru - nice but super aggressive bubbles really kill it. It may be better with time. For now, my no brainer go to Champagne is the Drappier D'Or.

Personally, other than the Recanati RSR white, none of the whites really grabbed me this year. The cloest winners were the Ella Valley SB and the 2011 Bravdo Chard.

Another new wine fromRed Garden importer is called 2009 Auteur Phillipe Lictenstein Cab - nice! A bit alcoholic, as Sruli feels - yeah I am calling you out Srul! post here my man!

The two Borgo Maturo and Brunello were still tannin bombs and nice.

Again, as an example the Dalton Alma SMV had more green than I remembered when I tatsed it at the winery.

Many of the French wines - MEGA DUDS!!!! Some with nice and appealing barnyard and sock notes - NOT!!!!

2009 Ella Valley CF - AWESOME!! Green that reminds me of a luscious green forest and bell pepper - but blended with nice red fruit!

The new 2009 Volcanics and Har Odem were OK from Odem Winery. The Chard from Odem Winery had so much risidual sugar it should be called semi sweet!

Again,Bravdo - AWESOME!!! The only semi-let down was the 2010 Merlot - which was OK.

The 2009 Recanati Cab reserve and the PSZ were BOTH quite nice! Another winery that showed really well.

With the tasting winding to a close, I finally caught sight of Isaac C, AdamM (also saw him at the VIP as he sat next to me), Duvie Wieder (who drove me to dinner), Sruli, his lovely wife (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!) , and her good girl friend, whose name I missed,and Abe Raice who swung by later from The River wine importer. The gang met up and off we went to Le Marias. We all enjoyed the food,and I really enjoyed finally putting faces to many of the names here on the Forum. Pinchas,who did not attend the tasting, came by for dinner and that rounded out the party!

MEGA THANKS to Isaac C for putting together the dinner and putting up with all the machinations of the final bill after the meal. Really loved it - so again - THANKS!

It was an helluva of a dinner, conversation was awesome, lively, honest, and truly entertaining. In the end, the evening had to end, and we all went our separate ways.

MANY MNY thanks to Costas as always for putting together an event that truly epitomizes the kosher wine scene. Yes the IFWF and KFWE are great, but not with this breath of wines. Also, because I hit the IFWF, I really did not walk by Gary's table, but I did sample the limited at the end of the evening - nice.

More on the blog in the next few days, God Willing,
David

[Gabriel Geller]

I made reservations for Le Marais for after the wine tasting.

Enjoy guys! I highly recommend the hanger steak at Le Marais (Onglet), it's not very expensive ($26 if it still the same) and provides a guaranteed heavenly moment! (how the heck can I talk and rave about a steak at 8am?! )

[Sam M]

I missed the Gotham wine event because I'm out of town on business. I'm waiting for everyone's remarks. Suddenly all the chatter boxes went silent? I hope the folks that met for dinner had a good time.

Sam

[Elie Poltorak]

Nice meeting a few forumites in person! I promised Adam I'd post something (I've been away from the forum for a few months due to health issues) so here goes:

Another new wine fromRed Garden importer is called 2009 Auteur Phillipe Lictenstein Cab - nice! A bit alcoholic, as Sruli feels - yeah I am calling you out Srul! post here my man!
David

A bit alcoholic?? I thought I had accidentally taken a sip of moonshine when I tried the Auteur...

Anyhow, I got to try quite a few interesting new wines at this event.

Finally got to try the Cave old vine and although quite nice, it doesn't come close to living up to the hype. If it wasn't so damn hyped and expensive, I would say it's a very good wine with nice aging potential, but with the expectations I came with, the wine fell short.

The Bravdo Shiraz is just off the charts great. All of the Bravdo wines are amazing--particularly the coupage, but this was my first time tasting the Shiraz and it's just incredible.

Shilo Legend was very nice-my favorite yet from this winery (I don't like the Mosaic at all). I was shocked to see it's mevushal--I couldn't taste a hint of that. I'd love to compare to the non-mevushal if that ever makes it here. (In the Sod, I find a HUGE difference between the mevushal and non-mevushal versions--the mevushal is very flat in comparison. I hope the Legend shows that Shiloh is improving their technique for bishul, as there is a serious shortage of decent mevushal wines out there.) The Shor Barbera was also very good.

Yasher Koach to David for directing me to the David Reserve--I would've missed it among all the French junk. This wine is fantastic! I wasn't as impressed with his other one with the weird French name. I can't find a price for the reserve yet but my understanding is that it's around $20, at which it's a huge bargain! I look forward to stocking up.

Among the Teperbergs from the VIP tasting, I liked the Cab Franc and the second premium blend (not the one from the magnum). The port was pretty good but if you liked it, you'll LOVE the Kinor David Port (available only at the winery in Hevron).

I was excited to finally try the Pacifica I've been hearing so much about, but the wine disappointed. I know many of you have liked it but I couldn't get anything out of either of the wines they were pouring (a pinot noir and a blend). Both came off as watery and one-dimensional.

I tried the full flight of Gush Etzion wines and they were interesting--although IMHO the varietals were much better than the blends.

Domaine Netofa was fascinating. You put your nose in the glass and it transports you to a freshly tilled field right after rain. The earthyness is just unbelievable. A fascinating wine. I was less impressed with the Latour Netofa. Although its a more "serious" wine, I found it less exciting than the lower line Domaine Netofa.

(Speaking of Domaines, the other week in Israel I had a Domaine Ventura Cab Franc--for all your Cab Franc fanatics out there, you must get a bottle!! Does anyone know if it's available in the U.S.?)

New vintage of Dalton PS was fabulous as always. Very disappointed there was no Matatia this year. I love that wine and try to chap arain whenever I can!

The Hevron wines were all showing nicely, unlike previous years when they've had some serious quality control issues. A few new interesting releases here as well (a tempranillo, reserve blend, etc.). Poor QPR though.

Cabcanes Peraj Ha'abib '09 is just phenomenal. Their wines are always great but I think the '09 vintage is among their best.

That's it for now.

[David Raccah]

My initial write up for my blog - again way too much good stuff, including links and photos to dump here - just FYI:

http://kosherwinemusings.com/2012/03/05 ... sults-wow/

[David Raccah]

Elie it was great to meet you, indeed you have been missed from the forum and I hope to see you next year on your feet running all over the place like Sruli! Hey Sruli - where are you? Come on, please post something -

No pressure....

David

[Isaac C]

Short work week - when I get a chance hopefully I will remember enough to post about the wines I had. I did have an amazing time and really enjoyed a lot of moderately priced wines that I will hopefully stock up on.

[Adam M]

As I sober up from Purim, my memory of the last two weeks is becoming so hazy that I figure that I should hurry up and post something on this before it all escapes me. Truth is, there are a several noteable wines that have made a lasting impression on me that I won't be forgetting for a while. The first is the new "Nevel" port from Teperberg. It is set for release in Israel before Passover and is expected to come to the US by next Sepetmber. Man is this good. I found it so smooth and chocolatey and all around delicious. [Btw, I would like to publicly announce to the universe that David Raccah did not drink his tasting of this right away, but rather put his glass aside until the end of the private Teperberg tasting and drank it only after tasting the Dalton Anna dessert wine and some brandy. ] Shiki, the head winemaker from Teperberg, commented on the long aging potential of this port. He insights regarding how it was made only enhanced my appreciation.

Other Teperberg wines that really impressed me were two high-end red blends that were taken from barrel samples. Neither of them had official names yet, although Shiki indicated that one of them, which I actually like the most, might be called "Signature."
In the regular tasting, I was so impressed and proud at how many quality wines are on the market today. At every level - economical, moderately priced and high end - there is something for everybody in the Kosher space. It is really impossible today to rcommend just one, or even a handful, of wines at any particular level b/c there is always 10 more that could also suit.

Here is a non-exclusive list of really good wines that I tasted:

-The 2007 Recanati Special Reserve and 2009 Reserve Cabernet were very solid as usual
-A had a few of the Dalton wines, with the SMV impressing me the most. Carmel certainy has blazed a trail with its Mediterranean blend
-Loved the Bravdos; the winery has such a great story behind it. With the price point and quality, I could sell it like ice to eskimos.
-Loved the 07 Isaac's Ram; the finish is perhaps a litle shorter than some of the higher end wines. But you really only notice it if you taste it along side a higher quality wine.
-At the Ella Valley table I went to my tried and true favorite (Note to Yossie: I haven't yet tried the Cab Franc), which is the regular merlot. Excellent value for a merlot with serious backbone.
-I was pleasantly surprised at the Kadesh Barneas, particularly their highest end called the Red Desert. The winery has repackaged their bottles and lowered their price point to a reasonable level, which I think is very smart.
-I thought the Odem Volcanic chardonnay and rose were delightful. Perhaps, as David Raccah suggests, they aren't as complex (or dry) as some others, but I thought they were enjoyable nonetheless.
-The Yatirs were excellent as usual. With the unique terrior from which these grapes come, this is another wine that can be sold like ice to eskimos.
There were so many more good wines that I wish I can remember.
I usually feel compelled to make at least a few critical comments regarding wines that I didn't like, particularly if a particular wine has been praised by others. Something about this event, however, made me focus almost entirely on the positives. Perhaps it was the coming together of so many wines from so many distributors and the recognition that, once a certain minimum level of quality is achieved, it so much is a matter of beholding beauty, on which it isn't really fair to pontificate. I felt that this minimum quality level showed up in spades at this event.

[Gabriel Geller]

this is another wine that can be sold like ice to eskimos.

Gotta figure out ways to make my Eskimos aware that the ice truck is now in the place!

[David Raccah]

Published my tenth article on the wineries in Israel's Judean Hills wine region. This one concentrating on the up and coming Teperberg Winery. We had the chance to taste a few barrel samples and unique wines at the Gotham Wine VIP event and I also added in some wines that I tasted at Sommelier in Israel, last year.

It was great meeting with Shiki and some of the unique wine samples were quite enjoyable, while some were OK. Teperberg is a winery that is up and coming, but not quite there yet.

http://kosherwinemusings.com/2012/03/15 ... sommelier/

David