A consultant's perspective on GHW

[YoelA]

Have been holding wine tastings once a year as part of our synagogue's fund-raising activities. I try to make them both educational and fun, and seem to have succeeded since many people are repeat attendees. And over the years people have been developing both their knowledge and their tastes. Last year people decided that, in general, they did not care much for kosher pinot noirs. This year we generated a fair bit of excitement and surprise about kosher Spanish wines, which most people had never tasted (beyond the four-dollar specials at Trader Joe's). That seems to have generated some purchases of a rioja that people found much to their liking.

[Craig Winchell]

I must agree with Isaac from my own perspective... I rarely open a bottle of wine at home outside of Shabbos and Yom Tov. Who can regularly afford to do so, with mortgages, tuitions, and activities for the kids taking a big chunk of the budget. And who can afford the time leisurely recovering from even a good bit of wine, outside of Shabbos? Most of us have jobs the next day, and wives or husbands and kids who wish to engage our attention during weekday evenings, or ideally, chevrusas and shiurim. So Shabbos, Yom Tov and the occasional Sunday are the only times I really can open a few bottles and either savor or guzzle.

[Gabriel Geller]

This really is one of the nice aspects of being a wine retailer... I drink wine, good to great, several times/week as part of the tastings offered to my customers.

Now Josh I share with you the same philosophy when it comes to service and knowledge in a wine shop so I'm looking forward to meet you upon your next trip to Israel! And btw, my favorite Moscato (had it today) is Binyamina's Teva series (not sure if available outside Israel), and the Golan is definitely a best seller here.

Jon, I wish I could do the same here, hosting people every Friday night for wine tasting but even though I live in Jerusalem, there are not enough people in my neighborhood who'd be interested. That might change, so I hope, when I'll eventually move to my shop's neighborhood, Rechavia. While still far from being like LA's Pico/Robertson area, Rechavia is also inhabited by many bons vivants!

And yes Isaac, I plead guilty as I acknowledge being considered by many as a cork dork...

[Daniel Kovnat]

Isaac - I have tastings at my house almost every friday night after dinner. Started almost two years ago. I have a group of regulars, most of who would drink the wine purely to get a buzz on, didn't know much about and didn't really care for it (hey...free booze). Fast forward a year and the same people at my table are telling me about aroma, flavor, body, tannic structure, etc and have clearly developed preferences that they can express.

I find that wine appreciation these days, like so many other things, is truly viral. So it's up to all of us to spread the knowledge and get people involved.

Here, here to what Jon writes

And Gabe, you say,

While the BBB was appreciated by my friend, the Recanati was sort of a revelation for him! Since he moved to Israel shortly afterwards, he started accompanying me to many wineries visits, wine expos and festivals and quickly become an aficionado (he's a Petit Castel geek now...). I think I made him spend already a few thousands $ in wine in less than a year! So I may say that from a certain perspective he became a wine lover thanks to the BBB!

Might he have become a wine lover thanks to the Recanati Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, rather than the BBB

And a good week to all,
Dan Kovnat

[Gabriel Geller]

Might he have become a wine lover thanks to the Recanati Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, rather than the BBB

I bought the BBB for him knowing that he liked moscato and the Recanati CF was more for myself in the first place, to ensure that I'd have at least one bottle of good wine for Shavuot (with all due respect to the BBB ...). And then he tasted it and was impressed with a red wine for the first time, catching on the complexity of the nose, tannic structure etc though without being really able to express it with such terms and started asking me many questions about grape varieties, growing regions, Israeli wine in general and such. My conclusion is that he became a wine lover thru the Recanati but thanks to the BBB. Got it?