Jewish Week Kosher Wine Guide 2015 by The Jewish Week

Kosher Wine TheJewishWeek | March 13, 2015

6 t h

A N N U A L

EDITI O N

Guide

Is The Kosher Label A ‘Golden Handcuff?’

Israeli vintners discuss the benefits and pitfalls of typecasting Page 4

The Terrain In Spain

The mountain village of Capçanes is the site of an unlikely kosher wine success story Page 10

The French Fight Back

While Israeli wines dominate the kosher market, French wines are starting to make a comeback Page 24

PLuS The

Top 18 ListS

The 18 Best Kosher Wines...

Whites $18 & Over Whites Under $18 Reds $25 & Over Reds Under $25 Best Reds and Whites Sweet Wines Israeli Wines BEST Wines

2012 NEW WORLD WINERY OF THE YEAR HONORED TO BE THE FIR ST ISRAELI WINERY TO WIN

Wine Enthusiast’s Prestigious Wine Star Award

ICE

’S CH

Golan Heights Winery Yarden Chardonnay 2012

T B

90 ES

EDI

Golan Heights Winery Gilgal Syrah 2010

Golan Heights Winery Gilgal Merlot 2009

90 Golan Heights Winery Yarden Merlot 2009

T BU

90 Galil Mountain Yiron Vineyard Viognier 2012

O U R N E W R AT I N G S AT

Wine Enthusiast Magazine 424 West 33 Street, Suite #560 New York NY 10001 Tel 212 997 9463 facebook: yardenGHW yardenwines.com

The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015 • 1

GOLAN HEIGHTS WINERY

2 • The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015

EDITOR’S NOTE

A WORLD OF KOSHER WINE

e open this, our sixth annual Kosher Wine Guide, with an intriguing question, one that mirrors the age-old, Is it Good for the Jews? Is the “kosher” label good for vintners, or is it, as one of them tells us, “a golden handcuff?” Can segregation on the shelf actually be a boon? Or, as the quality of kosher wine improves, is it demeaning to be stuck on the kosher shelf, like a sophisticated teenager who finds herself at the kid’s table for the Passover seder? It’s a hard question to answer, in the end, and Joshua London surveys the field for opinion. But that the question is even being asked suggests that kosher wines have indeed come a long way from the Manischewitz days. The rest of the issue is a kind of travelogue as we roam around the globe to tell stories from a growing kosher wine industry. Our “Fruit of the Vine” kosher wine columnist, Gamliel Kronemer, makes a stop in the picturesque Spanish hill town of Capçanes to tour Celler Capçanes; the village’s winery is the first to regularly produce kosher wine in Spain in over a century. He also catches up with London-based culinary anthropologist and food writer Claudia Ronen as she reminisces about her early years in Cairo and how they inspired her wide-ranging cookbooks. And he reports on how French kosher winemakers are trying to claw back some market share from Israeli vintners. This 40-page section also includes our annual Top 18 Lists, a juried roundup of the best kosher wines in a variety of categories. This year we’ve added two new categories: Top Sweet Wines and Top Wines. Some of the top wines will likely be part of our Grand Wine Tasting March 16 at City Winery. The last word goes to Israeli winemaker Lewis Pasco: “Sure, our wines get typecast — but there’s now an awful lot of good stuff there.” To which we can only add, Amen and L’Chaim. Jewish Week Editors

KOSHER WINE GUIDE

CONTENTS Is The Kosher Label A ‘Golden Handcuff?’ Israeli vintners discuss the benefits and pitfalls of typecasting.

The Terrain In Spain

The mountain village of Capçanes is the site of an unlikely kosher wine success story.

Out Of Egypt

Passover remembrances and recipes from noted food anthropologist and writer Claudia Roden.

The French Fight Back

While Israeli wines may dominate the kosher market, French wines are starting to make a comeback.

Ingredients For A ‘Spirited’ Passover Quality kosher le’Pesach cognacs, vodkas and gins are on the rise.

24 27

The Shmittah Effect

What impact does the biblically mandated sabbatical year have on Israel’s wine industry?

10 29

The Tastemakers

Meet the judges whose discerning palates pick The Jewish Week’s Top 18 Kosher Wines Competition.

PLUS

TOP 18 LISTS

32 32

The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015 • 3

P r o d u c t of I s r a e l

4 • The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015

Is The Kosher Label A ‘Golden Handcuff?’

Israeli vintners discuss the benefits and pitfalls of typecasting. Joshua E. London

Special To The Jewish Week

t’s a bit like being a sophisticated teenager and having to sit at the kid’s table for the Passover seder. Or like a composer who has written a work he thinks is serious and having it end up in the “Light Classical” bin. It’s the “kosher shelf.” And it’s the bane of many Israeli winemakers’ existence. By most estimates, kosher wine has come a long way since the industry first began making serious table wine. And in Israel, the quality of the wine being produced has taken dramatic leaps in the last generation, according to industry observers. So looking at the current state of the Israeli kosher wine market, a question arises: Is it good for Israeli wines to be looked at as merely kosher when those winemakers are trying to make fine wine? “Israel is producing the best kosher wines in the world,” says Adam Montefiore, the wine development director of the Carmel Winery, Israel’s largest wine producer, “and Israel offers the greatest variety of kosher wines in the world.” There are fabulous kosher wines to be had from elsewhere, he readily concedes, but there is nothing in particular to make them compelling beyond the kosher market, all things being equal. “A kosher CA [California] wine has to compete with every CA non-kosher wine,” he says, “while an Israeli wine isn’t just kosher, for it also represents the Eastern Mediterranean wine region, the area of the world where the culture of wine was born in ancient times.” After all, he argues, “‘kosher’ isn’t a region, and Israel isn’t an island, but a country that, in wine terms, represents a proper wine-producing region — the Eastern Mediterranean — which includes Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, and Lebanon.” Israeli wine that is kosher should be proudly so, he maintains, for Israel is the Jewish state and “kosher” is the Jewish dietary code, but “in fact the ‘kosher’ designation is totally irrelevant to the quality of the wine.” Yet being relegated to the kosher shelf remains a problem, he notes, largely “because people confuse ‘kosher’ with ‘kiddush’ [sweet, sacramental wine]. But Israeli wines also offer the best chance for a crossover from kosher to non-kosher.” Placement on the shelf is no small thing for vintners. “Before we became kosher, the wine

Separate but equal? The Israeli kosher wine shelf at Skyview Wine & Spirits in Riverdale. . MICHAEL DATIKASH / JW

stores didn’t know where to put us — especially in the U.S.,” says Eli Ben-Zaken, founder and winemaker of the prestigious Israeli boutique winery Domaine du Castel. “But look, you want to be on the kosher shelf too so that kosher consumers can find your wines.” He says it is simply a reality to be accepted: “We strive to make good wines that happen also to be kosher, but we do want the kosher drinker to know where we are and [to] be able to find us. Ideally, you want to be on two shelves — kosher and Israeli — but that might be asking too much.” To Gil Shatsberg, head winemaker at the Recanati Winery, one of Israel 10 largest producers, the kosher shelf is “a sort of a golden handcuff — it’s golden, but it is limiting.” He notes, however, that since Recanati is “working with an importer like Palm Bay, where we are the only kosher wine in their portfolio, it allows us to really market the wine to the general wine consumer, to the non-kosher market. It’s obviously an uphill battle, but we’ve thus far some had very good successes — including [having our wines in] Michelin-starred New York restaurants. We obviously aren’t neglecting the kosher market, as it remains most important — but we try not to be bound to it.”

For Ed Salzberg, chief winemaker for the Barkan Winery, Israel’s second largest producer, the kosher shelf issue, “if it ever was an issue, ceased being of importance a long time ago.” He maintains that Israeli wines are sold in Western Europe and North America as “kosher” because, “this represents who buys most of them — Jews who support Israel.” He believes that “as Israeli wines have become much better, the public buying them has become much more sophisticated about what it wants.” Citing the countless medals and consistently good reviews that Israeli wines have garnered, he suggests that “the public buying kosher wine expects a good product.” Salzberg continues, “Someone who normally doesn’t buy kosher wines, but who has tasted or heard of a particular wine will find it” easily enough. The notion that it would be good for Israeli wine producers “to be on the same shelf as [non-kosher] New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Australian Shiraz or Argentine Malbec” is, to Salzberg, “debatable.” On balance, he suggests, “Israeli wines get more shelf space as ‘kosher wines’ than they would get as [just] another third-world producer.”

Continued on page 6

The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015 • 5

6 • The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015

‘Golden Handcuff?’ continued from page 4 Victor Schoenfeld, head winemaker of the Golan Heights Winery, is far less sanguine about the idea that non-kosher consumers are willing to explore the kosher section to find a good quality Israeli wine. “Like Sasquatch,” he says, “maybe there have been some sightings, but nobody knows if she or he really exists,” and “anyway, this consumer does not exist in any kind of volume. “I completely agree that it benefits kosher Israeli wines to have a ‘built-in’ niche market,” says Schoenfeld, “but being relegated to the ‘kosher shelf’ outside of Israel is a very mixed bag. ... My view is long term and I think about what will ensure long-term vitality for the Israeli wine industry.” Consider, he notes, that “Israel has no competitive advantage in making low-cost wine. Real estate, energy, labor, etc., costs are not low in Israel. We will never be able to compete long term with countries that have lower costs and thus have a decisive competitive advantage in producing low cost wines.” Further, he says, “the added cost to make wines from these lowcost countries kosher is not that high. Low-cost wines around the world are basically a commodity, and low-cost kosher wines will be the same, if it’s not that way completely already.”

“Being relegated to the ‘kosher shelf’ is a very mixed bag,” says a vintner. MICHAEL DATIKASH / JW

Taking the longer-term view, “the Israeli wine industry has to produce high-quality, high-value

wines in order to flourish.” As it stands, Schoenfeld contends, “The international kosher wine market is not big enough for Israeli wines to sell exclusively there and succeed.” Israel needs, he argues, “to become a niche market in the general wine market,” and “if we have the quality, we don’t have to compete in the difficult mass market. If we become a recognized, well-regarded niche, that will spell success for our domestic industry. And I believe this is happening and may even be slowly snowballing.” “There is a sea-change going on,” says Jay Buchsbaum, vice president of marketing and director of wine education for Royal Wine Corp., the largest producer, importer and distributor of kosher wines and spirits, “though I think it’s only at its beginning.” He notes that “more and more non-kosher restaurants are adding Israeli wines to their lists, more and more stores are putting in ‘Israeli wine’ sections, or putting them in what they call ‘other’ or ‘Mediterranean’ sections, not necessarily just in a ‘kosher’ section. Indeed, “some of the smarter stores,” he notes, “are putting the Israeli section right next to the kosher section, so that the kosher consumer can still find it without the retailer having to give it space in both sections.” Tempering this optimism a bit, however, Buchsbaum notes that these positive developments are “only a fraction of what they could and

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Royal’s Buchsbaum notes that kosher wine typecasting “is really unfair these days because Israel has now become a properly recognized region for production of quality wines. In fact, Wine Enthusiast has just rated over 30 different Israeli wines above 90 points [out of 100], some in the mid-90s, and a whole bunch more in the high 80s.” For Gabriel Geller, a Jerusalem-based Israeli wine expert and industry consultant, “this issue is mostly a problem with the distributors and retailers outside Israel who automatically put the wines in the kosher section. The wineries can’t do much about it except those who use non-kosher importers, such as Tzora and Recanati, who will feature them as Israeli or Mediterranean wines. Other wineries simply do not try hard enough to have their wines sold outside kosher stores and restaurants, with a few exceptions here and there.” Golan Heights Winery’s Schoenfeld agrees. “We have not done nearly enough in the U.S. to market ourselves.” He argues, “the U.S. should be Israel’s natural target market as it is a high value, open-minded, growing market that has relatively positive views of Israel.” However, he notes, “Because the United States has such a well-defined kosher market, it represents more of a challenge to break free of it.” But to Schoenfeld, the goal is very clear: “Israeli wines need to break out of the kosher market for the long-term health of the industry, and to

do that, we have to exist on the non-kosher shelf and compete as quality wines at a logical price from an interesting Mediterranean appellation. There is no sense in deluding ourselves that we can successfully exist only in the kosher market. And even if we could, I don’t think we should. I think Israel is making more and more interesting wines, and I am convinced we can also make great wines. Our wines continue and will continue to reach ever-higher levels of quality. Of course, we have our challenges, but so does every wine producing area in the world.” Lewis Pasco, winemaker of the Pasco Project and consultant to the Beit El Winery, notes wistfully that it’s not just the kosher wine industry that has changed dramatically. “The kosher consumer has come such a long way just since I came to Israel in 1997 and began producing kosher wines. Now, the kosher consumer is not just looking for a good wine, but for a great wine, and at a good price. And, what’s more, they now have a lot to choose from. We’ve all come such a long way — and Israel is obviously at the forefront of creating and defining what makes a ‘good’ or ‘great’ kosher wine.” For Pasco, “the ‘kosher shelf’ is no longer the nasty thing that it used to be. … So, sure, our wines get typecast or relegated to the kosher shelf — but there’s now an awful lot of good stuff there; it’s not just plonk anymore.” ✦

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The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015 • 7

should be, and I think at some point it’ll become de rigueur, and all Israeli wines will be in Israeli sections. But right now it’s only a fraction.” Notes Hal Cashman, portfolio director for the Recanati Winery with Palm Bay International, its U.S. importer: “I was with our New York sales team yesterday, and they sell Recanati wines like any other fine wine they would sell, like Brunello or Barolo. … The fact that it’s kosher isn’t something they need to bring up anymore.” “We’ve made our most headway in New York,” Cashman notes, and “there are now sommeliers out there that are recognizing Israeli wine — Recanati in particular, but others too. They are breaking through, and that’s really our goal. This past year has been fantastic.” He notes, for example, that “the Recanati Cabernet Sauvignon Galilee 2012 was named one of the Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2014. That’s one of the industry’s posters for ‘Who’s Who’ in the wine world. So it was really a vote of confidence for Israeli wine in general, and obviously Recanati in particular, to get on that list. It’s a statement that says: ‘Israel is making wine that ranks up there with everyone else on this list.’” He readily concedes that “it’s been and will continue to be a battle; I think people have life-long memories of drinking Manischewitz at Passover; it’s part of their upbringing and memories, but it is slowly changing.”

8 â&#x20AC;˘ The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015

90 92 90 90 92 91 Wine enthusiast

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The Great Amarolo 2009

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2/26/15 4:56 PM

The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015 • 9

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10 • The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015

The Terrain In Spain The mountain village of Capçanes is the site of an unlikely kosher wine success story.

Gamliel Kronemer Special To The Jewish Week

n a trip through Spain last June, an irate ticket agent at the Barcelona-Sants train station told me that “there is no such place as Capçanes.” She was wrong. After about five minutes of verbal back-and-forth, the agent realized that I was at the wrong ticket counter, and sent me across the station to get a commuter train. Roughly two hours and 20 stops later, I stepped onto a railroad platform in the little mountain village of Capçanes (pop. 412). I was there to tour Celler Capçanes, which was the first winery to regularly produce kosher wine in Spain in over a century. Located in the up-and-coming appellation, or legally defined wine region, of Montsant, the winery is unique among European kosher wine producers: not only does it consistently produce some of the best kosher wine available, but its kosher wine is what gave the winery a worldclass reputation. Viticulture in the Montsant region likely dates to the 12th century, and by the 19th century the wines of Montsant had developed strong reputation. However, after a phyllorxia infestation devastated the area’s vine-stock in the 1880s, it took Jürgen Wagner leads the winemaking team at Cellar Capçanes. COURTESY OF CELLAR CAPÇANES

The picturesque village of Capçanes.

COURTESY OF CELLAR CAPÇANES

more than a century for the region’s wine industry to fully recover. (Indeed, even today, dozens of steeply terraced mountainside vineyards there

have never been replanted.) In 1933 five families in the village of Capçanes formed a cooperative winery with the goal of producing bulk wine with grapes from the families’ vineyards. The wine was sold primarily to large wine conglomerates (although some of it was sold to locals by the jug). As foreign demand for Spanish products increased following the Bourbon Restoration of 1975, demand for bulk Spanish wine diminished, as many of the wine conglomerates who in the past had purchased bulk wine started opening large-scale modern commercial wineries. In 1980 the Capçanes cooperative stopped producing bulk wine, and instead started selling its grapes unfermented to the conglomerates. According to Jürgen Wagner, who leads the winemaking team at Capçanes, by the mid1990s that model was no longer working. “The customers we had who had bought our grapes and our bulk wine started to buy their own land in the mountains, and it was just a question of time until they would not need us anymore. … [So] in 1994 and 1995 the president of our company, Francesco Blanc, met with a wealthy Jew from the community in Paris, who put him in contact with the rabbi in Barcelona. In those

Continued on page 12

The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015 • 11

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12 • The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015

Terrain in Spain continued from page 12

days there was no kosher wine made in Spain ... and the community needed wine.” Converting to kosher wine production was an expensive proposition, as the concrete vats the winery had previously used could not be made kosher. “Only stainless steel was approved by the rabbi to do the kosher,” explains Wagner. “It was a big investment, and in those days it was the first time anyone in the village had ever come in contact with Jewish culture. So it was a real challenge to convince the Catholic Catalan farmers to invest their own money in another religion in order to become independent of grape and bulk-wine sales.” In 1995 the winery produced its first bottled wine, the kosher Peraj Ha’abib, Flor de Primavera, and the wine world soon started to take notice of Capçanes. The 1996 vintage was praised by Spain’s most influential wine writer, José Peñin, who gave the wine a rating of 95 (out of 100), the second highest score he awarded in 1997. “Everybody wanted to know what is Capçanes, and what is kosher? That’s when the winery started getting a lot of attention,” says Wagner. Among those who took notice of Capçanes was a young German winemaker named Jürgen Wagner, who at the time had managed the Spanish wine portfolio of a large German importer. “I read about the kosher wine in 1997, and I decided to go to Capçanes. I had never in my life had kosher wine, and I wanted to learn more about it and taste it. I fell in love with it [Peraj Ha’abib].” Wagner soon joined the

Continued on page 14

KOSHER WINE TheJewishWeek | MARCH 13, 2015

6TH

ANNUAL

EDITION

GUIDE

IS THE KOSHER LABEL A ‘GOLDEN HANDCUFF?’

ISRAELI VINTNERS DISCUSS THE BENEFITS AND PITFALLS OF TYPECASTING PAGE 4

Please email Janet Hoffman with your na me and complete mai ling address along w ith the number of iss ues you are requestin g. janet@ jewishw fax: 212-921-eek.org 8420

THE TERRAIN IN SPAIN THE MOUNTAIN VILLAGE OF CAPÇANES IS THE SITE OF AN UNLIKELY KOSHER WINE SUCCESS STORY

For FREE copies of the Kosher Wine Guide

PAGE 10

THE FRENCH FIGHT BACK

WHILE ISRAELI WINES DOMINATE THE KOSHER MARKET, FRENCH WINES ARE STARTING TO MAKE A COMEBACK PAGE 24

PLUS THE

TOP 18 LISTS

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The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015 • 13

14 • The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015

Terrain in Spain

THE WINES:

continued from page 12 winemaking team as a freelance winemaker (becoming its fulltime winemaker in 1999). “Based on this kosher wine we started to build up the range of non-kosher wine.” “For the first seven years,” says Wagner, “we sold most of it [Peraj Ha’abib] to non-Jews.” This was in part due to the fact that many kosher wine merchants were reluctant to buy a wine that was only under the not well-known kosher supervision of the chief rabbi of Barcelona. So starting with the 2002 vintage the Peraj Ha’abib started to also be supervised by the Orthodox Union. At the same time, the winery moved U.S. distribution of its kosher wine to the Royal Wine Corp., the largest U.S. kosher wine distributer. Starting in 2004, with the production of a second kosher wine, Peraj Petita, the winery gradually started growing its kosher range, which now includes six wines, including two — a red dessert wine, and an old-vine Carignan varietal — which will be released within the next few months. The winery is also starting to export a line of kosher-certified olive oils. While today most of the winery’s visitors are locals stopping in to buy a jug of wine — which they can fill themselves from the barrels in the winery’s lobby — Capçanes does receive a few foreign visitors each month (and has recently started offering a winetasting/kayaking package). At the time of my visit last year, I was the first kosher-observant visitor the winery had ever received; somehow I doubt I’ll be the last. (For information about visiting Capçanes, please see: http://www.cellerCapçanes. com/en/page/visits.)

Capçanes, La Flor del Flor de Primavera, Montsant, 2012: I was blown away by this elegant wine when I first tasted it at the winery. I’ve since had a chance to re-taste it in the U.S., and I remain very impressed. Dark-and-inky garnet in color, and made from 100 percent Grenache grapes grown on vines that are between 80-110 years old, this wine is full bodied, yet restrained. The nose, which is still tight, is redolent of cherries, raspberries, toasty oak and pencil shavings. The flavor has notes of cherries, raspberries, blackberries, tobacco, spice and toasty oak. While certainly enjoyable now, this wine still needs a few years to fully develop and integrate. Best 2017-2023. Score A. ($80. Available at FillerUp Kosher Wines, 174 W. Englewood Ave., Teaneck, N.J., [201] 862-1700)

Capçanes, La Flor del Flor de Primavera, Cariñena, Montsant, 2012 (Barrel Sample): While at the winery I had the opportunity to taste a sample from one of the barrels that were later blended together to create the new La Flor del Flor Cariñena. The final blend no doubt varies somewhat from what I tasted. Made from Carignan grapes grown on century-old vines, the wine I tasted is meaty, muscular, and full-bodied. The nose, which is still tight, is dominated by cherries and cassis, with a note of violets. Look for flavors of cherries and cranberries, with notes of cassis, crème de mûre, and cedar, oak and — intriguingly — sherry. Well-structured, with an abundance of powdery tannins and good mineral extraction, the wine is only now just approachable, and should be able to

Continued on page 16

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The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015 • 15

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16 • The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015

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ossie’s Corkboard is the home of Yossie’s Wine Recommendations; a weekly newsletter on kosher and Israeli wines, wineries and other wine-related tidbits, written by Yossie Horwitz, one of the founding judges for The Jewish Week’s annual Kosher Wine Guide. Each week Yossie distributes an e-mail newsletter to thousands of subscribers from around the world. The weekly topics vary, and include write-ups about different wineries, wine varietals, new and exciting developments in the wine world, and tips on varied wine-related topics including “How to Order Wine in Restaurants”, “Choosing the Right Wine Glass” and the “The Right Serving Temperature”. While Yossie writes about kosher wines and wineries from around the world, his true love is Israeli wines, a passion born from the 20 years he lived in Israel. Yossie’s Corkboard is distributed free via email and you can sign up by going to www.yossiescorkboard.com You can also follow Yossie on Twitter at @yossieuncorked

Terraced vineyards in Capçanes. COURTESY OF CELLAR CAPÇANES

Terrain in Spain continued from page 14 age for at least a dozen years. Best 2017-2027. Score A. (Available later this year)

Capçanes Peraj Habib, Peraj Ha’abib Flor de Primavera, Montsant 2011: As with most vintages, this is a blend of 35 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 35 percent Grenache and 30 percent Carignan (the percentages have fluctuated a bit over the years) aged for one year in new French oak. Dark garnet in color, with a full body, this wine has a rich bouquet, redolent of cherries, cassis and blackberries, with notes of oak and chocolate, and a whiff of wildflowers in the background. Look for flavors of cherries, blackberries and cranberries up front, with oak and mocha becoming more prominent towards the back of the palate, and a nice hint of spice on the finish. With supple, well-integrated tannins, this wine is ready to drink now until 2024. Score A/A-. ($59.99 Available at Goldpath Wines & Spirits, 45 Route 59, Monsey, [845] 356-0222

Capçanes Peraj Habib, Peraj Ha’abib Flor de Primavera, Montsant 2012: Blended and aged in the same proportions and manner as the 2011 vintage, this garnet-colored, full-bodied wine has a heady nose of cherries, cassis, cranberries, blackberries, lavender, and sweet pipe-tobacco. Cherries and cassis are the main flavors at the front of the palate, moving towards oak and dark chocolate midpalate, with touches of tobacco and fruit-liqueur on the finish. While palatable now, this well-structured wine is not yet fully integrated, and needs a bit more time. Best 2016-2026. Score A. ($53.95. Available at Skyview Wine and Liquor, 5681 Riverdale Ave., Riverdale, [718] 601-8222)

Capçanes Peraj Petita, Montsant, 2012: This stainless steel-aged blend of 55 percent Grenache, 30 percent Tempranillo and 25 percent Merlot has a bright garnet color and a medium to full body. Look for flavors and aromas of cherries, currants and cranberries, with an earthy, tobacco note. With an abundance of chunky tannins, the wine should drink well until 2016. Score B+. ($15.95. Available at Skyview Wine and Liquor, 5681 Riverdale Ave., Riverdale, [718] 601-8222)

Capçanes, Peraj Petita Rosat, Montsant 2103: This rosé was made of a blend of 60 percent Grenache, 15 percent Tempranillo, 15 percent Merlot, and 10 percent Syrah. It is a dry, dark-rose colored, light-tomedium-bodied wine. Look for flavors of cherries, raspberries, strawberries and nectarines. While no longer as vivid as it was when I first tasted it last spring, this wine remains crisp and well balanced; fortunately the 2014 vintage should be hitting the shelves in the next few months. Drink soon. Score B/B+. ($19.95. Available at Skyview Wine and Liquor, 5681 Riverdale Ave., Riverdale, [718] 601-8222) Wines are scored on an ‘A’-‘F’ scale where ‘A’ is excellent, ‘B’ is good, ‘C’ is flawed, ‘D’ is very flawed, and ‘F’ is undrinkable. Prices listed reflect the price at the retailer mentioned.

The Jewish Week KOSHER WINE GUIDE March 13, 2015 • 17

Capçanes, Peraj Petita, Mevushal Series, Montsant, 2013: Starting with this vintage, Capçanes has started to flash-pasteurize a small portion of its Peraj Petita before bottling, so that it can be served in kosher restaurants and at catered events. I happened to visit the winery the day after the wine had been pasteurized, and was surprised, that tasted side by side, I liked the mevushal version better — the fruit seemed more vivid. However tasted again, seven months later, the flavors and aromas have become a bit muted. Dark garnet in color, with a medium to full body, this wine has flavors and aromas of cherries and cranberries, with a pleasant earthy note in the background. Score B/B+. ($20.99. Available at Millesima USA, 1355 Second Ave., Manhattan, [212] 639-9463)

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31.95 45.95 31.95 43.95 18.95 18.95 8.75 8.75 8.75 7.50 11.95 11.95 11.95 11.95 INQUIRE

CARIGNAN RESERVE * CABERNET RESERVE * CHARDONNAY RESERVE * CHARD RESERVE UNOAKED * L.H. GEWURTZTRAMINER MERLOT RESERVE * SAUVIGNON BLANC RESERVE * SHIRAZ RESERVE * THE CAVE 2009 (MEVUSHAL) THE CAVE ZINFANDEL RESERVE

19.95 18.95 17.95 17.95 23.95 18.95 13.95 18.95 69.95 69.95 18.95

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CH DU GALILEE MERLOT (N) CABERNET SAUVIGNON (N) BLEND (N)

DALTON

ALMA CABERNET/MERLOT ALMA CAB/MER/CAB FRANC* (N) ALMA CHARDONNAY/VIOGNIER ALMA GSM BLEND (N) CABERNET RESERVE CANAAN RED * CANAAN WHITE * D SERIES CAB. SAUVG. ESTATE D SERIES ESTATE PETITE SIRAH D SERIES ROSE D SERIES MERLOT D SERIES MOSCATO * D SERIES SHIRAZ D SERIES FUME BLANC D SERIES UNOAKED CHARDONNAY MERON CABERNET (LIMITED) MERON MERLOT (LIMITED) MERLOT RESERVE MOSCATO SHIRAZ RESERVE EL KOSH SEMILLON SINGLE VINEYARD BEN ZIMRA MERLOT SINGLE VINEYARD EL KOSH SHIRAZ SINGLE VINEYARD (N) SAFSUFA CABERNET * SAFSUFA CHARD/SAUV.BLANC * SAFSUFA MERLOT * SAFSUFA SHIRAZ * (N) SAUVIGNON BLANC RESERVE YUVALIM CAB SAUV ZINFANDEL

CASTEL

BLANC DU CASTEL 2009 GRAND VIN '09 PETITE CASTEL 2009

41.95 41.95 41.95 19.95 19.95 19.95 19.95 31.95 12.95 12.95 18.95 19.95 15.95 18.95 10.95 18.95 13.95 14.95 37.95 37.95 33.95 10.95 34.95 25.95 38.95 35.95 17.95 13.95 17.95 17.95 15.95 13.95 20.95 39.95 59.95 39.95

DOMAINE NETOFA LATOUR RED RED WHITE BLEND TINTO ROSE

33.95 20.95 19.95 24.95 17.95

MC/VISA/Debit cards accepted • All Items 750 ml unless otherwise stated. • * Mevushal N = New Wine • (S) = Shmita Year Wine • (O) = Organic • All items are cu

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