Coming Events



(1) Miami, Florida Event. For my Miami-based readers, on May 22nd at 8:00 PM there will be a wine tasting (and Chinese Auction) to benefit Chabad of North Miami Beach. The wine tasting will focus on the wineries located in Israel’s Shomron region, which is rapidly becoming one of Israel’s best (the Merlot from this region is particularly awesome). Click here for more details, to purchase tickets and a list of the wines.

Past Events.

(1) On February 17th, Monsey’s Grapevine will be hosting a grand tasting between 5:30-8:30 PM at L’Chaim Manor. Details and tickets here, including a detailed (partial) list of some of the 140 wines that will be available.

(2) On March 3rd, the Jewish Week will be holdings its annual Grand Kosher Wine Tasting at City Winery. The event is held every year to celebrate the publication of the Jewish Week’s annual Kosher Wine Guide (for which I am one of the judges). Always a fun event with plenty of new wines available and well worth attending. For more details and tickets check out City Winery’s website. Check out the complete list of wines (and food) in order to better plan your event.

(3) Mark your calendars for February 4th, 2013 which is when Royal Wines will once again be hosting their incredible Kosher Food & Wine Experience. As in the last few years, the event will be held at Pier 60 – Chelsea Piers in New York City and is expected to be a magnificent food and wine extravaganza (details about last year’s events here). Check out KFWE’s website for more details and tickets. Plan your eating & drinking in advance with the event’s tasting guide (use the arrows to navigate from page to page). Use Yossie20 through January 11th for $20 off the ticket price for KFWE.

(4) For West Coasters, the more intimate International Food & Wine Experience will be held in Los Angeles two days later on February 6th. This event showcases the amazing food from Tierra Sur. Use “CORKBOARD. Plan ahead and coordinate your tastings with the event’s tasting booklet.

(5) On December 5th, New York City’s newest addition to the upscale kosher dining scene – Jezebel (located at 323 West Broadway in SoHo) – will be hosting a winemaker dinner with the folks from Covenant Wines – winemaker Jeff Morgan and co-owner Leslie Rudd (of Rudd Vineyards and Dean & Deluca fame). For those not in the know, Jezebel is the only high-end kosher eatery which has non mevushal wine, making it worthy of a visit, irrespective of the food (which is pretty good too). The dinner will include a five course meal specially paired to Covenant’s wines, a number of which are available only from the winery. More details on the wines and courses coming soon.

Dinner is called for 6:30 PM and the cost is $195 (plus tax & tip) and there are only a limited number of seats left, so sign up soon. To reserve seats, email reservations@jezebelsoho.com and refer to the “Covenant Winery Dinner.” Or call Jezebel directly at (646) 410-0717.

(6) On September 10th at the Carlton Hotel (29th and Madison Avenue), there will be a wine and food pairing event organized by three wine aficionado/foodies that I know and whose love of wine is indisputable. Produced by Nelly Rosenking in an attempt to create a trendier environment than other tastings and partially sponsored by 67Wine (a Manhattan wine shop that is making a serious push into the kosher wine niche with the help of some knowledgeable and passionate kosher wine buyers/employees) who will be providing proper glassware; the event will be limited to 150 people. A carefully curated selection of great kosher wines from most of the kosher wine distributors will be available, with around 60 wines available for tasting. As with Royal’s annual Kosher Food & Wine Event, substantial thought and efforts have been put on the food aspect of the event (my understanding is that the bulk of the ticket price is going toward the food component of the event, with the wines mostly being sponsored). However, quite differently than most wine tasting events, the food will be placed on the tables with the food, providing special wine pairing opportunities and the ability to combine great food and wine together in an easily accessible manner. While the food and aromas will likely distract from ones ability to conduct a serious evaluation of the wines, I doubt that most people are attending such an event for a serious wine tasting and will enjoy the combined food and wine proprieties of the event. Those looking for a more serious tasting opportunity (such as myself), will no doubt somehow find a way to properly evaluate those wines of interest. The folks at 67Wine also recently acquired the rights to the vintage wine collection offered at the Kestenbaum Wine Auction last year (read about the auction, the wines and my thoughts here) and many of these vintage wines will be available for sale at the event (although not for tasting). For more details and to purchase tickets, click here.

(7) Israel Event. See my article about the event here. The bi-annual IsraWine Expo will be held this year on February 21-23 at Israel Trade Fairs Center in the Tel-Aviv Exhibition Gardens. The first day of the event is for the professional trade only with the second and third days being open to the general public. It is a great event with many of Israel’s top wineries showcasing their wines and provides a great opportunity to taste a lot of new wines. The entrance fee of 70 NIS buys you 10 “tasting coupons” with additional coupons available for purchase as well. The event is organized by the Israel Trade Fairs & Convention Center in cooperation with the Israeli Wine Magazine and The Grape-Man Wine Center and is sponsored by the the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute. For those attending IsraWine Expo next week, here is a link with some general tips on making the most of large-scale tastings and most important, a list of the wineries and the wines being poured (Hebrew). For further planning purposes, a map of the exhibition and the wineries.

For more details click here.

(8) My review of the wine auction can be read here. On September 22nd, the Judaica auction house Kestenbaum & Company conducted the first kosher wine auction at the Roger Smith Hotel (501 Lexington Avenue at 47th Street). The auction includes large format and older vintages of many of the top notch kosher wines including Castel, Katzrin, Covenant and others as well as some “collector” items like Carmel’s famed 1976 Cabernet Sauvignon and Yarden’s 1988 Botrytis wines (now undrinkable, but a piece of kosher wine history). Unfortunately they are also auctioning off a number of older vintage wines that are well past their drinking prime (or worse), so caveat emptor and feel free to ping me with any specific questions. I also note that the suggested or estimated prices listed in the catalog are pretty high in my opinion. In any event, it should be an interesting and entertaining evening. To register for the event and view the catalog, click here.

(9) On August 10th come and learn more about Israel as a wine region and the incredible wines produced in Israel. The event is to benefit Leket Israel’s “Nutrition for Life” program! Some of Israel’s best wines will be poured and a number of wine professionals will be on hand to provide information on the varied wines and wineries. Additionally, Yossie will conduct a brief discussion on the wines and wineries. Sign-up in advance and get $25 off the admission price of $100. The event is being held in conjunction with Weil, Gotshal’s “Pay it Forward” campaign and will be help on the 25th floor of Weil’s office in midtown (767 Fifth Avenue at 59th Street).

(10) Sensi held a gala event on June 2nd to benefit Leket Israel. The event will include a great selection of Israel’s premium wines plus a number of wines from four Israeli boutique wineries that are not sold in the US! The event will also have a live auction of Israeli art by a Christie’s auctioneer, great food, some serious prizes and other goodies. The Sensi events are always really fun and provide the opportunity to support a really terrific charity.