#192 – November 29, 2011 Given my propensity for Israeli wines, this newsletter has often featured wines and/or specific vintages not commercially available in the United States. As the years go by, the list of Israeli wines not available in the United States continues to dwindle, making wine store hopping on trips to Israel less […]
#191 – November 18, 2011 For most people the onset of fall means gorgeous color-changing foliage, the World Series (a very sore topic for me this year), football (jury is out for now on this one), S’mores, sweaters, blazing fireplaces and Thanksgiving weekend. While some wine lovers may perk up at such minutia, most oenophiles […]
#190 – November 11, 2011 Recently reviewing my seven years of newsletter writing, I was astounded to discover that I had never written about the most popular and prominent grape of them all – Cabernet Sauvignon. While I have provided tasting notes over the years for countless awesome Cabernet Sauvignon wines, the grape has never […]
#188 – September 27, 2011 Before I get into this week’s topic of sweet wines, I wanted to take the opportunity to wish you all a happy and sweet New Year, Shana Tova and best wishes for the coming year; may you, your families and loved ones all be blessed with all that you wish […]
It’s been an exciting summer for Leket Israel. The 2011 “Presidential Citation” was recently presented to Leket Israel’s Founder and Chairman, Joseph Gitler, during a ceremony held in early July at the Israeli President’s residence in Jerusalem. The award is the highest honor an Israeli charity can receive. To date, Project Leket (gleaning) has rescued […]
At the inaugural wine dinner for the Leket Wine Club, we had a number of great wines, including the top-tier “Rom” blend from the Golan Heights Winery and many wines not currently available in the United States. Listed below are my published notes for a number of the wines served at the dinner (additional notes […]
On September 22nd, 2011, I attended the world’s first kosher wine auction conducted by renowned Judaica Auction House – Kestenbaum & Company. I had previously expressed reservations about the high estimates placed on a majority of the lots and the remaining life in many of the bottles. For some background on the auction and to […]
#181 – July 29, 2011 One of the winery’s that we brought in especially for the Sensi6 event was particularly appropriate given the “green” focus of the event – Bashan Winery which, to my knowledge, is the only kosher, fully-organic, winery in the world! The winery is truly a tiny boutique operation, currently producing around […]
#185 – September 8, 2011 A grape native to France’s Rhône Valley, I believe this varietal has great potential to be among those most appropriate to showcase Israel’s unique terroir (in my opinion, Grenache and Cabernet Franc also top that list of potentials). However, as Syrah continues to make inroads within the Israeli market, sales […]
NOTE: This is from newsletter #184, written a week before he passed away (and communicated privately to him as well). Finally, the event that will most likely have the most impact relates to Daniel Rogov, Israel’s undisputed top wine & food critic, for whom a tribute dinner was held this past week in Israel. The […]