A very common comment I receive from subscribers to my weekly newsletter on kosher wine is that, while they enjoy drinking wine, they don’t really know much about it and can barely tell the difference between a good and a bad wine. The truth of the matter is that most people are already experts in […]
A significant part of an oenophile’s enjoyment of wine is in acquiring and cellaring special bottles for years, thus allowing them to reach the perfect maturity before enjoying them at a special occasion (or a random Wednesday evening). As a general rule, instant gratification is not a trait associated with the serious or even hobbyist, […]
#133 – July 5, 2010 For some reason that I have not yet figured out, celebrating a nation’s independence seems to be synonymous with grilling meat. As with Yom Ha’Atzmaut in Israel, Independence Day (otherwise known as July 4th) here in the United States has always been the start of the long and glorious grilling […]
#138 – August 6, 2010 It wasn’t all that long ago that questions like “What is the best kosher wine” or “What is your favorite wine” were moot as there was no really good answer since quality kosher wine was basically a null set. Taking things one step further, it wasn’t even that far back […]
#166 – March 11, 2011 This week I wanted to talk about another grape varietal that, like Carignan, has a somewhat dubious Israeli past and it now experiencing a resurgence of sorts – Petite Sirah. Historically, Petite Sirah was used either as a blending agent to add body, flavor and color to other wines (usually […]
Last week was only the second time in almost a year that I missed my usual Thursday night / Friday mailing date for the newsletter. Hopefully this will not be a recurring theme, and the next edition should arrive this Thursday. For this [past] week’s edition I have included the wine selections and related materials […]
#113 – January 14, 2010 (more recent update) The decision to create a the winery was hatched in 1999 by Professor Ben-Ami Bravdo and his former student Oded Shosheyov, both former professors of oenology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The winery is located in the vineyards of the yishuv of Karmei Yosef which is […]
Holiday Shopping – Parts I & II The weeks leading up to Pessach are among the US kosher wine industry’s busiest and more kosher wine is sold during this period than the rest of the year combined. As the popularity of quality kosher wine continues to increase, the quality and variety of wines available to […]
#167 – March 18, 2011 (Purim Satire) For the six years that I have been writing this newsletter, I have always had one primary goal – to introduce as many people as possible to the pleasures of fermented grape juice. I try and achieve this by eliminating the snobbery and mystery behind the delightful world […]
#163 – February 19, 2011 When I moved to New York from Israel about six years ago, I hadn’t tasted any significant amount of Californian wines. This was primarily a result of the fact that they were only imported into Israel in very limited quantities and were overpriced, especially in comparison to their Israeli peers. […]