Month: December 2017

Every year there are a number of wines that are produced for the kosher market that retail below the $30 price point which are just amazing and consistent wines, that simply do not get enough recognition. These wines are what I like to call perennial QPR super stars, mainstays of my drinking repertoire that I load up on every time they come out. These wines provide such deep value that they can easily be mistaken for wines at double or triple their price point.

While they don’t get the fanfare that comes along with an eye-popping sticker price, they still provide an extremely satisfying drinking experience. Often times these wines may be worthy of cellaring (or aging) to observe their development and evolution over the course of years.

In order to give these selections the care and treatment that they deserve, and to hopefully increase the purchase and production of such wines in the future, I am going to be doing a multi-part series where I feature these type of wines each week for the next month. The first two wines are personal favorites that I have tasted and re-tasted over the last few weeks.

 

Chateau Fourcas Dupre Listrac-Medoc 2012 – $25

This wine has recently been released in its new 2015 iteration, but I decided that I would check in on its older brother first. This is a chateaux located on the left bank of the Gironde river estuary in the Medoc region of Bordeaux, south and west of the famous wine growing regions of Paulliac and Margaux.

Listrac is an unloved cousin of the other left bank regions as it features more clay and limestone soils than the more well known regions. Unlike the clay soil of Listrac, the gravel soil that predominates other left bank regions allows for superior drainage and subsequently greater depth for the vine root. In gravel, the vine struggles to pick up water and nutrients from the soil below, thus causing the vines to burrow deeper underground. With deeper roots the vines tend to produce grapes with greater concentration and depth of flavor, which in turn results in some of the best wines in the world.

However, this is not to say that all the wines in the Listrac region are subpar. In fact, this kosher example is a superb Bordeaux wine, which is generally age worthy and extremely complex. However, given that it does not carry the brand-name appellation on its label, it does not carry a brand-name price.

The wine itself is extremely slow to open with at least two to three hours of decanting still needed at this stage in its development. The nose is extremely rustic yet elegant, with notes of wet foliage, pipe tobacco, moss and tree bark predominating. The mouth is bursting with juicy red fruit including raspberries and cranberries. As the wine opens, layers of secondary and tertiary flavors come shining through as well including baker’s chocolate, mushroom, and saddle leather. The wine still needs time to develop, as the structure is still really stiff, with ripping tannins that are slowly integrating.

This wine is still available in many retail locations and should be bought up along with the 2015 vintage, which is even more promising. The value of this wine, when you take into account their aging ability and their overall complexity, is off the charts.

Score: A-

Value: A/A+

 

Flechas de Los Andes Gran Malbec 2015- $25

This is one of the few kosher Malbec’s from the world famous Mendoza Valley in Argentina. This wine is absolutely fantastic, opening with a nose of ripe black and blue fruit, cinnamon, mineral, and green bell pepper. The mouth of the wine is well developed with round tannins, nice ripe black fruit, wild blueberries, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of pencil led in the background. This wine would be extremely pleasing to anyone who is southern hemisphere wine lover, as it exhibits juicy fruit with a nice and well-rounded mouth-feel.

Again, this is a reliable wine that is good vintage in and vintage out. I highly recommend this wine as a wine to use to branch out from new world cabernet. This has sweetness of fruit coupled with a layered complexity that can be an excellent gateway into broadening horizons.

Score: A-

Value: A-

When I pair wines I generally try to adhere to one very unpretentious rule: pair good wine with good food. This rule generally leads to enjoyable and interesting pairings, but it does have some limits. When a certain wine has no complimentary qualities to the food being served it may be a bad pairing even if they are each high quality on their own. For example, serving a steak with a light white wine just won’t elevate either the wine or the food, as the flavors and consistencies of the food and wine clash so intensely.

Additionally, there are foods which don’t lend kindly to any wine pairing at all. Green vegetables and salads are notoriously hard foods to pair. Thankfully, however, there are certain wines, that because of their subtle flavor and versatile texture, pair well with a broad range of foods even those which tend to be harder to pair.

Sparkling wines and lighter red wines tend to be the most versatile, pairing well with poultry, game meats, sausages, fish, and an array of side dishes and salads. Two new budget wines to the kosher market in particular, fit the bill for versatile wine pairings…

 

Koenig Cremant d’Alsace NV Brut- $17

For those who love champagne but find it hard to find at a decent price, Cremant or essentially a wine made in the traditional champagne-method but from a different region of France, may be a nice stand in. While no other region in France can match the minerality and the crispiness of a classic champagne house, Cremant can offer a suitable alternative. This particular example in particular has notes of green apple, and freshly baked bread, some flint, and a pleasant hint of smoke on the nose. The mouth is crispy and yeasty, but does not quite pack the punch of a blue-chip sparkling wine. However, for the minimal investment of $17 it certainly outpaces all other inexpensive kosher bubbly alternatives. I highly recommend this bottle as a light accompaniment to chicken or fish, or simply as a nice aperitif.

 Score: B+

Value: A-

 

Vitkin Pinot Noir 2016 – $23

Pinot noir, when done correctly can be a wildly pleasing, complex, and versatile wine that pairs well with meats, poultry and fish. The varietal is known to produce a light body, low tannin wine with a subtle flavor that can be complex and rich when made from grapes from high quality terroir. Israel, with its harsh summers and nascent wine growing industry, has had difficulty with the slow ripening, thin skinned grape. Many Israeli pinot noirs do not taste like anything at all like the Burgundian classic. Some are overripe and incredibly hard to drink, others are very high-quality wines, but exhibit more of their Israeli terroir then a varietally-true profile. For example, at the higher end of the range, Gvaot Winery’s pinot noir is an incredibly luscious wine, and one that I enjoy on special occasions, but it does not taste like a true pinot noir. It has a much fuller body than typical pinot and has even been blended with a small amount of robust petit verdot in certain years.

Vitkin on the other hand is one of the only Israeli pinots that is varieitally true. It exhibits a beautiful light cherry color with notes of violets, ripe cherry, and wet earth on the nose. The acidity keeps the wine fresh with a beautiful mouth of sour cherry, light green pepper, and under-ride plum accompanied by a subtle floral undertone that runs throughout the wine. This wine is exceptional with cheese, smoked meats, poultry and salmon. The wine is incredibly easy to drink but also is complex enough to savor.

 

Score: A-

Value: A-/A