Israeli Wine
Recommendations for Passover 5777 (2017)
Steve Kerbel
As my frequent readers and occasional followers know, I’m on
a one-person campaign to show economic support for Israel by buying and
drinking Israeli wine. This year, even Wine
Spectator had to take notice of the high quality of Israel’s wine industry, and
provided some very high scores to some very affordable Israeli wines. I continue to focus on wines that I think
people will actually buy and drink, generally in the $15-$30 price range,
though I believe in the occasional splurge to sample the rarified world of
higher priced wines (though I agree with wine writer Matt Kramer that with
wine, you don’t necessarily get what you pay for – there are very enjoyable
moderately priced wines).
So what will the Kerbels be drinking at Seder this
year? It becomes an interesting
question, since first, I’m trying to drink down my cellar inventory a bit and
drink more of what I have on hand and second, we have guests at Seder with
different tastes and I want everyone to have something that they enjoy. I’ve not conducted as many tastings this
winter as I did last year, and I didn’t visit Israel in 2016 (that problem is
already being fixed for 2017), so while I have a few new choices, you may have
heard about some of these wines before.
Whites
I remain a big fan of the Dalton Winery’s white wines:
The Alma blend, the Unoaked Chardonnay and the Wild Yeast Viognier. Some combination of these wines will be
served at our Seder. They remain high
quality, approachable and affordable. If
you open one of these and don’t enjoy it, bring it by here and I’ll take the
rest of the bottle off your hands.
We also enjoy the whites from Tishbi; while they’re a big winery, they’re still family run, they
are good partners in their community of Binyamina. We like the Emerald Riesling, the Chenin
Blanc and the Sauvignon Blanc –
all should be available for $15 or even less; these all make great, casual
summer wines for an afternoon in the backyard with a book, a plate of fruit and
cheese and a bit of shade.
Two slightly higher priced wines that may make an appearance
this year are the Alexander Chardonnay
from the Galil and the Kishor Savant
Viognier. Kishor, a newer winery is just entering the US market and is a
bit harder to find, but they have a compelling story; the winery opened on the
grounds of a former Kibbutz (Kishorit) in the lower Galil. The property of the kibbutz was converted to
a residential high school for teens with developmental disabilities about 10
years ago, and the winery located there, in part, to create a vocational
program for the teens (much on the model of Tulip in Kfar Tikvah). Their wines are really nice and are available
online from Israeli Wine Direct.
Another budget white I’ve enjoyed is the Gilgal (formerly Gamla from Golan
Heights) Riesling. We keep it around, so depending on how much
wine we drink, it could end up on the table.
Reds
So many good choices.
Last year I was introduced to the Psagot
Sinai blend; it’s a Cab-Shiraz blend from a great winery; while most of
Psagot’s wines sell for over $30, the Sinai blend is around $18 at most retailers. It’s a very good buy and will go well with
brisket, roasts or roasted poultry. It’s
a very versatile wine.
We’re also drinking the Domaine
Netofa Red of the Galil, a blend of Syrah and Mourvedre. Also around $20, it provides an outstanding
quality for the price. Kishor’s Savant Red (Cab Franc, Cab
Sauv, Petit Verdot) is also likely to be served at some point.
There are a lot of other great wines on hand – while I have
friends complaining that it’s too fruit-forward, I really enjoy the Tulip Just Merlot; I think it’s one of
the best examples of an Israeli Merlot and despite what Paul Giamatti said a
long time ago in a movie about wine, there is nothing wrong with drinking
merlot. I think Tulip’s Mostly Shiraz is also a great example of that varietal (as
is Dalton’s Estate Shiraz). You can’t make a bad decision with any of
these, or in pairing them with just about any beef or roasted poultry dish.
I have not lost my love for the Galil Mountain Winery; I continue to be a devoted consumer of their
wines; I’ll be honest and say I don’t like their Viognier as much as I did
before they started introducing it to oak barrels, but their reds offer some of
the best quality between $17-$30 – at the lower end of the price spectrum,
their Alon (Cab, Syrah, Petit
Verdot, Cab Franc) and Ela (Syrah,
Barbera, Petit Verdot) Blends are outstanding as are their Yiron (Cab, Merlot, Syrah) and Meron
(mostly Syrah, with Cab and Petit Verdot) blends at the high end. I like the Tzuba Merlot, Metsuda blend and the
hard-to-find Harmony blend (I drank
my last one on my birthday), and they are usually available at less than $25.
What if you want to splurge?
I enjoy the Carmel Single
Vineyard Kayoumi Shiraz. I have a
few legacy bottles from the 2004 and 2006 seasons, but they need hours of
breathing time before you drink (like 4-6 hours), and with everything else
going on before Seder, you may not have the time. I’m going to try a 2010 and see how it is
this year, and probably open it up around 4 pm for a 7:30 Kiddush target. Psagot’s
wines are also great – my friend Scott Littky found them at Costco in Omaha, NE
(go figure) so see if there are deals to be found. Their Cabernet
Sauvignon and Shiraz varietals,
as well as their Edom Blend have
been Seder staples here for a long time.
Tzora’s wines
have been getting a lot of print lately and are worthwhile if pricey. Also in the splurge category are the wines
from my friend Shuki Yashuv at Agur
(also available at Israeli Wine Direct, but all over my $30 threshold) – his Rosa, Kesem and Layam all are spectacular.
Also, the Golan Heights winemaker Tal Pelter is now making kosher wine
under the Matar label. This is an expensive wine that is worth the
price, and Tal is a great guy. I met him
while he was driving a fork lift.
So those are my picks for Passover 5777. Likely my next posting will be after some
July winery visits, so stay tuned. Chag
Kasher v’sameach!
