This might be the first time that I am writing about a Hajdu wine on this blog so a bit of an introduction is necessary. Jonathan Hajdu is the winemaker at Covenant Wines of California – that is his day job and he does it really well. On the side he also runs his own private brand Hajdu Wines. Besides his regular annual releases he also runs a wine club, called the Adventurer’s Guild that ships 6 bottles twice yearly. Each shipment usually contains 3 bottles each of 2 wines. These wines are not cheap coming in at $36 (including shipping in the US)  – though compared to other his other Cali wines whether from Covenant or his private label where prices for reds run from $50-$80 without shipping, they are also really not expensive. And in fact, non-kosher varietal Teroldego  (as it is more commonly spelled) from California normally sells for $25-35 a bottle – making this release perfectly priced.  The only downside to a club is that you have no control over what you are going to get – the winery chooses what it is releasing. In this case, the winery has rarely disappointed with only a couple of misfires IMHO out of many releases so far. The other logistical issue (for those of us living in the Holy Land ) is getting these wines here. With draconian import regulations and baggage weight limitations,  this becomes an issue – especially as Mr. Hajdu uses obscenely heavy bottles for his wine. While I understand the value of nicer heavier glass, its a killer when it comes to schlepping this stuff overseas.

The 2016 Teraldego was part of the spring 2018 Adventurer’s Guild release. The grapes were sourced from the Clarksburg area which is near Sacramento. To my (very limited) knowledge, this is the only kosher Teraldego being produced, so I have nothing to compare it too other than what the internet tells me a – which is precious little, though it would seem that this varietal is becoming more trendy.

So what did I think of it? Pretty nice! It wasn’t a blow your mind type of wine, but this is one of the rare times that every single person at the table enjoyed the bottle. From teens to people in their forties, everyone found something to like. That’s probably because the wine does not present as austere at all. The nose was rather muted but sweet and flowery if I had to describe it. In the mouth some of that flowery taste carries through you also have  some really nice fruit  – primarily raspberry and plum –  and also cloves which I would say carries the baseline of this wine at all stages. On first pour, both acid and tannin seemed tamer than I would have expected. Within 10 minutes though it was all there providing a very nice package indeed. I thought this was a fun wine – with just enough depth to keep me interested while still appealing to those looking to have a food friendly drink with dinner.

Bottom Line:

• Price: $36 (as part of a wine club subscription)
• For Aging: No – but then again, with no prior experience, who knows
• Would I Buy Again: Yes , if I could
• QPR Rating: Average
• Taste/Depth/Quality: Average
• Overall Rating  (1-5): 3