Wow – this is the latest I have ever gotten an RCC post out. Hopefully, this is getting posted no later than Rosh Chodesh Nisan. My last post was just super long and took me a while to put together – so hopefully things can now proceed at a normal pace. RCC Adar Bet this year was special. Due to the situation currently in Israel, I have NOT been holding regular monthly RCC’s. It still simply doesn’t feel right. Why Adar Bet? Because I do truly believe Mishenichnas Adar Marbim B’Simcha – and to no have an RCC in the primary month of Adar, to me, would be antithetical to the theme of the month – akin to minimizing joy on Purim. Having said that, I do know that there those who disagree and rather than having standard Seudah this year, spent Purim day doing BBQ’s for our chayalim. I totally get that – and I think that this is a tricky time and everyone is doing what feels right for them right now.

The second reason I wanted to have an RCC was that Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet more or less coincided with my 50^th birthday. I therefore decided to not only hold an RCC, but that I would supply all of the wines for the evening, rather than our standard practice of everyone contributing a bottle. In terms of cooking, my good friend Alex Mongait has been going to culinary school and offered to do something special for my birthday – and so he did. I have to say the dishes were IMPRESSIVE. For me, the star of the evening food-wise was the goat on vegan lebaneh with Lebanese tabouli. I had never had goat before and expected it to be super gamey – it wasn’t. And the vegan lebaneh was a revelation. Really excellent. He also did fine job on the Beef Wellington – it is REALLY hard to get that right especially for sixteen diners! Really, there were no misses food-wise – each dish was excellent. But, as I always say, this is not a food blog, it’s a wine blog – so here are my notes on the wines:

N.V. Champagne Drappier, Brut, Carte D’Or – Always dependable, this has become my go-to sparkler when I’m looking for a step up from the Gamla Brut (as the recent releases of the BdB have not met expectations) – and quite honestly a 50^th birthday deserves champagne. No real change note-wise. Crisp, refreshing and simply tasty. I will say this bottle tasted a little more “toasty” than usual in addition to the standard lemon and apple flavors one would expect. For me, that is a welcome development. 91

2017 Backoushe Winery, The Tailor, Semillon – Looking back on my notes from four years ago, I am pretty happy with the way this has developed. Overall, I think this is slightly past peak – but really slightly. It has taken on honeyed notes on the nose, which sort of combine with the funk to give something really quite unique. The acid has receded, but ever so slightly. Where you detect a minor drop is in the fruit – but it’s to be expected in a seven-year-old aged Israeli white. Can this go longer and further develop? I don’t know if I would chance it – and as noted above, for me it might be slightly over – so IMHO drink and enjoy, it’s a beautiful wine. 91.5

2015 Vitkin, Riesling – This bottle was from Vitkin’s initial kosher vintage. Now 2015 overall was a poor vintage in Israel across the board.  Having said that, I wanted to taste this wine after it had put on some age – simply as a test case. No, it didn’t have the fruit focus to start, but that again was a vintage issue. Aging was going to be equal parts winemaking and vintage.  Nine years seemed to me to be an optimistic outlook for a poor vintage, and I figured no better time like the present to see where it held. I have to say, I  was pleasantly surprised. The acid here was VIBRANT. There was nice lanolin and petrol notes that had developed. Yes – missing a little on the fruit, but if you wanted a test case as to the ageability of Vitkin’s Riesling, this is it. The prior king of Israeli Riesling was the Carmel Kayoumi  Riesling. I do not remember that wine ever crossing the eight-year threshold, let alone the 9+. The 2014 was already dying in 2022. This wine IMHO is still developing. How much more can it give? I don’t know. Like I said, it was a bad vintage here. But you never know. 91+

2017 Covenant Winery, Landsman, Pinot Noir, Napa Valley – This was one of the more disappointing wines of the night. While varietally true, it was quite candied and over the top – with candied cherry and strawberry taking the lead, with some sweet oak and a little herb, but I think I might have waited too long with this one, as I don’t remember it being this sweet before. Having said all of that, the acid is there, and the wine is balanced (barely) – just not what I was hoping for.  88

2016 Hajdu, Expressions, Pinot Noir, Bennet Valley, Sonoma – This wine was sort of the polar opposite of the Covenant. Here we have a controlled Cali wine that was really well made but was not varietally true. Dark red fruit, bold muscular heavy body. Acid was really nice. But it simply bore little resemblance to Pinot Noir. Nice wine though. 90+

2017 Jean-Philippe Marchand, Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, Le Parc de Faye – It’s a little crazy; I first tasted this wine in 2018 at GG’ s in NY and immediately stocked up and schlepped back as much as I could – it was under $30 back then and was being imported directly by Skyview at the time. Here we are 6 years later, and that deal is almost as good as the early Four Gates releases that people bought for under $50 a bottle. This wine is rocking now. On the nose, you get really nice earthy mushroom, some mint, herb, and red fruit. In the mouth, tons of mushrooms and herbs mixed with cherry and earth. Pure joy. The wine is likely at peak now and should hold for another couple of years and maybe more. 92.5

2014 Domaine D’Ardhuy, Côte de Beaune Villages – This wine is crazy. It is now 10 years old and behaves as if it was bottled yesterday. BTW – this is often the case with D’Ardhuy wines – the trick is catching it when it finally enters its window – because once there, it won’t necessarily hold longer – in other words, just because it took longer to get there, doesn’t necessarily mean that it will have an equally long stay at each of its subsequent stages of development. In any event, I decanted this wine for 3+ hours before we got it. While it wasn’t closed completely, it certainly was not fully there. This is the only wine I actually kept a glass for retasting at the end – so basically about six hours of decanting, three of those in the glass with a ton of air. By then, the wine was starting to show really nicely. Lovely nose here, intense red concentrated fruit mixed with rich earth and some smoke. In the mouth wonderful cherry, bramble, earth, some roasted meat. The tannin here is just nuts even after six hours. Wow. I think we are still about  three years away from this really being ready. 92.5 (and maybe higher as it develops)

2014 Elvi Wines, Herenza, Reserva, Rioja – Another of my all-time favorites. For me, wines often trigger memories of previous tastings. This wine always recalls perhaps the best wine pairing I ever experienced – and as such I fall in love with it each time I taste it. Really, it has not changed much in the last  five years except for maybe the tannin moving slightly more into the center of the wine. It was an earthy mushroom monster then and it is now. I only wish I could replicate the food I first tasted this with (this food was no slouch, but honestly, it’s very hard to compete with one of Yossi’s KFWE dinners especially when the chef is Isaac Bernstein). 94

2016 Netofa, Dor, Tempranillo – This wine is now at peak, though from what I understand, at this point storage will be THE determinant of whether this wine has held up or is now over – so drink ‘em if you have em (I still have a couple of bottles and I plan on going through them over the next year). This is another wine that I have very fond memories of – I remember tasting it blind for the first time at a tasting with the Jerusalem French group that often gets together when my friend David Raccah of Kosher Wine Musings is in town. Me being a Tempranillo freak, I fell in love and also picked the variety and producer blind. Was off on the vintage by a year – and was actually baffled, as until then the Tempranillo from Netofa was under the now defunct Tinto label. And so I guessed 2017 Netofa Tempranillo – and I said I was confused as I knew they had killed that label – plus it was stylistically different than the Tinto’s had been – much richer. Raccah had brought this from the winery, and it was as of yet unlabeled – but it was the 2016 Dor. Hard to impress that guy, but he was. We then went out to dinner after because we were starving and stayed out quite late discussing wine – and so a bromance was born. Now on to the wine – as noted this is a rich full- bodied wine with nice smoke and roasted meat with good rich red fruit and some chocolate on the nose. In the mouth, you get rich concentrated red fruit and dark chocolate with nice near black plum, cherry, and maybe even some blackberry, followed by some really nice mineral. Everything here is balanced by some nice acid – though the tannin is now fully integrated. The finish is still excellent with the chocolate, tobacco, toasted herbs, and nice earth. Excellent stuff, but as noted above, don’t hold for too long. 92.5

2014 Château Tour Seran, Medoc – This was the mevushal version of the wine. This wine is now past peak. Still enjoyable, but the tannin is barely there. Still, overall a nice profile. Good dark fruit, some smoke, and rich earth. Problem is the wine is dead within fifteen minutes, as the acid and tannin disappear. For my purposes, it was fine as we tasted it next to its slightly younger brothers and quickly moved on, but if you are holding this – drink up! 87  

2015 Château Tour Seran, Medoc – This was the mevushal version of the wine.  Instructive tasting this next to the 2014. This displayed none of the past peak issues that the 2014 did. In fact, I would say it has a couple of years ahead of it. Problem is, I actually liked the original 2014 profile better than the 2015, which I felt to be a touch pushed (compared to 2014 – and especially in light of the 2015 RdB we tasted next) – still, this wine is nice if a little riper than I would have liked. On the nose, we have nice black and dark red fruit, lead, and herbs. In the mouth, you get black plums, black cherry, a bit of smoke, graphite, earth, and some herb. The acid balances out the ripe fruit and the tannin is still nice and firm. The finish is the best part here, as we start to see some tertiary notes coming through with some really nice mushroom and earth and a bit of barnyard. Nice. 91+

2015 Château Rollan de By, Médoc – This was the mevushal version of the wine. So it was very instructive tasting these three wines one after the other, All of them mevushal. This wine is a powerhouse – showing the best of the three by far. On the nose, you get that earthiness up front with black and red fruit and some herb. In the mouth, the wine still feels young and not at peak – bright red raspberry, cherry, some blackberry, with nice herbs, earth, some mushroom, and a really nice streak of graphite. The tannin is still mouth coating and silky, and the wine is beautifully balanced out by the acid. This wine is really firing on all cylinders. The finish is long with more raspberry, tobacco, some oak, and nice toasted herb. Really nice bottle! 92.5

2016 Domaine Du Castel, Grand Vin – I actually was very interested to check in on this wine. When released, it didn’t match any of the Castel Grand Vins that had come before it – and quite honestly, that have come after it. It is decidedly new world in style. I stocked up as I wanted to track its progress – but I was worried, would it hold up or fall apart and turn sweet? I am really happy as for me this wine has improved with age. It is still very new-world, but controlled and well balanced. On the nose, you get black fruit, lead, nice rich earth, sweet cedar and oak, and a little bit of super dark chocolate. In the mouth, this wine is still drinking relatively young with very nice rich concentrated fruit – blackberry, black cherry, black plum, followed by toasted herb, lead, forest floor, and sweet cedar. The tannin is the only sign that this wine has moved, in that it is somewhat more integrated than I remember. The acid is still nice and present, balancing out the rich profile. The finish is nice with more black fruit, sweet tobacco, roasted coffee grounds, and dark chocolate. I really enjoyed this wine – though it was a bit jarring coming right after the 2015 RdB. 93+

2012 Flam, Noble – This to me was another interesting vertical Flam Noble 11-14. We actually tasted them in pairs – ‘12 & ‘13 and ‘11 & ‘14. The first pair was the weaker one, and the second pair was the stronger. Of the wines, the 2012 was always my least favorite (when you do a vertical, one vintage HAS to come in last). Still the wine is very nice, if not showing a little riper than one would hope. On the nose, you get a lot of dense ripe black fruit, earth, and chocolate. In the mouth, the wine is ripe – with ripe blackberry, black plum, and black licorice, followed by some earth and some near sweet baking spice. The acid does the job and balances it out, and the tannin is still nice and firm. The finish is long and ripe with milk chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg, followed by earth and more ripe black fruit. Very nice wine – though a bit out of character for a Noble (I remember this being more jarring when it was released following the 2011, which is a very different wine indeed – my thanks to my friends Stacey and Dore who contributed this bottle as I had finished mine a couple of years ago). 91

2013 Flam, Noble – This was somewhat a return to form for the Noble after the 2012. On the nose, you get nice dark red and some black fruit, with some nice herb and a little bit of lead. In the mouth, you have nice raspberry and blackberry, toasted herb, sweet oak, and a little lead. The acid is nice and vibrant and does a good job in balancing the wine and giving it some zip. The tannin is a bit riper than I would have thought but still nice. The finish is long with nice, concentrated raspberry and blackberry, tobacco, earth, some mineral, and some chocolate. Overall this is a very nice bottle. 91.5

2014 Flam, Noble – After the 2011 was released, each year I would go to the Flam release events hoping that we would get another ’11. As noted above, the ’13 moved the wine back in direction somewhat and so I was hoping that the ‘14 would continue that trend. While it didn’t, IMHO, it was a better wine than the ’13, even though its darker profile is more akin to the ’12. On the nose, you have ripe black fruit, herb, rich loamy earth, and some tobacco. In the mouth, the wine has progressed a little, and while you get that rich blackberry and plum, you also get a lot of earth and a bit of mushroom, some good mineral, and nice herb. The acid is still doing its magic and the tannin is still going strong. The finish is rich with blackberry, chocolate, sweet tobacco, a bit of cedar, and more herb. Really nice stuff. 93

2011 Flam, Noble – Simply put, this is in my top five all-time favorite Israeli bottles. Israeli for sure – big and bold – but at the same time, restrained and elegant. Most importantly, perfectly balanced. Here there is no black fruit at all, just red, with really nice herb, rich earth, and lead pencil. In the mouth, currently the earth is up front, followed by nice mushroom, raspberry, cherry, some blackberry, lead, good mineral, and nice toasted herb. The acid is in perfect balance and the tannin is now well integrated. The wine is at peak – and in fact I would guess is not very dependent on storage (I was planning on serving my own bottle, but my dear friend Simon brought one as a gift, and as always, his storage is impeccable). The finish is long and elegant with nice rich earth, mineral, raspberry, dark chocolate, sweet toasted herb, tobacco, graphite, and more chocolate. I really love this wine – and am looking forward to drinking my remaining bottles this year. 94

2008 Ya’acov Oryah, Old Musketeer, 12 years – This actually has developed a bit since the last time I tasted. While more floral than the eight year version, all of the other characteristics that you come to expect are there. The deep maple, the beautiful balancing acid. Really it’s a great wine. Better than the eight year was? That’s a matter of personal preference – I think I actually enjoy the eight year more – but I can understand those who would choose this. In any event it’s an easy 92

Well, that’s it for me.  This really was a fun night – with excellent food, wonderful guests – most of whom were good friends and neighbors, and of course great wine. Again, sorry about the tardiness – and looking forward to Besorot Tovot and the month of Nisan and Pesach – Z’man Cheiruteinu – which has more meaning than ever.