Sooner or later, everything old is new again.Stephen King In 2015 after 23 years operating in their original location in Ramat Raziel, Castel opened its new larger facility in Yad HaShmona. Besides providing greater capacity, the new winery provided state of the art technology to aid in creating some truly excellent wines. It also created … Continue reading 2017 Razi’el
RCC Israel # 34 – Tevet 5780
This month we scheduled RCC to be New Year's Eve and took the opportunity to ring in 2020 with an appropriate 20 wines. Chef on duty was Avi Katz, who did a nice job overall with the food. A couple of highlights there were the potato soup with crispy lamb bacon, which was excellent - … Continue reading RCC Israel # 34 – Tevet 5780
Israel’s Supermarket Revolution? Notes on 3 wines from Egoz-Muscat
Over the last few months, a number of friends have been talking to me about something that they describe as hopefully the beginning of a revolution here in Israel. Quality wine available at the supermarket – much like it is in every country in the world. The two wines that have been causing this commotion … Continue reading Israel’s Supermarket Revolution? Notes on 3 wines from Egoz-Muscat
Covenant Israel Wine Club Dinner at Herbert Samuel Restaurant
At RCC’s I often lament the fact that we have excellent food and excellent wines, but it is logistically impossible to actually pair the two properly in advance. Sometimes it works out by chance, often times, the two pieces of the puzzle are enjoyed separately. Every once in a while, when planning a dinner at … Continue reading Covenant Israel Wine Club Dinner at Herbert Samuel Restaurant
France Trip 2019 – Part 4 – A Visit in Roanne with the QPR Kings of France – Taieb
If you read my last post, you can guess that we wanted to waste no time getting out of that nutty hotel in Lyon. So we woke up at 5:30 and made our way to the train station by foot. The trip from Lyon to Roanne is just over 2 hours. With no coffee, I … Continue reading France Trip 2019 – Part 4 – A Visit in Roanne with the QPR Kings of France – Taieb
France Trip 2019 – Part 3 – Strasbourg & Lyon
After Koenig, we headed back to Strasbourg for a quick dinner and then to Nathan Grandjeans’s house for what was to be a mega-tasting of about 30 wines. David had pre-picked about 25 of them for Nathan to arrange, and as I mentioned – just for fun we had stopped at a local kosher grocery … Continue reading France Trip 2019 – Part 3 – Strasbourg & Lyon
France Trip 2019 – Part 2 – Alsace & Koenig
For the first part in this series see here. Next stop on our French tour was the Alsace region. To get there, David & I took a train at about 8 am to Strasbourg, which got us there at about 11 am. We then did a little shopping for yet more wine for this evening’s … Continue reading France Trip 2019 – Part 2 – Alsace & Koenig
France Trip 2019 – Part 1 – Intro + Paris & Royal Wines
After NY, I flew to France for 4 days of wine and really, nothing else. I didn’t have a chance to visit the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre or anything else for that matter. If I wasn’t travelling (to or from wine) or eating (with wine) then I was sleeping (passed out from drinking wine). … Continue reading France Trip 2019 – Part 1 – Intro + Paris & Royal Wines
In America – Something Old, Something New
I recently finished a lightning quick trip to the US primarily to visit family and attend my grandmother’s unveiling (before rushing off for an even quicker trip to France to taste this year’s releases from Royal, Koenig, and Taieb – more on that soon). It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a year since her … Continue reading In America – Something Old, Something New
The Great Experiment
Apologies for what will be a VERY long post – there was a lot to cover. Also - full disclaimer – Ya’acov Oryah is a friend. I don’t believe that impacts how I rate his wine, but it’s important for you to know that for the sake of transparency. “The true method of knowledge is … Continue reading The Great Experiment