For a full definition of what an RCC is and it’s origins please see this post by the founder of the RCC initiative Yossie Horwitz.
In short, once a month a group of fellow wine lovers get together to celebrate Rosh Chodesh by having a festive meal with each attendee bringing a special wine that they might have been saving for a special occasion.
In Israel, we too have a branch (RCC Israel) that usually meets in Jerusalem (but occasionally in other parts of the country).
In order to keep things even, there are objective guidelines as to which wines may be brought:
- It must be at least 7 years past the the vintage year – for example in 2019 the wine must be from the 2012 vintage or earlier
- It is highly preferable that the wine not be readily available at a retailer (going out and buying a wine defeats the purpose on which the concept of RCC was founded).
- It should not be significantly past its prime. Questionable bottles in that regard are OK (ie. bottles that are likely past their prime) but a backup bottle is required as well in such a case. The backup bottle will only be opened if the initial bottle is bad (otherwise it isn’t fair to others).
I intend to post about these evenings and to give opinions as best I can about the wines that we taste – taking into account of course that at times this is not the perfect way to taste wines for the purposes of writing a wine review – but then again, I’m not professional wine reviewer – so you can feel free to take it as it is or leave it.
Besides the excellent bottles of wine that we drink on these evening, we also have truly wonderful food. It is usually prepared by two uber-talented chefs Uri Zaltzman aka The Shuk Cook and Bracha Arnold. While Uri only occasionally cooks publicly at pop-ups (if these ever come up and you can get it – do it, not to be missed – disclaimer I have worked as Uri’s sous-chef – but really would I steer you wrong?!?), Bracha is available to cater private events – you really can’t find a more talented and creative person to work with – her e-mail is bracha.arnold@gmail.com
If you would like to be included on the invite list to RCC Israel, please e-mail rccisrl@gmail.com