To wrap up KFWE season, Royal Wines hosted its annual London event last week. As I have mentioned previously, the show in London is perhaps my favorite. It really has nothing to do with the wines – the vast majority of which I had tasted before. It more has to do with the Chevra. First … Continue reading KFWE London 2023
Sauternes
RCC Israel # 43 – Shevat 5783
I have three posts that I am working on simultaneously regarding various tastings – but before I could finish any of them a new month has begun – and that means an RCC has taken place. Again, we had the pleasure of having Chef Amrom Pitterman cook for us, and again, I hosted it in … Continue reading RCC Israel # 43 – Shevat 5783
France Trip 2022 – Part 2 – Royal
Really, the high point of my visit to France each year, besides hanging out with my friend David Raccah for a week tasting wine and eating good food, is getting to spend quality time with Menachem Israelievitch, head winemaker for Royal Europe. It’s not just that he’s a consummate professional, managing dozens of productions at … Continue reading France Trip 2022 – Part 2 – Royal
RCC Israel #42 – Kislev 5783
The last couple of weeks have been a bit crazy for me. My niece Zahava got married, and the entire family flew to the US for the wedding and sheva brachot week. (Shout out to my dear friends Yael & Donny, who hosted our entire family of seven while we were visiting for this trip … Continue reading RCC Israel #42 – Kislev 5783
Some of Royal’s 2018 Reds and 2020 Whites and Rosés
Due to the crazy circumstances this year, all trips were cancelled and therefore it was impossible to taste what was not local. While Royal made an effort to reach out to consumers with a Virtual KFWE, those of us in Israel were out of luck. Some of my colleagues have received samples from Royal – … Continue reading Some of Royal’s 2018 Reds and 2020 Whites and Rosés
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
2 New French Whites + A Closer Look At Some of the 2016 Bordeaux Releases from Royal
This past week I had the privilege of attending a tasting given by Menachem Israelievitch of Royal Wine Corp. Menachem is the winemaker responsible for all of Royal's French releases since the 2014 vintage - and until then served as assistant to his predecessor Pierre Miodownick. The man is super humble giving most of the … Continue reading 2 New French Whites + A Closer Look At Some of the 2016 Bordeaux Releases from Royal
RCC Israel # 29 – Adar Bet 5779
It's nice to get back to some sort of normalcy after the crazy KFWE tour and posts. Cool to get back in the saddle with our annual V'Nhafoch RCC. Each year during Adar we prohibit Israeli wines - not as a commentary on the state of Israeli wine, but rather because we naturally sample Israeli … Continue reading RCC Israel # 29 – Adar Bet 5779
Mid October Trip to the US
Over the last year I have started visiting the US more and more - primarily to have the opportunity to spend time with my grandmother who is 94 and my parents and siblings who I see far too infrequently. I also usually get a chance to enjoy wines with friends that I also see all … Continue reading Mid October Trip to the US
RCC Israel # 24 – Tishrei 5779
Scheduling an RCC for Tishrei is always tricky. There are very few usable days in the month because of the chagim - early in the month is hard becasue of all of the prep for each chag and pushing it until after means that you are very close to the next month. Doing it before … Continue reading RCC Israel # 24 – Tishrei 5779