By Joel Magalnick , Editor, JTNews
Something happened this year. For the past 10 years, JTNews has brought Royal Wine Distributors to our offices to offer tastings of a selection of kosher-for-Passover wines so we could tell you how your seder table could be elevated above the syrupy sweetness of traditional kosher wines. Every year it seems the wines would get better, plateau, then improve again. This year feels like the wines truly, finally, became excellent.
As always, we invite members of our community to help with our tasting, whether they have experience in the wine industry or simply like a good glass of wine. This year we had some new faces around our table, but as always we have Michael Friend, Royal Wine’s local representative, to thank for bringing in the wines and providing insightful knowledge of the appellations and their origins. So without further ado, here’s our crew:
Emily K. Alhadeff, assistant editor, JTNews
Ned Porges, retired professor of wine and spirits at Washington State University
David Greene, wine enthusiast
Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
Ari Somers, wine enthusiast
Tzippy Wiens, jew-ish.com columnist and wine enthusiast
Michael Blumson, wine enthusiast
Ed Epstein, wine enthusiast
And here is a list of our wines:
Binyamina Special Reserve Chardonnay (M)
Baron Herzog Chenin Blanc (M)
White by W (M)
Segal’s Fusion Red Blend (M)
Capcanes Peraj Petita (NM)
Pacifica Meritage (NM)
Segal’s Special Reserve Merlot (M)
Red by W (M)
Bartenura Moscato Sparkling Rose (M)
The “˜M’ designation means the wine is mevushal, a process in which the wine is flash heated to remove any impurities, which for observant Jews means the wine, a sanctified object, may be poured by non-observant caterers or guests. NM means non-mevushal —no pasteurization has taken place.
All of these wines should be available at the QFC in University Village and the Albertson’s on Mercer Island. Wine World in Seattle’s Wallingford neighborhood has a limited selection as well. Regardless, if you don’t find it in your own neighborhood grocery, any wine steward should be able to order you a bottle. Or 20.
So let’s hear what our tasters have to say. We started with whites.
Binyamina Special Reserve Chardonnay ($22.99)
Binyamina is a 60-year-old Israeli winery, located in the Galilee, that puts out a high-end chardonnay that received raves all around. Most of us found it light and fruity, with “just a touch of oak,” David noted. He also tasted pear, as did Emily and I, and “a hint of apples.”
“That’s what they mean by balance,” Michael F. said. “The fruit, the wood.”
Emily caught a bit of a single malt Scotch in there as well. Wishful thinking, I suppose.
Michael Blumson examines the nose on the Baron Herzog Chenin Blanc.
Baron Herzog Chenin Blanc ($9.99)
Compared to the Binyamina, which universally received high marks, this wine was much less strong — but that’s also characteristic of a Chenin Blanc. “Thick, sweet, buttery,” Ari said. Ned agreed, also calling it flowery.
David found it fruity, but “a bit light, [with] a sour edge.” Michael B. found a “concentrated tartness,” kind of like green apple.
Tzippy, however, found it too sweet, like a sorbet.
“A child’s wine,” she said.
White by W ($10.99)
Made by Weinstock Winery on California’s Central Coast near Santa Barbara, this blend doesn’t give the feel of any specific varietal.
Given its light flavor, Michael F. said it’s what wine vendors would call “approachable.” And it was light — it felt like a warm-weather wine, for “summer on the deck,” noted Ned, that would go well with fruit or a salad. Tzippy suggested pairing it with macaroni and cheese (during the 51 weeks of the year that aren’t Passover, that is).
“Minimal aroma, light bodied, short aftertaste,” said Ed.
And now for the reds:
Segall’s Fusion Red Blend ($14.99)
This slightly tannic mix of 60 percent merlot with cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon also comes from Israel’s Galil.
“Smells like a spicy vanilla,” Tzippy said.
Emily caught some spice — and some moss.
“Pleasant for the new wine drinker and the aficionado,” said Ed. He found it to be a well-blended wine. David said it had a “wonderful bouquet — rich and fruity.” Ned said it was smooth, with “heat on the tongue.”
And Michael B. thought it was nicely balanced and would go well with salty foods. Hello, matzoh ball soup!
Capcanes Peraj Petita ($20.99)
This new entry into the kosher field comes from Spain’s Montesant region, a high-elevation growing area that produced a wine that got high marks all around. We got it because David first tasted it during a visit to Chicago, and he liked it so much he asked that Royal Wines bring it to the area. We’re glad he did.
“Hints of raspberries and blueberry in the bouquet,” David said, with “flavor of cardamom/spices.” It would go great with red meat, he suggested. I agreed, though I’d probably substitute a portobello mushroom.
Many of us tasted the spice in there — it almost tasted like pumpkin pie, I thought.
“Tastes like a summer vacation but would be great post-snowshoeing in February,” Tzippy said.
Pacifica Meritage ($36.99)
Could it be? Is it true? A kosher wine produced right here in our very own backyard? It is! it is! This, our first taste of the Northwest in our 10 years of tastings, comes from Walla Walla, and to much acclaim. It’s the priciest wine of the bunch, so it may merit drinking during the seder meal rather than the telling of the story, but we found this taste of home was worth the cost.
Michael F., Emily and Ned all tasted cherry. Ari found some almond and pepper in there as well.
“Very smooth, very pleasant finish,” said David.
“This wine is like a meal,” Tzippy said. “It’s a meaty wine that is smooth and smoky (slightly).”
But, cautioned Michael B., with the evidence on his lips to prove it, it ” doesn’t go well with chocolate.”
Segall’s Special Reserve Merlot ($19.99)
Back to the Galil with this merlot, which apportioned the varietals similarly to the Fusion, and it showed.
Ed gave it a top rating.
“Not much floral,” he said. “Very nicely balanced.”
It didn’t top my list of favorites, partly because I smelled a lot of smoke on the nose. Several of us found a hint of eucalyptus.
“Tastes solid, robust,” Ned said.
“Smooth, very flavorful,” David said.
Michael B. thought it would go well with tender meats.
Red by W ($10.99)
This California table wine, a blend of syrah, zinfandel and black muscat — hence the sweetness — in some ways lifted the weight from such strong wines as the Pacifica and the Capcanes.
“So much fun, this wine,” Michael F. said.
It had just a touch of sweetness, noted Ned. “Brisk,” he said.
Michael B. found some jamminess in the nose, perhaps with a hint of fig. He tasted “strong fruit, some black pepper.”
Ari said he tasted strawberry. “Sweet, light,” he said.
Emily, however, was unimpressed. It had a “funny taste,” she said, like “cleaning product.”
For the big finish, why not a little bubbly?
Tzippy Wiens prepares to take her first sip of the bubbly Bartenura Moscato rosé.
Bartenura Moscato Sparkling Rosé ($17.99)
It’s not champagne — only grapes grown in the Champagne region of France qualify as champagne, and this bubbly is Italian — but that doesn’t mean it’s any less enjoyable. Or celebratory.
“It’s like candy,” Ed said.
“Good toasting for a wedding,” noted Ned. Because really, who wouldn’t want to have a seder under the chuppah?
Michael B. tasted apple, with a transition to pear after sitting in the air.
“Very sweet,” he noted. The “acidity provides some balance.”
But overall, this wine brought us to a fourth-cup, seder-ending finish the way a seder should end: The exodus completed, joyous singing, and a rosé to keep the story fresh.
