New kosher wines for the New Year
5776 is almost here. And so is a bevy of new wines from around the world.
When it comes to wine, tastes vary greatly — so we’ve expanded our selection of new arrivals. This coming New Year brings a fresh array of offerings, giving wine lovers an opportunity to not only enjoy the latest vintage of their tried and true favorites, but to also to discover something new.
Washington is the second largest wine producing state after California. Washington wines are known for their bright fruit flavors and crisp acidity, as well as for the unique terroir (a French wine term that loosely translates as “a sense of place” and refers to the sum of the interactive effects on the final wine of the unique local growing conditions of its vineyards).
Climates of individual Washington wine regions differ dramatically, and are cut across from north to south by the Cascade Mountains, resulting in diversity. In general, Washington wine regions rely upon drip irrigation, enjoy consistent temperatures, and benefit from an extra two hours of daylight over California during the growing season. All this contributes to amazingly vibrant grapes. With more than a dozen different wine regions in Washington, some find this diversity confusing, but the terroir shines through and lends itself to exceptional, rich, sometimes wonderfully subtle and complex wine.
New from Pacifica, the sister winery to Goose Bay in New Zealand and the first all-kosher winery in the Pacific Northwest, is the Columbia Gorge Rosé. Made from a blend of Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, Merlot, and a touch of Zinfandel grapes all grown along the Columbia River on Underwood Mountain, this fabulous rosé is a luscious, higher acid vintage made in a dry style with just a touch of sweetness, crisp and flavorful.
France is perhaps the most prestigious and well know growing region. It is said that Rashi grew grapes and produced wine in France, and some of the most prestigious French vineyards can trace their wine growing lineage back more than 500 years. Today Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, among other classic grape varieties, are predominantly grown around the Bordeaux area; Burgundy and Southern France grow primarily Pinot Noir and Chardonnay; and the Rhone Valley grows varieties such as Mouvedre, Grenache and others that have been ideally matched to the local regional terroir over the centuries.
Israel, which started popping up on the radars of many wine connoisseurs only recently, is arguably the oldest wine producing region in the world. The varied terroir — with cooler weather and volcanic soil in the north and generally warmer weather and red, clay and loam soils in the central and south part of the country — allows for a wide variety of flavors and tastes in wine. Couple the diverse growing conditions with the most up to date winemaking techniques and Israeli ingenuity (for example, drip irrigation was pioneered in Israel), and you have a recipe for some of the finest wines available today. Some exciting new releases for the holiday season from Tabor Winery are Tabor Gewurztraminer— an off dry white wine, perfect for a Rosh Hashanah lunch or a warm day in the sukkah. Another new release is Tabor 562, a delightful sparkling wine made with fine early harvested Chardonnay for richness and French Colombard for structure and lively fruit flavors; perfect for celebrating the Jewish new year.
From the Tulip Winery comes Tulip Espero. Espero (hope in the international auxiliary language of Esperanto) is homage to the winery’s special relationship with Kfar Tikvah (village of hope), a unique community that is home to emotionally and developmentally disabled adults. The Tulip winery is not only located in Kfar Tikvah, but also employs many of the residents. Blended from Syrah, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, Tulip Espero is at once complex but inviting, round, soft and flavorful. It is limited in production.
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