Kosher Wines Win

By Joshua E. London

Tzuba’s 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon won Editors choice

Kosher wines have collected some impressive scores and some remarkable praise in the wine press the past decade. The latest impressive review comes from The Wine Enthusiast’s April 2015 issue, including more than 30 Israeli wines. None of them received a rating lower than 85, and 16 of them received scores of 90 or higher.

A 90-point or higher score from The Wine Enthusiast can be thought of as an award of excellence from the panel of tasters employed by that magazine. In its rankings, a score of 87 to 89 is “very good” and “well recommended,” while 90 to 93 is “excellent” and “highly recommended.” Above that is, well, above that.

Two wines, Tzuba 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon and Alexander 2010 Reserve Cabernet Franc, won Editor’s Choice, and two others, Carmel 2013 Selected Sauvignon Blanc and Carmel 2013 Selected Cabernet Sauvignon, were named Best Buys by the prestigious magazine.

For decades wine critics have recognized Israel’s ability to produce world-class wines, but this review appears to have taken the recognition one step further. The highly rated wines come from virtually all of Israel’s wine-growing regions. The Galilee and Judean Hills have been noted wine regions for years, but now the Upper Negev/Judea, Shomron and other regions have shown that they can produce wines of high regard.

“Best value is a rarity in any review, and so when that best value comes from Israel, it’s even more astounding, although not surprising to me,” said Jay Buchsbaum, the director of wine education for Royal Wine, which imports Carmel wines.

“We always knew our wines could compete on the world stage; now everyone else knows it too,” said Joshua Greenstein, who heads the Israel Wine Producers Association.

If you see a kosher wine with a high score, it means that some wine expert or panel of experts — folks who spend most of their time evaluating nonkosher wine from around the globe — tasted that kosher wine and thought it deserving of praise. Whether you agree is your prerogative. The scores are not there to tell you what to like, only to suggest that such a wine is one you might like. Taste for yourself to find out. L’chaim!

The following are the scores The Wine Enthusiast awarded to Israeli wines in its April 2015 issue:

Score	Winery	Wine	Region	Price
93	Shiloh Winery	2010 Legend red blend	Judean Hills	$40
92	Domaine du Castel	2011 Grand Vin Bordeaux-style red blend	Haut-Judeé	$75
92	Madmon	2012 Soreka Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon	Shomron	$30
92	Tzuba*	2009 Cabernet Sauvignon	Judean Hills	$30
92	Alexander*	2010 Reserve Cabernet Franc	Galilee	$40
91	Shiloh Winery	2010 Legend II red blend	Judean Hills	$40
91	Flam	2011 Reserve Syrah	Galilee	$50
91	Psagot	2011 Edom Bordeaux-style red blend	Judean Hills	$38
91	Flam	2011 Reserve Merlot	Galilee	$70
91	Psagot	2011 Psagot Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon	Jerusalem Hills	$75
91	Carmel	2011 Appellation Cabernet Sauvignon	Galilee	$20
91	Psagot	2011 Cabernet Franc	Judean Hills	$35
91	Domaine Netofa	2011 Syrah-Mourvèdre	Galilee	$25
90	Shiloh Winery	2011 Shor Barbera	Judean Hills	$32
90	Psagot	2011 Cabernet Sauvignon	Judean Hills	$35
90	Tulip Winery	2012 Just Cabernet Sauvignon	Galilee	$25
90	Tulip Winery	2011 Black Tulip Bordeaux-style red blend	Galilee	$80
90	Domaine Netofa	2011 Latour Netofa Estate Bottled Syrah-Mourvèdre	Galilee	$45
90	Psagot	2012 Merlot	Judean Hills	$26
90	Alexander	2009 The Great Amarolo red blend	Israel	$120
90	Flam	2012 Classico Bordeaux-style red blend	Judean Hills	$35
90	Segal’s	2009 Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon	Galilee	$75
90	Tulip Winery	2011 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon	Galilee	$45
90	Tzuba	2012 Chardonnay	Judean Hills	$25
90	Yatir	2010 Petit Verdot	Judean Hills	$45
90	Tulip Winery	2011 Mostly Shiraz	Galilee	$40
90	Barkan	2011 Special Reserve Winemakers’ Choice Merlot	Galilee	$25
90	Alexander	2012 Sandro red blend	Upper Galilee	$25
90	Barkan	2011 Special Reserve Winemakers’ Choice Shiraz	Galilee	$25
90	Carmel	2010 Carmel Mediterranean red blend	Galilee	$60
90	Barkan	2012 Special Reserve Winemakers’ Choice Chardonnay	Judean Hills	$25
89	Shiloh Winery	2012 Chardonnay	Judean Hills	$27
89	Domaine Netofa	2013 Estate Bottled Rosé	Galilee	$21
89	Domaine Netofa	2013 Estate Bottled Chenin Blanc	Galilee	$25
89	Carmel#	2013 Selected Sauvignon Blanc	Galilee	$11
89	Carmel#	2013 Selected Cabernet Sauvignon	Shomron	$11
89	Tulip Winery	2013 White Franc white blend	Judean Hills	$30
89	Barkan	2011 Special Reserve Winemakers’ Choice Cabernet Sauvignon	Galilee	$25
88	Tulip Winery	2013 White Tulip white blend	Galilee	$25
88	Flam	2013 Rosé	Judean Hills	$35
88	Montefiore	2011 Karem Moshe red blend	Judean Hills	$50
86	Carmel	2012 Single Vineyard Kayoumi Vineyard White Riesling	Galilee	$30
86	Shiloh Winery	2011 Secret Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon	Judean Hills	$40
85	Tzuba	2010 Metzuda Syrah	Judean Hills	$30
85	Psagot	2012 Chardonnay	Judean Hills	$25

* Editors’ Choice; # Best Buy

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Alexander’s 2010 Reserve Cabernet Franc also won Editors choice

A Taste for Scoring

The best method for exploring wine is to taste it — as often as possible and preferably with good food, friends and family. Because there are so many different wines, however, specialists and wine critics have emerged to help consumers make sense of it all.

There are, of course, detractors to the basic concept of scoring anything in matters of taste. Wine is subjective to a degree, and what I like might not be what you like. On the other hand, this is true of a great many things, yet we can and do still speak to each other meaningfully, intelligently and to our mutual benefit about our tastes, our preferences and our experiences.

Indeed, what better way to expand our horizons and learn more about each other than to converse about our individual perceptions and judgments? Our social interaction would be rather dull if we didn’t share our judgements with one another.

The wine critic simply professionalizes this impulse.

In the late 1970s, Robert M. Parker Jr., a lawyer in Monkton, Md., began The Wine Advocate, a consumer newsletter of wine evaluation. Owing to wine’s many variables in quality and character, he decided on a 100-point scale. Given the 100-point scale used in American education, he figured consumers would readily understand that, say, while an 85-point wine might be good, a 90- or 93-point wine would be better.

Points are awarded for a wine’s appearance, color, aroma, body, flavor, overall quality and the like. Other influential publications have adopted this 100-point wine scale, such as The Wine Spectator and The Wine Enthusiast, both venerable specialty publications designed to give consumers informed, expert opinions on wine.

While each publication’s exact scale differs slightly, they all essentially function in this way.

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