A few weeks ago, we had some neighbors over for Friday night dinner, and as usual, they brought us a bottle of wine.  This time, however, he picked out something unusual – a bottle of pomegranate wine.

I had heard of pomegranate wines before, but honestly, I was never curious enough to try and find it to try it.  However, since someone was nice enough to bring a bottle to me, it went on to the table Friday night. 

I think I have to agree with our dear departed Curmudgeon Critic Daniel Rogov.  While the Morad Pomegranate product is a fairly pleasant fermented pomegranate juice product, Daniel felt that the term “wine” belonged to products made from grapes (I would even restrict it to products made from wine grapes, thereby excluding so-called Concord grape wines).

This is a great beverage to serve over ice in summer months – the tart red fruit acidity of the pomegranates would work beautifully over ice in hot weather, but it really doesn’t work as a table wine type product.

I don’t often buy Champagne or sparkling wines made in the methode champenoise, for two reasons.  First, my wife does not like the yeasty notes that are a result of the refermentation in the bottle required by methode champenoise, and second, they make me belch.  That being said, however, there are some really good kosher Champagnes and methode champenoise wines out there, and over the years I have tried a few of them.

A few weeks ago, on Friday night, just as I was finishing dinner, a neighbor came by to invite me over to his house to try Drappier Champagne – a new kosher champagne from a popular established champagne house.  In a joint venture with Royal Wines, Drappier produced two kosher cuvees for the kosher market – Carte D’Or Brut, and Carte Blanche.  We tried the Carte D’Or Brut on Friday night, and the Blanche on Saturday afternoon.

As is implied by the Brut designation, the Carte D’Or is a drier expression than the Blanche.  Both are rather good, although the Blanche, with a lighter, fruitier profile is likely to have more mass appeal than the Carte D’Or.

With regard to value for the dollar (a large part of what this blog is all about) one has to bear in mind that Drappier, like Laurent Perrier and other genuine Champagnes, carries something of a premium for the fact that it actually comes from the Champagne region of France.  Other methode champenoise wines, like the Hagafen Brut Cuvee and the Yarden Blanc de Blancs, are made in the same method and are excellent in their own right, and can be had for less money than the French options.

Covenant Cabernet Sauvignon is a rather expensive wine, so it’s not often that I buy or open one.  The few bottles I have were received from clients for solving problems by doing things beyond the scope of my contract.  Two and a half weeks ago was my 16th wedding anniversary, and for some reason I was in a mood that said the name Covenant seemed appropriate for celebrating my wedding anniversary.  A bit silly or sentimental, perhaps, but it is what it is.

The wine was wonderful.  Full-bodied, deep deep red, classic Cab aromas, and wonderful mouth filling flavor with great balance.  Definitely not an everyday wine, but well worth buying and holding for special occasions.

Shortly after my parents gave me my first wine fridge, I did a favor for a contractor, who repaid me with 6 bottles of a newly released wine – the 2001 Yarden El Rom vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon.  I had never heard of the El Rom, so I went online and requested information from Daniel Rogov.  As I mentioned in my last post, Daniel died this past week, so in a salute to Daniel I opened a bottle of 2001 El Rom on Friday night.

Even now, at ten years old, the wine started out tight, taking time to open up.  It poured a beautiful clear deep red, without any hint of the color starting to go off.  Everything was right with this wine – the nose, the mouthfeel, the still-strong tannins.  It was fantastic Friday night, and perhaps even better by Shabbos lunch.

While you can’t get the 2001 El Rom anymore (except perhaps at a major premium from collectors), Yarden has continued producing single vineyard wines, even broadening the range with wines from other vineyards and other varietals.  Personally, I think these are wines to buy and age for years before drinking, but they can be drunk upon release.  Keep your eyes open – once released, these wines tend to disappear quickly.

A lunch guest dropped off a bottle of this wine right before Shabbos.  Admittedly, between the Kirkland bourbon, the Chimay Premiere, the Trader Joe’s Vintage 2010 Ale, and the half bottle of Yarden Cab that was  left from Friday night, I didn’t get to the Dalton till the end of the meal, but that was just a circumstance of the meal, not due to any prejudice against the wine.  The wine is pleasant, simple and fruity – clearly not meant for aging, but pleasant to drink nonetheless.  A quick search of NYC metro area retailers shows prices ranging from $14-16.  As with most wines, I prefer a price point that would be in line with a pre-Rosh Hashana or pre-Pesach sale.  But since Rosh Hashana is about 8 weeks away, it’s time to start compiling a mental list of wines to look for in the coming sales.

I originally opened this bottle for my wife to use in making a sauce for some fish, but the kids scarfed down so much of the fish that it didn’t make sense to make the sauce anymore.  So the next night we each had a glass with dinner, and the bottle got finished on Shabbos afternoon. 

In contrast to the Fusion blend I tried a week or two ago, this wine did not disappoint.  It is precisely what was expected – a decent, technically correct Chardonnay that I got for slightly less than $10.  The funny thing, and I know that I’ve written this before, is that while I remember Weinstock’s regular series of wines as being good value at reasonable prices as far back as 15 years ago, the regular series of wines became rather scarce (at least in my neighborhood).  Honestly, I think that if your preferred retailer either does not carry Weinstock at all or is carrying just the Cellar Select series, start asking for the regular wines – if enough people ask, they will start carrying it, and you will have done yourself a favor.  I mean, why buy a $15 dollar wine for $24 when you can get a $10 wine for $10?

After finishing a bottle of Galil Mountain Yiron 2005 on Friday night, I opened a bottle of Segal’s Fusion Chardonnay/Colombard for Shabbos lunch.  Segal’s produces both Red and White blends under the Fusion name, and these wines are meant to be relatively simple, $10-12 dollar entries in the market.  The Red is more than adequate in that regard, and something I would buy (although not in case quantities and preferably on a heavy sale).  The White, on the other hand, is somewhat disappointing – I just don’t like the combination of the Chardonnay and Colombard.  The Colombard seems to dumb-down the Chardonnay, and it doesn’t work for me.  As far as I am concerned, there are better white wine entries in this price bracket.

It’s been a little crazy around here.  I got into writing an intense article which I have now put on a back burner, and then got a little backed up on regular work-related writing.  I’m still swamped, but I really don’t want to go any longer without writing here because summer is rapidly running by, and summer is not only prime beer season, but also a time when Sunday barbecues and long Saturday afternoons beg for refreshing, relaxing drinks.

First up, the wine my wife and I drank this past Shabbos: 2009 Dalton Reserve Wild Yeast Viognier (French Oak Finish).  Varietal Viognier is a relative newcomer to the kosher wine scene – the first one was released in the US only a few years ago.  Viognier can produce a very good, aromatic dry white, and interestingly is sometimes used in small percentages as a blending agent in reds.  While white wines are typically better served chilled, I don’t think I would recommend chilling this wine – chilling a wine (or any ethanol beverage, for that matter) tends to mute some of the aromatics.  In the case of this wine, that would be something of a waste.

I think I would be remiss if I did not discuss the “Wild Yeast” part of the wine’s name, especially since it adds to the charm of the wine, even if only from an academic standpoint.  Yeast is essential to the making of wine, but most wineries use carefully maintained cultures of yeast strains bred in-house.  But if you’ve ever walked past a wild grape vine in September, you can tell by the aroma of fermenting grapes that yeast abounds in nature.  In fact, yeast tends to collect on the skins of grapes as they grow, and will ferment the grapes if left alone long enough.  What Dalton decided to do with this wine is take the calculated gamble of fermenting the wine with the wild yeast on the grapes themselves.  I for one, am very glad it went well.

At $20, this is a very good wine.  However, in light of some of the recent sale prices I have found on whites ($11 for Yarden Chardonnay) I would hold this as an occassional bottle.

So, we had Wednesday, Thursday, and Shabbos to try a few different wines.  At my house we went through a few different bottles – a Cantina Gabrielle Cabernet Sauvignon, a Yarden 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, a Yarden 2006 Merlot, a Dalton Safsufa Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc/Viognier blend, a 2005 Galil Mountain Yiron, a Willm Gewurtztraminer, a 2000 Langer Tokaji Aszu 3 Puttonyos, and a magnum of Kedem Estates Blush Chablis.  I know, I know, the Blush Chablis is a major odd man out in that list, but in 100 degree heat you can pour it over ice and it works.  I wouldn’t go out and buy it myself, but someone gave me a case of it and using it as a summer wine cooler is better than pouring it out.

With regard to the other wines, I’ve already written about the Cantina Gabrielle, Yarden, and Galil Mountain.  I thought I had written about the Willm Gewurtztraminer, but a quick reveiw of posts seems to contradict that.  I’ll write about that in the next day or so.  For now, I want to discuss the oldest wine in the whole bunch from Shavuos, especially since it is still available, and there are so few 2000 vintage kosher wines still available.

Let me start by saying that this bottle was not aged under ideal conditions – it was kept in my short-term rack, where the temperatures sometimes get up to 70 degrees.  While the wine was not as sweet as might have been expected, it was definitely full-flavored and rich.  My father and I enjoyed it very much, but there was a resinous quality that my wife did not like.  For my purposes that means I won’t be buying anymore of it.  For your purposes, this is a good white wine with a very strong flavor profile that is probably at full maturity now.  It has been on store shelves for a few years already, though, so most of what you will find these days will have been subjected to higher temps than my short-term rack.  Given that it carries a retail price tag well over $20 per bottle, I would warn anyone choosing to buy this today to proceed with caution.  Given its age, see if you can get it at a bargain.