Kosher wines: gems to celebrate the New Year

Dalton Canaan White

This is the start of the Jewish New Year and for this month, the calendar is filled with celebrations. For many in the Heights, that will include kosher wines. I decided to check out some of them and found a good selection at many area stores, including Heinen’s, Zagara’s, Tibor’s Kosher Meats and Cedar Green Wine.

Kosher wines tend to be more expensive than their counterparts. I spent a little more on these than I usually do for the wines I review here. Good kosher wines are made just about anywhere good wine is made—from Australia to Napa, South America to Bordeaux. For this column, I am reviewing only wines made in Israel.

The 2007 Dalton Canaan white is from the Upper Galilee. It’s a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Riesling. The aromas are gorgeous—with grapefruit, lime and floral qualities. The wine is crisp and clean, with just a hint of sweetness. It retails for around $20 and will be perfect for the harvest festival celebration in your sukot.

I also purchased three similar reds at different price points. The 2007 Barkan Classic Cabernet Sauvignon sells for around $9. The wine has notes of cassis with a hefty dose of oak. It goes down smoothly and is certainly a good value.

The 2006 Tishbi Cabernet Petite Sirah is a blend of both grapes. It has an earthy hint cassis and black raspberries. Because it’s a blend, it was perhaps the most complex wine of the three reviewed here. At $16, this wine would work well on the dinner table.

The 2007 Golan Cabernet Sauvignon retails for around $20. It has a very nice nose of cassis, tobacco with a bit of bell pepper. I found it the best of the three wines, but by only a slight margin.

Depending on your budget, any of these wines would make an excellent addition to your holiday table.

L’Shana Tova.

Loren Sonkin lives in Cleveland Heights, is the winemaker for SonkinCellars.com in California and writes for www.intowine.com/user/loren-sonkin.

 
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Volume 2, Issue 10, Posted 10:56 AM, 09.20.2009