Looking for the perfect wine?

There’s a violent debate going on in the wine world about the pros and cons of high alcohol wines.

Some sommeliers berate them for being unwieldy and unmatchable at the table (often true) and some critics and hedonists love them for their rich, powerful flavors, (often true too) whether they play nicely with food or not.

I think the debate is a bit too simplistic and misleading. In my tastings, day after day, I find different wines with the same levels of alcohol, high or low, can taste hot or balanced. Perceived heat and balance in a wine is far too complicated of a sensory/chemical/environmental matrix to reduce down to one factor, namely alcohol.

It’s always best to judge individual wines on their own individual merits, tempered by your own likes and dislikes, and maybe most importantly, how you will be drinking them. Will you be enjoying the wine on its own–as a trophy polishing session with fellow wine buffs, a conversation starter with someone special, or simple sipper on your own–or with food where other factors like acidity and residual sugar may have an even greater role than the alcohol in successfully pairing with a particular dish. I find that context is the key to deciding on the right wine. Once you know the context, its just a matter of finding wines that you like for each context and what distinguishing characteristics that those wines have so that you can search out other wines with similar characteristics.

Having said all that, I do really enjoy wines in the categories we refer to as “summer whites” (riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot gris/grigio, Muscat, etc.) where the level of alcohol is usually well under the “critical” 14% mark. They tend to be a great compliment to carefree warmer weather sipping and spicier, Latin and Asian cuisines–three of my favorite “contexts”. Below are some recently tasted domestic summer whites for you to explore and delight in.

They will help you lighten up this Spring, no debating that.

The Mineral Sexiness of Petit Chablis

I am soaring I tell you, absolutely soaring.

For the last hour I have been immersed in a transcendent, sublime bottle of Petit Chablis. I have got to say- it is moments like this that I treasure my position as a renowned wine critic, judge and collector. I get to taste this: the 2008 Petit Chablis from Jean-Marc Brocard/ Domaine Sainte Claire.

This Chablis, is quite simply the best I have ever had.

This chablis starts out gently and proceeds to embrace with a stronger grip- listing through flavor notes that capture the soul of the soil. This is a complex Chablis with dryness and bite and a firm backbone of acidity. The typically brazen vinters at Domaine St. Claire allowed this wine to age perfectly and develop the characteristic gout de pierre à fusil, the mineral sexiness of stony gunflint. This is an expressive masculine wine, with the shoulders and balls to make you a believer.

Even with all of the fruit highlights: a bit of spring pear, a note lavender- it is the mineral flirtiness that truly bring this bottle to life, and keeps me coming back for more.

A tip of the hat to you Jean- Marc, old friend. You have outdone your self.

Chin- chin!

Wines of Biblical Porportions (a look at Isreali wines)

Israel may very well be the land of milk of honey, but I promise you: Israel is truly the land of wines. Say what you will about the people of the middle east but hold your tongue before you disparage their bold and decadent wines. As a tuned-in Jewish mother (and a wine aficionado) might say, "Only good can come from this."

It is almost impossible to speak of wine with out a discussing it in the context of Israel. It a firmly understood as fact that Israel is the birthplace of wine, and one need look no further than the book of Deuteronomy (8:8) to find the proof: "... a land of wheat and barley, of grape vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey."

The location of Israel along a historic wine trading route between Mesopotamia and Egypt spread winemaking knowledge and influence throughout the area. Wine played a significant role in the religion of the early Israelites with images of grape growing, harvesting and winemaking often being used to illustrate religious ideals.

In Roman times, wine from Israel was exported to Rome with the most sought after wines being vintage dated with the name of the winemaker inscribed on the amphora.


In the 7th century AD, the conquest of the Middle East by Islamic wine hating weirdos virtually wiped out the region's wine industry with wineries closing down and vineyards, planted with now lost indigenous grape varieties, pulled out. f I had a time machine.....

During the Crusades, noble Christian Crusaders and entourages temporarily revived winemaking between 1100 to 1300 AD but the return of Islamic rule and the subsequent Jewish Diaspora extinguished the industry once again.

In 1848, a rabbi in Jerusalem founded the first documented winery in modern times but its establishment was short lived. In 1870, the first Jewish agricultural college, Mikveh Israel, was founded and featured a course on viticulture.

The root of the modern Israeli wine industry can be traced to the late 19th century when the French Baron Edmond de Rothschild, owner of the Bordeaux estate Château Lafite-Rothschild, began importing French grape varieties and technical know how to the region. In 1882, he help establish Mount Carmel Winery with vineyards and wine production facilities in Rishon LeZion and Zikhron Ya'akov near Haifa. Still in operation today, Mount Carmel is the largest producer of Israeli wine and has been at the forefront of many technical and historical advances in both winemaking and Israeli history. One of the first telephones in Israel was installed at Carmel and the country's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, worked in Carmel's cellars in his youth.

But enough with the history lesson!

The standards of Israeli wines have been on the rise over the years and this particular medium-bodied Pinot Noir from Yarden is no exception.

Expect plenty of fresh cherry fruit and secondary fruit characteristics of strawberry and raspberry, all wrapped up with a veil of vanilla on the palate. A top pick wine for Passover Seder meals and Easter celebrations this weekend.

Another favorite of mine is Karmei Yosef, Cabernet Sauvignon, Bravdo, 2005. This remarkable sauvingnon features dark garnet towards royal purple, is medium- to full-bodied, with generous soft tannins integrating nicely and showing generous but well-proportioned blackberries, currants, lead pencil and sweet herbal aromas and flavors. Intense with the tannins and fruit rising on a long finish.

And in the Kosher variety: one should not pass up Tzora Shoresh. This Dark garnet, medium- to full-bodied, reflecting its 18 months in oak with a sweet cedar nose. Soft tannins integrating nicely with the oak and opens to show a tempting array of currants, wild berries and purple plums, those matched by notes of minerality and cocoa. Approachable and enjoyable now but best 2010-2014.

L'Chaim.

5 Excellent Breakfast Wines Just in Time for Spring

Ah, spring. There's something about these warmer airs that really put me in the mood.... for wine with breakfast!
Yes, this is the brunching season, and so too is it a time when pre- noon imbibery becomes the norm. So let’s indulge, shall we?
Here is a list of my 5 favourites to drink with (or in my case, without) your breakfast- but first a few rules.
Rule number one: forgo the Mimosa’s and Champagne- do you really want to be a living breathing cliché? Besides the only people who really enjoy mimosas are closeted republicans and South Americans (neither of whom I’ll be drinking with anytime soon.)
Rule number two: Don’t pussy foot around about when you order. You are an adult, order some god damned wine. And order lots.
Here's what to choose:

Prefer a red? Think in the direction of lighter, fruity items such as a Beaujolais, simple Chianti or Spanish Garnacha rather than big, tannic brutes.

Or if you’re like me- try a barbera d’Alba, preferably the 2006 Serra Boella from Paitin, which I had leftover from my recent research on chilled reds, which I wrote about in Harper’s last year.
 If you like a white, go for a 2005 muscadet Domaine Pierre de la Grange from Pierre Luneau-Papin. 

Alternatively, a Sarrazin, or If you want to spend about half, the beaujolais to go for is the tried-and-trusted 2004 Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages Combe aux Jacques, whose ripe, elegant, cherry fruit is a spring star, with a quarter of the blend made from superior, declassified Régnié and Morgon fruit .

And finally- if you’re daring enough start with a port. As I said, you’re an adult, act like it.

Chin- chin!