For the sixth year in a row, an insightful and educational publication has come out that helps consumers better understand the world of kosher wine. The Jewish Link has released its fifth annual edition of its wine guide. The Jewish Link Wine Guide, continuing from its fifth edition last year, continues to showcase articles on wineries, wines, and winemakers, it also features their lists of top wines. Co-published by Moshe Kinderlehrer and Mendy Schwartz, with editing by Elizabeth Kratz, this year’s Wine Guide features over a half-dozen articles, which are very helpful for getting a sense of where the kosher wine market is at these days.
Articles
The articles in this issue are as follows:
- “Welcome to the Jewish Link Wine Guide” (p. 4) by Elizabeth Krantz – She shares her excitement over the publication of this guide, although also acknowledging that “the satisfaction we feel at our accomplishment is subdued by the stress of a new barrage of sirens in Israel”, as well as the adverse affects that missiles have upon wine-growing in Israel (p. 4).
- “Publisher’s Note” (p. 6) by Moshe Kinderlehrer – A welcome from the publisher, including his acknowledgement that this “annual guide is a true labor of love and passion project for our editors and judges” (p. 6).
- “Viña Memorias: Bringing Back Spain’s Forgotten Grapes” (pp. 8-14) by Joshua London – This article is about a winery in Spain that, through the father’s line, is steeped in regional winemaking traditions; he married a Sephardi Jewess and they ultimately went kosher.
- “Rothschild’s Vision of Israel: Fine Wines From Bat Shlomo” (pp. 16-20) by Elizabeth Kratz – This article focusses on the Bat Shlomo winery in Israel and its winemaker.
- “David Edelman: The ‘Art Restorer’ of California Kosher Wine” (pp. 21-24) by Gamliel Kronemer – This article sheds a spotlight on David Edelman, who is “a young, enthusiastic, religiously observant winemaker who has carved a unique niche for himself making kosher wine for some of California’s most prestigious wineries” (p. 21).
- “Bringing Israel’s Best to the World Stage: Women in Israeli Wine” (pp. 25-27) by Arnie Draiman – This article focusses on three women involved in the wine business on behalf of wineries in Israel: Dorit Ben Simon, who directs exports for Recanati Winery; Vered Ben-Saadon, who owns the Tura Winery; and Etti Edri, who manages exports for both Carmel Winery, as well as Yatir Winery.
- “New Kosher Wines to Explore This Year” (pp. 60-63) by Dr. Kenneth Friedman – Dr. Friedman highlights 20 new kosher wines hitting the market this year, including their respective wineries.
- “Poetry in a Glass: The Vitkin Winemaking Revolution” (pp. 64-67) by Elizabeth Kratz – Spotlighting the Vitkin Winery, including their winemaker, Assaf Paz, as well as some of their wines.
- “Passover Wine Pairings to Enhance Holiday Meals” (pp. 68-74) by Jules Polonetsky – This is a fascinatingly helpful/useful article about which types of wines pair well with various Passover meals, such as matzah brei, matzah ball soup, and even simply matzah. This is an article, along with an accompanying chart, that is certainly worth keeping around for Passovers for years to come to aide one’s wine-drinking experiences during the holiday.
- “End Your Pesach Meal with a ‘Righteous’ Liqueur” (pp. 76-78) by Elizabeth Kratz – In addition to spotlighting the spirits and liqueurs that Righteous Road produces, it features the kosher-for-Passover Fifth Cup liqueur, which was released five years ago.
Top Wine Rankings
In addition to the articles listed above, the annual highlight of this publication is the varied rankings they provide of various categories of kosher wines. These rankings, which are found on pages 28-58, are introduced by Elizabeth Kratz. There are a variety of changes from last year’s categories, such as splitting up “Top 25 White Under $30” to separate categories of “Top Whites $25-35” and “Top Whites Under $25”, as well as “Top 10 Red Israeli Blends” to “Top 10 Israeli Red Blends Over $30” and “Top 10 Israeli Red Blends $30 and Under”. Another big change was the addition of several mevushal categories, which is an intriguing addition. A further change was also to further distinguish Israeli wines from others, including highlighting non-Israeli wines as “Worldwide” categories. Overall, this yields more than two dozen categories:
- Top Reds $50 and Above
- Top Reds $25-$50
- Top Reds Under $25
- Top Whites $35 and Above
- Top Whites $25-35
- Top Whites Under $25
- Top Sparkling
- Top Mevushal Israeli Reds $30 and Under
- Top Mevushal Worldwide Reds Under $20
- Top Mevushal Worldwide Whites $16 and Under
- Top Mevushal Worldwide Whites $17-$25
- Top 10 Worldwide Cabernet Over $40
- Top 10 Worldwide Cabernet Under $40
- Top 10 California Cabernet
- Top 10 Merlot
- Top 10 Pinot Noir
- Top 5 Shiraz
- Top 10 French Blend
- Top 5 Cabernet Franc
- Top 10 Worldwide Blends Over $30
- Top 10 Worldwide Red Blends Under $30
- Top 10 Chardonnay
- Top 10 Sauvignon Blanc
- Top 10 Israeli White Blends
- Top 10 Reds Under $20
- Top 10 Israeli Red Blends Over $30
- Top 10 Israeli Red Blends $30 and Under
Previous Years
