Wine wisdom from the new kosher mavens
CHEESE AND wine are a classic partnership. But how do you know what to pick? A growing number of young professionals are connoisseurs of kosher wine. I chatted to some of them about their favourites. AVI ORENSTEIN, PROPERTY SURVEYOR
How did you start out?
The first wine I remember drinking was at 14, on a family trip to the Golan Heights Winery. My mum loved sweet wines and I tried some. From about 18, my palate developed and I started enjoying the bolder Bordeaux wines my father preferred. My first real experience of these was at the Shabbat table. When the recession hit, the French stopped making kosher vintages, so we drank more Israeli wines. At Pesach we’d go to Tiberias and visit wineries like Galil, Tabor and Dalton. While I was at yeshivah in Israel, I discovered more special wines, like Castel, a cross between Old World and New.
What are your favourites? French wines are my first love. They can be upwards of £100 a bottle for Grand Cru (top quality) but you can also find some that are less expensive, like Chateau Le Crock, which is not at the premium end but still good.
What’s good for Shavuot?
It depends on what cheese you are eating. For hard cheese, I’d go for Elvi Herenza Rioja Crianza and Carmel Single Vinyard Kayoumi Shiraz; for soft creamy cheeses like Camembert, a chardonnay or chablis, like Covenant Lavan Chardonnay and Chablis Les Marronniers. And salty cheese, like blue, goes well with port. I recommend Porto Cordovero Late Bottled Vintage.
BEN FINGER, SOLICITOR
How did you start out?
At uni, I developed a taste for whisky. Once I was married and did more socialising on Shabbat and at dinner parties, I became more interested in the wines I was drinking. I’d also done a general studies course at school, which included the basics of wine. Later on, I went to charitable events with kosher wine tastings.
Where do you buy your wine?
What are your favourites?
It depends on the occasion, but I like dry reds. I started out enjoying Israeli reds — which are fruit-forward and therefore approachable. Over the years, we’ve discovered the Old World French and New World Californian wines, similar to Israeli in style. Kerem Ben Zimmer wines are good for midrange, about £20 a bottle. I also like Galilean wines, made by small moshavim.
CLAIRE HORWICH, TV PRODUCER
How did you start out?
I wasn’t always kosher and enjoyed lots of different wines in non-kosher restaurants and on holiday with my parents. When I finished university, I became kosher and when I hosted Shabbat, I wanted to serve decent wine. I already knew about grapes and varietals and I’d visited the Napa Valley. I learned about kosher wine from eating in kosher restaurants and looking for recommendations.
How do you find new wines? Travelling in America or France. Last year I went to an Israeli winery. Once, on holiday in Mexico, we found kosher wine on the menu. They’d had an American kosher wedding and shipped in loads of kosher wine which the newlyweds left with them. We had a bottle a night and cleared them out.
What are your favourites? Recanati, from which the Yasmin collection is a good everyday wine, as is Baron Herzog; Castel — a nice red; The Cave and Yatir Forest (both Israeli) for a special bottle for a nice meal.
ELI MESHULAM, JEWELLER
How did you start out?
By tasting what’s available. At yeshivah, it was all beer and spirits, but since I married, I enjoy a nice, older, smooth gentle wine, especially on Shabbat.
What’s good for Shavuot?
I personally enjoy quite light wines with less intensely flavoured meals. Wines such as pinot noir (Capcanes or Eagles Landing are good examples) are very drinkable and approachable. From top: Avi Orenstein; Eli Meshulam; Claire Horwich