Passover Wines: This Year, in Person!
More than Manischewitz
Sending this one out a bit early in advance of the U.S. stock market holiday and to give folks a chance to go shopping for Passover on Friday. Bon weekend, everyone!
Hooray! I actually realized in enough time that I hadn’t missed Passover yet this year, and I even had time to invite a panel of tasters over to Wiz Manor!
First off, what are kosher wines for Passover? Check out my post originally written in spring 2019 for definitions of “kosher wines” and “mevushal.”
There’s also this helpful WineFolly article from Adam Montefiore, wine writer for The Jerusalem Post.
For this year’s tasting, I didn’t have time to order from Kosherwine.com. Even Wine.com and TotalWine.com have pretty wide selections. I wanted to see what was just available to me in my regular nearby wine shops. At West Trenton Fine Wines a mile from my house, I found a small section that included an Argentinian malbec. Joe Canal’s in Lawrenceville had two sizable displays full!
First off, the not good:
Barkan Classic 2016 Merlot (list price $10.99; Joe Canal’s bottle club price $9.79): This wine hails from Galilee. Our tasting panel found it to be leaden and uninteresting.
Guillermo de Mendoza 2016 Malbec (average price $12): A low end malbec lacking energy. You can do better.
Better:
Carmel Select 2018 Sauvignon Blanc (list price $11.99; bottle club price $9.99): I liked this quite a bit! Round peachiness on the palate. A great aperitif, would be good with salad for a first course.
Bartenura NV Prosecco (list price $16.99; bottle club price $14.99): This is semi-dry, and would go better with dessert. Otherwise, typical prosecco in texture. I would prefer something drier for savory foods or for a starter, but this is nice for the money.
The best wine of the night — and the most expensive by far — was unanimously Psagot 2016 Edom (list price $39.99; bottle club price $34.99). It’s a blend primarily of merlot and cabernet sauvignon with some petit verdot and is from the Judean Hills region in Israel. This rich red blend with beautiful texture and deep black fruit is dying to be paired with your brisket main course.
In the future, I’ll plan ahead and see what else is available between these ranges. But if you’re on your way to your holiday dinner and need to pick up something quick, spend a little more and go for something like Psagot Edom. Wishing you a very happy and safe holiday!