Forcing Language Down Our Throats - UPDATED

The decision of the EU Court in the Psagot Winery case contains this language:

"foodstuffs originating in territories occupied by the State of Israel must bear the indication of their territory of origin, accompanied, where those foodstuffs come from a locality or a group of localities constituting an Israeli settlement within that territory, by the indication of that provenance... as regards the issue whether the indication ‘Israeli settlement’ is mandatory, the Court first of all underlined that the settlements established in some of the territories occupied by the State of Israel are characterised by the fact that they give concrete expression to a policy of population transfer conducted by that State outside its territory, in violation of the rules of general international humanitarian law. The Court then held that the omission of that indication, with the result that only the territory of origin is indicated, might mislead consumers."

From that it seems that any winery or factory for that matter must use the term "settlement" on its label.

But why is that the term to be employed?

Why not "community"? Or another synonymous term?

Credit

Why is "indication of their territory of origin", which plainly refers to a geographical location, to be solely defined as "settlement" rather than actual geography?

The geographical terms "Judea" and Samaria" after all appear in the UN's 1947 Partition Plan to delineate borders. Here:

...The boundary of the hill country of Samaria and Judea starts on the Jordan River at the Wadi Malih...at a point on the district boundary between Haifa and Samaria west of El Mansi...From here it follows the northern and eastern boundaries of the village of Ar'ara, rejoining the Haifa-Samaria district boundary at Wadi'Ara

Can this: "Produced at the Psagot Winery, in the territory of Samaria", be used?   

Or can "Produced at the Locality of Psagot" be used?

If not, why?

Why is the Court obligating, as regards "indication", that only the specific term "settlement" is mandatory?

By the way, in French, "settlement" is translated as colonie (see here). That truly would be a matter of bad English with unnecessary negative connotation.

This is, in addition to all else wrong with the decision, stuffing langauge down or throats.

__________

P.S.

Yes, I am aware that the issue the Court addressed was whether the products made in Judea and Samaria can be labelled "Made in Israel".  See this as an example of addressing that.

P.P.S.

If the wine, or whatever, produced in Judea & Samaria cannot be labeled as "Made in Israel", it equally should not be labeled as "Made in Palestine" so, is it "Made in the Disputed/Occupied/Liberated Territories of Somewhere or Other"?

UPDATE

The full judgment (I was relying on the press release) reads:

For products from Palestine that do not originate from settlements, an indication which does not mislead about the geographical origin, while corresponding to international practice, could be “product from the West Bank (Palestinian product)”, “product from Gaza” or “product from Palestine”.

P.P.P.S

The Court also observed that 

the country of origin or the place of provenance of a foodstuff must...be indicated where failure to indicate this might mislead consumers into believing that that foodstuff has a country of origin or a place of provenance different from its true country of origin or place of provenance. In addition, it noted that, where the origin or provenance is indicated on a foodstuff, it must not be deceptive.

and

For products from the West Bank or the Golan Heights that originate from settlements, an indication limited to “product from the Golan Heights” or “product from the West Bank” would not be acceptable. Even if they would designate the wider area or territory from which the product originates, the omission of the additional geographical information that the product comes from Israeli settlements would mislead the consumer as to the true origin of the product. In such cases the expression “Israeli settlement” or equivalent needs to be added, in brackets, for example. Therefore, expressions such as “product from the Golan Heights (Israeli settlement)” or “product from the West Bank (Israeli settlement)” could be used.’

If so, how can anything produced by Arabs in the same territory be labled "Made in Palestine"? The Court suggests the Shiloh Winery located 1.5 kilometers from Turmos Aya are in two different geographical provenances?

Much more deceptive as Palestine doesn't actually exist. 

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Hilarious BDS Fail

You hopefully know about the Canada case, whereby a Jew has taken upon himself to effectively halt the import of Psagot Wines and other products that are produced in Judea and Samaria.

I mentioned it here, with a solution. The issue has been referred back to legal and political consultations which has angered the Pals.  Israellycool noted a problem with the Nadim Winery and it continues, as Daoud Kuttab has tweeted.

Read on, here:

‘PRODUCT OF PALESTINE WINE’ DELAYED 

IN ONTARIO OVER LABELLING

In a case of unexpected blowback, products from the Taybeh winery and Taybeh Brewing Co. in Ramallah are being withheld from shelves in Ontario, as officials work out whether they can be labelled as a “Product of Palestine.”
Taybeh products that have been delivered to Canada “are currently on hold due to uncertainty surrounding labelling of products from the Israeli-occupied West Bank,”...

 (and Haaretz did a story about the Nadim Winery two-and-a-hlaf years ago)

...In an Aug. 29 post on its website, Palestine Just Trade said the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s (LCBO) World Destination Program arranged to include five “Nadim” wines from Taybeh and five varieties of Taybeh beer earlier this year – all labeled “Product of Palestine.” The products were ready for release in early August, when notification came that they were put on hold.

“… the LCBO informed Palestine Just Trade that ‘due to the recent decision by the Federal Court regarding labeling requirements for wines from this region, we have placed these products on hold,’ ” the group stated...

"...In an Aug. 28 letter to the president of the CFIA, Lascaris enclosed a certificate from the Palestinian Authority confirming that Taybeh is based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, “which is under the control of the Palestinian Authority. We can assure you that the Taybeh products that have been placed on hold have not been produced in any Israeli settlement.”

Lascaris also enclosed a list of 60 wines made in “the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights or Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory” that are still sold in Canada, despite the Federal Court ruling.

“In our view, the manner in which the CFIA and LCBO are dealing with accurately labelled Taybeh products and falsely labelled products from Israeli settlements in occupied territory is plainly discriminatory,” Lascaris wrote.

Oh, well.

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Best Wine Producer in Israel

I love headlines like this:

Psagot Winery overcomes the Earth’s elements to produce award-winning wine

It comes from an item that originates in London.

In a country with a hot climate, minimal rainfall and a shortage of indigenous wine grapes, setting up a vineyard in Israel doesn’t necessarily scream “success story”. Psagot Winery, however, has overcome all these challenges to rejuvenate the ancient tradition of Israeli wine making, thereby making it a true competitor against its Mediterranean rivals.

...Psagot Winery’s founder Yaakov Berg was keen to reawaken the ancient status that Israel once held...hard work eventually paid off, with a growing customer base worldwide. This year, moreover, Psagot Winery was included in the World Finance Fine Wine Report 2018 and received the award for Best Wine Producer in Israel, 2018. 

... 65 percent of Psagot’s wine is exported. Now an established international player, Psagot Winery is focusing on its long-term plans of expanding its portfolio to include white wine and sparkling wine.

Continue to learn about Psagot Winery in  Ya’acov Oryah's story here.

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Canada Attempts to Halt Flow of Shiloh Wine

Shiloh is in the news, as is our wine [see Update below]:

LCBO CRACKS DOWN ON SALE OF ISRAELI WINESBy Ron Csillag, Staff Reporter -  July 13, 2017

In a replay of controversies seen in Europe, a federal agency in Canada has called for an end to the labelling of wine made in the West Bank as a “Product of Israel.”

The directive from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) came to light via the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), which has asked its sacramental wine vendors to stop importing and selling wines labelled “Product of Israel” that are made in the West Bank and other “occupied” territories.

In a July 11 letter that lit up social media, the LCBO’s corporate affairs office requested that sacramental wine vendors – independent sellers who order wine used in religious ceremonies through the LCBO – stop any importation or sale of bottles labelled as a “Product of Israel” from two West Bank wineries, “or others located in the same region, until further notice.”

The LCBO says it is following a July 6 notification from the CFIA regarding products from the two Israeli wineries.

“The CFIA clarified that ‘Product of Israel’ would not be an acceptable country of origin declaration for wine products that have been made from grapes that are grown, fermented, processed, blended and finished in the West Bank and occupied territory,” states the letter to vendors from Vincent Caron, a policy advisor at the LCBO.

Named in the LCBO directive are the Psagot Winery in Psagot, north of Jerusalem, and the Shiloh Winery in Ma’ale Levona, a West Bank settlement southeast of Ariel.

Critics have angrily denounced the move as bowing to the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli products made in lands captured in 1967.

Canadians for Justice & Peace in the Middle East, a pro-BDS group, has in the past placed stickers on Israeli wines, advising consumers not to purchase them.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said it is “important to note that this does not appear to reflect government policy...”

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center says it is contesting the move with both government bodies. “We consider any action which promotes the so-called BDS campaign against Israel as anti-Semitic. This would be out of step with the existing government policy, which has vigorously condemned the BDS campaign,” president and CEO Avi Benlolo said in a statement...

Yaakov Berg, Psagot Winery’s CEO, said he was “amazed” at Canada’s decision.

“We are living in Judea and Samaria by historic right,” Berg told the Times of Israel on July 12. “Canada, of all places, which was established and developed on basis of occupying and sacrificing the homeland of another people and which has no roots or historical validity to its existence there, doesn’t recognize the right of a Jew to live and cultivate vines on land inherited from his forefathers?”

I have been advised that

The legal basis of the LCBO's letter is mistaken. The non-recognition of sovereignty does not have any direct implications for labeling, or make labeling misleading. Indeed, a French appellate court and the UK Supreme Court have held that "Made in Israel" labeling for Judea & Samaria goods is not misleading under comparable labeling requirements. Thus the EU labels products from West Sahara "Made in Morocco" while not recognizing Moroccan sovereignty.

And

B'nai Brith Expects Disturbing Canadian Food Inspection Agency 

Decision Against Israeli Wines to Be Reversed Soon

UPDATE

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regrets the outcome of the wine labelling assessment which led to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario's (LCBO) response regarding products from two wineries labelled as "Product of Israel".
In our assessment, we did not fully consider the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA).
Further clarification of the CIFTA (Article 1.4.1b) indicates that these wines adhere to the Agreement and therefore we can confirm that the products in question can be sold as currently labelled.
The CFIA will be following up with the LCBO to correct our original response.

^

Wines from Binyamin Region

Guess what?

ESHKOL HAZAHAV
May 5, 2015
Israel’s premier wine tasting competition
The winners of this year’s Eshkol Hazahav (Golden Cluster), were announced at The Peres Center For Peace in Jaffa...Two hundred and fifty nine wines were sent in from fifty-six wineries, to be tasted blind by panels of experts. These included winemakers, sommeliers, wine critics and wine connoisseurs.

The surprise of the evening was Shiloh Winery...Shiloh won an outstanding four Gold Medal Trophies, all of them red wines...

The Gold Medal Trophies, (first place), were awarded to the following wines:

RED BLENDS (NIS 90-120)
Legend, Shiloh 2012
Legend 2, Shiloh 2011

CABERNET SAUVIGNON (More than NIS 100)
Sod Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiloh 2012

MERLOT (More than NIS 100)
Sod Merlot, Shiloh 2011

Oh, and 

MERLOT (Less than NIS 100)
Psagot Merlot 2013

But the venue of the Peres Center was, well, satisfying.

^

Futures in Wine

My attention was drawn to this news item by my friend Tommy Waller of HaYovel:-

According to a report released this week by Morgan Stanley Research, there was a global undersupply of about 300 million cases of wine in 2012, the largest deficit recorded in almost 50 years...wine production in Spain, France and Italy--the world’s three largest wine-producing countries making 60 percent of the world’s wine--has sharply decreased...Meanwhile, wine consumption worldwide has increased 8 percent since 2000...

“The data suggests there may be insufficient supply to meet demand in coming years, as current vintages are released,” the report concludes.

Tommy, of course, thought divinely:

This report comes out on the day we finished planting 10,000 vines on Mt Gerizim. Coincidence? How can anyone not believe in the God of Israel?

I also recalled the verse "Again shalt thou plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and shall have the use thereof" in Jeremiah 31:4.

But, I'll admit, I also thought of the market value rise.  But we still have three more years before harvesting those grapes:-

Orlah

Fruit is forbidden for the first few years after the tree is planted. The first three years of produce is called orlah...We may not benefit from it at all.

In any case, drink the wine of Binyamin (Shiloh; Psagot; Tanya; Gvaot;) and Samaria (Tura; and others)

And, ''l'chayim". 

^

When British Soldiers Enjoyed Grapes of Eretz-Yisrael

Source

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How Do Shiloh Winery Wines Rate?

88
87
86
84
82
81

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Gat Wine?

The gat at Shiloh:

The explanation:

The winepress, (gat in Hebrew), is the area where the grapes were pressed. This was normally a limestone basin cut into the rock. Usually they were square but sometimes round...The winepress was usually close to the vineyard because there was less wastage and a greater opportunity to maintain control of the winemaking process...

Grapes would be carried in baskets and laid on the floor of the winepress, and the men usually did the pressing. This was done by treading on the grapes with bare feet. There was enough pressure to extract the juice but not enough to crush the grape pips and release unpleasant bitterness...The juice, or must (tirosh), would then flow down a gulley or channel from the main pressing area into a deeper hole, known as the yekev (literally “winery”). Twigs or thorns would be placed strategically to act as a rudimentary filter.

In the yekev, the wine would begin to ferment naturally. The natural yeasts on the skins of the grapes would find all the sugar in the grapes irresistible. The deepness of the hole and the stone surrounds would keep temperatures stable. Fermentation of the tirosh would take three to five days, and the result would be wine.

As soon as the production of carbon dioxide (a by-product of fermentation) finished and before the wine could begin to oxidize, the wine would be channeled into an even deeper pit, where Canaanite jars were filled. This was a pottery container with two large handles and a pointed bottom.

They became better known by their Greek name, amphorae. They were closed or sealed with pine resin. This imparted a unique flavor that may still be sampled in the retsina wines produced in Greece. The amphorae were stamped with seals giving the information of the vintage, vineyard, type of wine and color.

The Talmud describes 60 types of wines. Some wines were diluted with water. Others would invariably have flavors added to improve the taste and act as a preservative. Salt, seawater, herbs and spices such as cinnamon were added. Raisins or date honey were used as sweeteners. These flavored wines were forerunners of the punches or vermouths of today. Smoked wine was cooked wine. They were the forerunner of Mevushal wine, though it was done to concentrate the wine into a syrup rather than for kashrut reasons. Even in those days they knew about drying grapes on mats to concentrate the sweetness...

The Shiloh winery:

L'chayim!
^

On The Wine of the Shiloh Winery

In Haaretz!

Here:

Established in Shiloh in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria, this winery released its first wines from the 2005 vintage.

Winemaker Amichai Lourie relies on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah and Chardonnay grapes, largely from the winery's own vineyards. Production in 2007 was of 70,000 bottles, in 2008 (a shmita year ) 40,000 and in 2009 about 60,000.

Shiloh, Mosaic, 2006: Deep, almost impenetrable garnet with purple reflections, full-bodied, reflecting its 20 months in French oak with generous but not-overpowering spicy wood and gently mouth-coating tannins. A blend of 60% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, flushed out with Cabernet Sauvignon, Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot. Opens to show a generous red berry and chocolate personality, and on the long finish notes of dried herbs. Drink now-2015. NIS 230. Score 91. K

Shiloh, Shiraz, Sod Reserve, 2008: Dark, full-bodied, reflecting its 20 months in primarily French oak with notes of sweet and spicy cedar and graphite and still gripping tannins, those needing a bit more time to integrate but already showing fine balance and structure. Opens with blackberries and purple plums, going on to aromas and flavors of wild berries and vanilla and, on the long, gently gripping finish an appealing note of freshly cured cigar tobacco. Approachable and enjoyable now, but best from mid-2011 to 2015. NIS 120. Score 90 K

More on the winery.

A previous post from 2007.

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Italian Wine in Jerusalem

I purchased a new wine last night while attending the 500th Year Commemorative Event in Honor of Donna Gracia (*) last night at the Begin Center, initiated by Geulah Cohen of the Uri Tzvi Greenberg House.

Here is the wine:-

And here are the details:

There's a new company dealing with this wine and three others (I also tasted the light sparkling Gioia which was great): Wine & Wisdom.

Too much wine can, of course, affect wisdom, but these have a wonderful taste.

(*)  And now about that lady, Donna Gracia:

Chabad leaves out her Zionism; go here and this report.

A bit here:

Jewish Life was restored in the city of Tiberias in 1558, when the Portuguese born Dona Gracia, a former Marrano, was given the tax collecting rights in Tiberias and its surrounding villages by Suleiman the Magnificent. Suleiman the Magnificent was the 10th and longest reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1520 – 1566). He showed favor to the Jews, constricting the walls that today surround Jerusalem’s Old City in order to guarantee the safety of the Jewish Population. Dona Gracia restored the city walls and built a yeshiva. The revival came to an end in 1620.

And read this from this book:

Pictures from last night:

 An actress portraying Donna Gracia

 Geula Cohen, her daughter-in-law, Randy (l) and the author Na'avah Makmel-Atir

A special song was composed for the Commemoration and sung beautifully by Adi Algazi.

^

Okay, So I Know The Owner But L'Chayyim Anyway

Psagot Wines Proves Israel Competing Favorably with World Class Wines

Quality wines are so much a part of the culture and history of France that it is automatically given the edge when it comes to winemaking. Yet, of late Israeli wineries have fared extremely well in international competitions even against the best French wines, and yes Israel with its rich tradition in general has a long history in winemaking.

A good example is the Psagot Winery, which is located in the Judean Hills just north of Jerusalem overlooking the Edom Mountains to the east. This area was once the home of hundreds of ancient wineries whose remnant can still be seen today. Psagot's wine cellar is an ancient cave used for winemaking that dates back to the time of the second temple. In this wine cellar Psagot ages enough wine to produce about 80,000 bottles a year. Their signature wine is called Edom and it is made from a collection of the various grapes at the wineries. Smooth and rewarding Edom is rich with the flavor of berries, vanilla and oriental spices.

"The flavor comes from the mountains surrounding Jerusalem”, says Yaakov Berg, one of Psagot’s owners. "The soil is very rocky and in order to plant we need to drill into the rocks. Because of this the grapes receive a lot of minerals from the soil that add to the overall taste of the wine". With eight different wines, Psagot Winery is primed to become one of the premier labels in Kosher wine.

There's a picture of Yaakov here.

(Kippah tip: HL)

Shiloh Bloc Vineyards

Last month I blogged about a BBC story on vineyards and wine production out by us. Well, let's get up close. here's a snap from the area of Keidah:

and here's a brief clip driving by another vineyard nearby:

BBC Discovers Yesha Wines - L'Chayim!

Tim Franks of the BBC has a report on the vineyards and the wines of Yesha.

Of course, Yesh Din pops up, and there's even this photo-map of my home area there:



and here, pics #3 & #4, are the real vineyards.

Some highlights:

Settler vineyards take root in West Bank

The climate is perfect, the soil just right, the grapes just so. But the occupied West Bank is not obvious wine country...This is land which Israel conquered 42 years ago. But the Jews who have settled the West Bank will tell you their roots in this land lie much deeper.

Yaakov Berg, a fresh-faced wine enthusiast in his 30s, lives in
a small shack in the hilltop settlement of Psagot, which abuts the Palestinian city of Ramallah...A short drive away lies his own winery. Opened only a few weeks ago, it is the swankiest in the West Bank.

"The wine is the main thing," he said, amid a tower of oak barrels. "But also we think it's very important to explain to people: listen, we are here, back. And part of that is that we work the land again."

...the Settlers' Council has grand plans for the Psagot winery. The Council is talking about building as many as 20 holiday homes around the winery. Wine-making, the Council's General secretary, Pinchas Wallerstein, says, "is some kind of new development... a new way to settle people in the area, even more permanently than mobile houses".

...One of the outposts, Rehelim, is home to another boutique
winery...Erez Ben Saadon labels and stories his Tura wine in a small, strip-lit concrete shed. His vineyards lie in majestic undulating sweeps at a settlement nearby.

Passionate about his job, he kisses the budding grapes in an emotional flourish. And his passion extends to his view of US
President Barack Obama's demand that settlement activity stop.

"We're a democratic state," he says. "The only democratic state in the Middle East. And I think the most un-democratic thing happening today is the American administration trying to force us into doing things that go against our own election results."

...on a swish roof terrace, at an evening tasting for Erez Ben Saadon's wine [in Tel Aviv], the praise gushes. "The Merlot is
excellent," says Shai Segev, wine critic for the Yediot Ahranot newspaper. Mr Segev says its provenance is unimportant as "wine and politics don't mix".

But Israel's leading wine critic, Daniel Rogov, says there are domestic and overseas consumers who "simply won't" buy the wine because it comes from the occupied West Bank. In contrast, he says, there are others who lean more towards the "right-wing, Orthodox Jewish side, who will hunt out these wines
precisely because they come from there".

Mr Rogov describes himself as a "peacenik". He refuses to travel to the West Bank, but will review its wine, if it is brought to him inside Israel. Year on year, he says, the wine from the occupied territories is not just increasing in quality, but quantity.

...The scale of the project is evident as you drive around the West Bank past hill-sides marked with newly cleared swathes of land. By the settlement of Har Beracha, 10 hectares are due to be planted with vineyards within the next two months.

As Shivi Dror, another West Bank winemaker, put it: "When we
take over 100 dunams (10 hectares) of land with a single vineyard, it's the same amount of land that 200 houses would cover."

...Ibrahim Shabana owns a grocery store in the village of Sinjel. He says settlers are growing grapes on land which has been in his family for more than 100 years. All that is left for him are a few, straggly vines of his own, on a small, uneven field. "I feel hopeless," he says. He says that he cannot fight the settlers, for fear of violence or arrest by the police, "while the settlers get off free".

For their part, settlers argue that claims of intimidation or theft are often made by Palestinians and seldom proven.

The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din has begun to track the spread of the vineyards. It says the settlers' insistence that they are only planting vines on state-owned land is simply not true.

On a road overlooking the West Bank vineyards close to the
settlement of Shilo, the group's energetic Land Projects
Coordinator, Dror Etkes, unfurls a map on the baking hot bonnet of his car.

It is, he says, just one illustration of how vineyards take over land beyond what even Israel says are the authorised boundaries of the settlements, across privately owned Palestinian land.

In a statement, the Civil Administration, the Israeli authority which oversees the West Bank, confirmed that the information on the map is correct.

Mr Etkes says that dealing with this issue should be a matter for the Israeli authorities, not the American administration.

And in late May, I visited with Yaakov at his winery with the employees of the Begin Center:




P.S. And here is my 'vineyard', of grapes for eating: 1 & 2. I hope the crop is great this year.

Threatened Wine

I would presume that this wine-producing plant in the Benjamin region





which I visted yesterday is threatened by that EU/UK boycott project.

This one:

The Palestinian prime minister wants Palestinian diplomats to campaign for economic steps against Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says Israel has ignored international condemnation of continued settlement expansion in territories the Palestinians claim for a future state.

He noted Thursday that Britain is taking first steps toward economic pressure. British foreign minister David Miliband has urged European countries to impose tighter controls on imports from settlements to the EU.

It would be a shame for as you can see,



we enjoyed the wine immensely.

L'Chayim!

The Gush Etzion Winery owned by Shraga and Tamar Rosenberg, residents of Gush Etzion has received the "Golden Medallion" in the Teravino contest that took place in Eilat. Participating in the contest were 520 wines from around the world and Israel.

The Cabernet Franc Wine 2005, is made from 100% Cabernet Franc grapes, grown at the height of 900 meters in the vineyards of Gush Etzion and have been aging in new French oak barrels for 14 months.

L'Chayim! - Shiloh Wine

Shiloh's boutique winery

By Daniel Rogov

Wine and Spirits / Established in the Shiloh settlement [that should be community] of the Shomron region, with vineyards at an altitude of 700 to 900 meters above sea level, this boutique winery has released its first wines from the 2005 vintage. Production in 2005 was of 5,000 bottles and in 2006, 17,500 bottles were produced from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay grapes. The winery is currently releasing wines in an upper-level Masada and a mid-level Herodion series. To purchase the wines, contact the winery directly at (09) 792-1292.

Gvaot, Merlot, 2005: Dark royal purple in color, with orange reflections. Reflecting 18 months in barriques with spicy oak and mouth-coating, near-sweet tannins in fine balance with minty, herb-scented cherry and berry flavors, those with overlays of milk chocolate and mint. Full-bodied, with fine tannins and a caressing finish. Drink now-2010. NIS 85. Score 90. K

Gvaot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Herodion, 2005: A medium- to full-bodied blend of 85 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 15 percent Merlot, reflecting sweet and spicy cedar wood from its 14 months of development in French oak, the wood in good balance with soft, gently mouth-coating tannins and fruits. Medium- to full-bodied, aromatic and showing deep currant, black cherry and dark red fruits. Finishes with a touch of heat but that will integrate nicely given time. Best starting in 2009. NIS 85. Score 88. K

Gavot, Red, Herodion, 2005: Dark garnet in color, medium-bodied, with soft tannins and gentle oak integrating nicely, this blend of 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 40 percent Merlot was aged in French oak for 12 months. Aromatic, round and soft, with appealing aromas and flavors of blackberry and purple plum fruits, those supported by hints of spice and chocolate. Drink now or in the next year or two. NIS 75. Score 87. K

Gvaot, Chardonnay-Cabernet Sauvignon, Masada, 2005: Not a typographic error - truly a blend of Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon (75 and 25 percent respectively, the Cabernet with minimal skin contact yielding a rather unique blanc de noirs. Full-bodied, with a texture of cream and glycerin, showing a surprising but appealing array of citrus fruits, pear and wild berries. A complex and "interesting" wine but not one for more than short-term cellaring. Drink now. NIS 75. Score 86. K

Washington D.C. Jewish Milieu

At the The Sixth & I Historic Synagogue -

Beyond Manischewitz: Wine-Tasting

Thursday, March 15

7:00 - 9:00 p.m.


We have to drink four glasses of wine at the seder, so make it good wine! Join us for a tasting of red, white, and dessert wines from Israel that are all kosher for Passover. This class will include a brief introduction to wine tasting and what makes a wine kosher, as well as a discussion on vintages. Appetizers will be served. The fee is $25 for Jewish Study Center members, $30 for non-members. Jay Caplan, who will teach the course, is former owner of a wine store and is a Jewish Study Center board member.

(Kippah tip: Wonkette)