Kosher Wine Festival At Herzog--Kosher Wine From Around The World

Herzog Cellars will host the 4th Annual International Food and Wine Festival 
Wednesday, February 16th,  6-9 pm
Many of the top kosher wine producers from around the world will be pouring their wines. Participants include:

• Leoville Poyferré from the Saint-Julien appellation of Bordeaux
• Pontet Canet from Pauillac of the Médoc
• Yon Figeac from St. Emilion of Bordeaux
• Giraud from Château Neuf du Pape in the Rhône
• Malartic La Graviere from Pessac-Leognan in Graves
• Laurent Perrier from the Champagne appellation of France
• Capçanes Flor de Primavera from Monsant DO of Spain
• Domaine du Castel from the Judean Hills near Jerusalem
• Yatir from the slopes of Mount Hebron
• Barkan from the town of Ariel, Israel
• Kosher wine festival host Herzog Wine Cellars
• Covenant from Napa Valley.

Chef Aarons of Tierra Sur restaurant will pair his luscious Mediterranean-influenced dishes to the wine. Tierra Sur has the highest Zagat rating in Ventura County--so this will be a real treat! (read more)
I have the opportunity to attend the pre-festival press event with Touring and Tasting's VP of Business Development, so I delved into the internet to learn about kosher wine (corrections and additional information appreciated!). A succinct explanation of the kosher process can be found at Gems In Israel and on Herzog's site, with more detail at Judaism 101. Basically, a Sabbath-observant Jew must be in charge of the entire winemaking process from harvest to bottling and non-kosher ingredients--such as isinglass which is made from fish bladders and used to fine wine (remove sediment)--is proscribed. More stringent rules include banning grapes from vines younger than four years (common even in non-kosher viticulture), not allowing fruits or vegetables to grow between rows, letting a vineyard lie fallow every seven years, and "tithing" a percentage of the wine. Additionally, some Conservative Jews consider even the touch of an 'idolater' to spoil kosher wine. Mevushal wine is boiled or flash pasteurized under a mashgiach (authorized supervisor of kashrut or kosher practices) and becomes immune to the idolater's touch. More liberal Jews don't feel this is necessary and also consider non-kosher US and Canadian wines that are products of automated winemaking, still acceptable to drink as long as they don't use non-kosher ingredients.

Herzog Wine Cellars is in Oxnard, about half an hour south of Santa Barbara. The roots of the winery reach back over one hundred years to Slovakia where Philip Herzog made such tasty wine for Emperor Franz-Josef, that he was awarded the title of baron. WW II brought the evils of the Nazi regime and grandson Eugene and his family had to find sanctuary wherever they could--for a period of time they were sequestered in the walls of a woodshed, only to be forced by Communist persecution to emigrate to the USA three years after the war had ended.  The family was nearly penniless when they moved to Brooklyn, NY where Eugene labored making sweet, Concord grape wines in a kosher winery. Through dint of his hard work, he took over the winery which he renamed Royal wines in recognition of his grandfather Baron Herzog. The winery has been on an upward rise to quality since then, with the expansion into California in 1985. Herzog is committed to sustainable, socially equitable farming and has a state-of-the-art kosher facility at 3201 Camino Del Sol, Oxnard, CA. They will host the International Food and Wine Festival at their winery on the 16th.

Leoville Poyferré is a winery in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Médoc, established in the mid-17th century. The Château's vineyards are planted to the classic Bordeaux varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 25% , Petit Verdot 8% and Cabernet Franc 2%. The wine produced at the estate was classified in 1855 as one of fifteen Deuxièmes Crus (Second Growths) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification.

Pontet Canet is also from the Médoc, in Pauillac. The winery was established over 300 years ago. It has been experiencing a Renaissance under Guy Tesseron, his son and granddaughter who have been improving winemaking techniques and garnering recognition for their efforts. (read this article on thewinedoctor.com). They use horses instead of tractors to till and harvest as part of their sustainable, hand-crafting of their Bordeaux.


Yon-Figeac is a small winery, about 61 acres in the Right Bank St. Emilion appellation of Bordeaux, planted to Merlot 80% and Cabernet Sauvignon 20%.

Giraud is a Château Neuf du Pape Rhône winery with a lineage of six centuries of winemakers. They hand-pick their grapes and make the traditional GSM (Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre) blend the region is known for, as well as white Rhônes from Grenache blanc, Clairette, Burboulenc, and Roussanne.

Malartic La Graviere is one of only six Graves estates to produce both red and white classified wines. The red varieties include equal proportions of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot at 45% each, with 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot and the white are made from 80% Sauvignon Blanc and 20% Semillon.

Laurent Perrier is well-known in the USA for their delightful, highly-acclaimed Champagne; they are even the official Champagne producer for the Oscar awards!

Capçanes Flor de Primavera is one of Spain's biggest co-operative wineries, comprised of 120+ wine producers in the Monsant DO (neighbor to Priorat). Most of their vines are very old--some 90+!

Domaine du Castel is a family winery situated in the Judean Hills above Jerusalem, producing Chardonnay and Bordeaux blends, which have received high scores from Robert Parker, Jr. 

Yatir's vineyards are in the Yatir forest--once arid wasteland and now teeming with wildlife. This stunning transformation was encouraged by Ben Gurion who asked the Weizmann Institute of Science to formulate a plan to make the land productive. The Jewish National Fund financed the planting of tens of thousands of trees by hand. Yatir Winery's wines also have received top marks from Robert Parker, Jr. plus gold medals in international competitions. Interestingly, ancient wine presses have been found on site--evidence of advanced winemaking 2,500 years ago.

Barkan Winery near the city of Ariel, Israel is the second largest producer of wine in the country and makes brandy, vermouth, gin and rum in addition to a wide variety of wines from their grapes: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Petit Syrah Carignan, and Colombard. They are pioneering the South African varietal Pinotage.

Covenant receives huge scores from Robert Parker, Jr. for their Cabernet Sauvignon, they also make Chardonnay sourced from Russian River Valley Bacigalupi vineyard. (read this touching article on the winemaker's discovery, published in the NY Times)

For the foodies, I'll add the mouth-watering sample menu for the event from Chef Aaron of Tierra Sur:

Cold Fish Bar

Cold smoked artic char and Hawaiian Kona kampachi

Blood orange ceviche

Molasses cured King salmon

Black Bowfin Caviar

Hot Fish Bar

Achiote marinated albacore fish taco housemade masa gordita

Mesquite smoked King Salmon

Fennel and black pepper encrusted seared Ahi Tuna

Charcuterie

Venison terrine

Duck rillette

Grilled liver pate

Bresaola

Lamb ham

Lamb bacon

From the Wood Burning Grill

Variety of house-made Sausages

Pomegranate marinated lamb

Pasta

Fresh maltagliati mille herbe truffle oil

Tomato & lamb bacon

Mexican Influence

Birria chili braised lamb

Mole verde

Oxaccan red mole

Dessert

Decadent Chocolate Buffet