Episode 11: Shavuos White Wine Picks

In the highly anticipated Shavuos (or is it Shavuot?) White Wine Pick episode, Rabbi Yisroel Bernath and Dr. Kenny Friedman choose wines five price categories: Under $15, $15 to $25, $25-$35, $35-$45, and over $45. 

Rabbi Yisroel Bernath & Dr. Kenny Friedman in turn surprise and delight each other with their picks. They discuss the lack of appreciation for white wines, oak's influence on white wines, the proper serving temperature for whites, as well as when a white wine can age.

Kenny's Picks:
Recanati, Yasmin, White, 2023
Goose Bay, Marlborough, Sauvignon Blanc, 2023
Hagafen, Dry Riesling, 2023
Binah, Blanc de Blanc, Sparkling Wine, 2021
Carmel, Late Harvest, Single Vineyard, Gewürztraminer, 2019

Yisroel's Picks:
Elvi, Vina Encina, Blanco, 2022
Snow Ridge, Cold Climate, Vidal Icewine, 2020
Hajdu, Pinot Blanc, 2023
Domaine Guillerault-Fargette, Sancerre, 2022
Ya'acov Oryah, A Spark in Silence, Blanc de Blanc, 2017

The hosts again mention that they appreciate feedback and questions and want to hear your picks in each price category.

Transcript

It's the Kosher Wine Podcast, episode 11. Hello, Kenny. How are you? How are you? I'm doing amazing. This is fantastic. Let me ask you, that was an interesting introduction. People keep on saying we need an intro. So I was actually going to go, da, da, da, da. I was going to do like a whole music thing. Like super cheesy. So cheesy. Yeah. Well, it's something to think about.

I actually, like, I always thought if I ever make a podcast, I have so many songs in my head. I'm a big music guy and I have so many songs. Part of me has always wanted to score a movie because I have a great soundtrack in my head. I have a running soundtrack as I live my life. But so for this, I'll have to think about it. But for now, we just can have the cheesy bum bum bum bum and entry until people complain about that.

How are you? They have to complain about something. That's right. That's right. I know you're in the middle of a major wedding season, so thanks for taking the time. This is crazy. Seven weddings in 12 days. Amazing. That's really amazing. Listen, in a time of a lot of difficulty, it's nice to have Simcha on so many, so many evenings to look forward to. So I hope you're enjoying. I am loving every single minute of it. And especially,

Episode 11. That's right. So what are we doing for episode 11? Episode 11, we're going to go into unchartered territory. Shavuot or Shavuos is coming and whites. Are we a Shavuot or Shavuos podcast? We like everybody. So we're just going to say it all. We're going to have to pick one. No, we're just going to say we love everybody equally. That's fine, but.

Okay, so we'll say Shavuot Shavuos both times. Okay. Or maybe you could be the Shavuot guy. You're a rabbi. You have to really be. I'm going Shavuos. That's the way I grew up. What can I tell you? Okay. Hope I don't lose any listeners. So we're doing the Shavuos podcast. We are going to pick our wines that we suggest. We did something similar in the past in each price category, which was a little bit of a floating price category, but

And by the way, this is very difficult for me. I'm a white wine guy. It's very difficult to say this is the one I pick. I had a lot of like very close calls in the time I was looking at my wines and which ones to pick. But some of them, as you'll see, are wines that I've had recently and they just stuck out of my mind. But as always, for the second time, we did not.

tell each other what our picks were. We're gonna surprise each other maybe, maybe we'll have some of the same picks, who knows? But it's, I'm very interested to hear your list, I gotta say. I'm interested to hear your list. I did something similar to what I did before Pesach. I literally just went into my cellar and pulled out my four favorite whites in those price categories that we decided. And I figured if it's in my cellar, I like it. So I know I like it.

That's a great gauge. Well, I'm going to let you start, but our first category, I think we said is under $15. Under 15. So this one is actually, go ahead. Yeah. This one is actually 15. Perfect. And it's one that I think doesn't get enough. the people don't know about it enough. It's the Vina Encina.

So they have a white, they have a rosé, they have a red. I like the white. I like it's very citrusy. It has like almost like a spring fragrance. Whenever I drink it, I feel like I'm in spring. And so I choose this one. It's a Sauvignon Blanc, 100%. And this Vina Encina, I don't know much about the winery. Well, that's LV Winery. Yeah.

I think it's one of their productions, but I don't think it's one of their wineries. What do you mean one of that? They make that wine. Okay. And LV, they're among my favorite people in the industry. They're just great people. They have a very interesting story. I'd love at some point to, we will get them on here. Absolutely. So I won't spoil the whole story, but they make great wines. That is, that's their entry white.

and it's very nice and that's a great pick. I haven't had, you know, honestly, I have to admit, I haven't tasted a recent one probably in a few years, but. It's the 2022, so this is last year. That is the 2022. Yeah. So it's interesting. An interesting note is that this year we're flooded still. I mean, well, the 23s are starting to come out now, but it's, you know, over the past year we didn't see a lot of, well, let's say it this way. You've had a kind of,

outside the box a little bit because all of the 22 Israeli wines and Rosés, of course, were Shemitah wines. So Royal, I know, does not import Shemitah wines. So that's going to take a big chunk out of that market. So which is why you didn't see a lot of Rosés last year and the whites were more limited. But we're in 23 now and we're going to see more of these back. But that one, that 22, of course, was from Spain. Right. Which

So, that's a good choice. I like that choice and a great winery and some of my favorite people. I chose, I'm not going to be able to show any of them. I don't have any of them on me right this second, but I have long been a proponent of this wine. In fact, I think, you know, even price notwithstanding, I would choose this even for another 10, 15 bucks. It's the Reconati Jasmin White.

I think very underrated, very great. Very underrated. Can we add, because I wasn't like sure on the price, but I just looked it up in wine searcher and it's a great website where you can find, find places to buy wines. And it's a great website. Anyway, I looked it up primarily for price and I saw it for 10, 11 bucks in New York, which is unbelievable. Now, Reconati, interestingly, because it's not imported by Royal,

they self -distribute and they self -export at the United States, you can find the Shmita wine. That's the one you find right now. I was thinking about not including this because the 23 is not here yet, but it'll be here soon. But even regardless, I just want to highlight it because I can't do an under $15 white wine and not talk about the Reconati Yasmin white because that's always been year in, year out.

So Reconati Yasmine White is typically a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay. And it's always very, it's tropical, but it's kind of lean. It's not like over the top as a lot of Israeli whites are, even though it's a warm climate, but they really produce a beautiful wine year. And I just think it's so good at its price point. Now it happens to be because it would always be my go -to white for weddings, except Namavushal.

So that's something to bear in mind, but for your Shavuos table, it's perfect. You can still find, and if you don't mind buying the Shemitah wines, which why should you? I mean, that's my own opinion. They're here, enjoy them, drink all of it. And there's the whole separate - That's a whole separate topic, cause it's, you know, whatever, but, and maybe we'll do that one in 2029, the next Shemitah wine podcast, if we're still going by then, God willing. But I couldn't not highlight it.

And if you have a 21 even in your seller and you can still find them on the shelves, even those are great. So that is my under 15. Great. Great one. Why don't you go with your 20, your, your 25 ish. So, right. Okay. Well, you, you put me on the spot. I wasn't even ready to go into this, but I will because that's the kind of professional I am here. I chose this was a very hard category and not only a hard category,

I chose, I had to choose between really one of three wines. I mean, some people listening and you may even know where I'm getting at with this. I picked a Marlboro Sauvignon Blanc. Wow. I love Sauvignon Blanc. I love Marlboro Sauvignon Blanc even more. And this is a perennial favorite with everyone. Now I had to choose between the Goose Bay, the Rimapier, which is made by Rothschild and the Edouard's. Love the Rimapier. Love the Rimapier. Rimapier and the 23 is fantastic.

I chose the Goose Bay Sauvignon Blanc. I haven't talked about it yet. It's fantastic wine. Now these are all to me also great value wines. You know, how many wines can you buy nowadays? I think people have in their head the wrong thing. Like, well, white wine should be cheaper. I mean, yeah, okay. I mean, maybe the process is easier. It's not the aging and all that. But in my mind, I have a bottle of wine. I paid 20 bucks for this.

show me the kind of quality you can find in red wine for 20 bucks. You can't. So this is a high quality white wine. And I think you should think about it that way. I happen to most of the time prefer white wine. So it's win -win for me. But New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc has a really special nose to it. It happens to be, it was on my W set test. I had the, I had the goose bay and,

It was like as soon I literally he poured it in front of me and as soon it was in my glass, I knew what it was because it's such a standout nose and the characteristic fruit that's used for it is grapefruit. It has a very strong like and when I say that to people like, yeah, I really smell that. You could say a lot of wine terms people okay, maybe but this smells like grapefruit and there's something characteristic about.

Marlboro and New Zealand and it's just like it's zippy and refreshing great acidity. It was very hard I could have picked any of those three just their perennial winners But that's the one I chose I chose goose based OVNI en blanc 2023 and that sells for about 20 21 bucks and I wanted to say the remapair would have been just as good of a choice I love the repair. I love the goose bay two fantastic choices, right? and the old wires Yes

All great. The Gouspé happens to be mavushal. I think all three of them are mavushal. I think, but whatever. Anyway, you're up. 15 to 25, let's say. One of the issues with these 15 to 25 range wines is a lot of them are un -oaked. And I always find there's like this metallic taste that really bothers me. Like, especially with some of those pinots and like, I don't know, there's just like this funny metallic taste in it.

I would say that's also found in not such great wine. Yes, I'm just saying in general. So the Lourin wine. So I chose something unique. Yes, I do live in Canada and there are Canadian kosher wines. And this is one of my favorites. It's a dessert wine. It's called the Snow Ridge. It's the Vidal Ice Wine. And what's unique is that the Vidal grape is an indigenous to Canada and this is made in Niagara.

This is, if you haven't had an ice wine in general, and if you haven't had a Canadian ice wine, this is something really special. It's like apricot and honey, and there's like really strong peach. And I believe you can get this quite easily in the States. And I know we can get it really, really great here because you don't have to pay the extra duties, which is always really helpful here. And I love this one.

And that retails in between 15 and 25, is that right? Yeah. I mean, I paid about, I paid 28 bucks Canadian. So I don't know what that means. Right. So even real money, is that like monopoly money? Is that real money? Do people accept that? It's like 22 US. The worst thing that ever happens, at least when I was growing up, because no one uses change anymore, is having that Canadian quarter when you're at the vending machine and you're fooled into thinking it's a real, an actual quarter that's accepted around the world.

Anyway, we have points like the loony and the toony. Let me ask you something about that. Is that not Sifona? That's a Snow Ridge. They rename that. I think that I don't know so much about Sifona and Snow Ridge. Is that from Niagara? What does it say on the lake? Yeah, that's gotta be. I think they renamed because the ownership changed there at Sifona. It says Snow Ridge in partnership with Diamond Estate Wines. Yeah.

I think that the ownership changed there and they, the Saffona, I don't think that name exists anymore. I think they changed it to that name, to Snow Ridge. I may be absolutely wrong, but I'm pretty sure, because otherwise there would be a second. And I love that wine in the past, that Saffona Vidal Ice Wine, fantastic choice. I didn't think it was that cheap, but maybe it's just not that cheap in America.

because you're not paying duties or whatever. For those of you who are buying it in the US, if it's more expensive, I apologize. No, well, that's absolutely a good choice. And I love the choice. I mean, ice wine is a, and that's one of the few real ice wines, by the way, that they, for those that don't know, ice wine is made traditionally, because there's a lot of imposter ice wine out there, it's made traditionally by allowing the grapes to freeze on the grapevine.

which concentrates, it's also, it's late harvest and then it concentrates the sugar and kind of stops the process and it really makes unique wine. There's all kinds of - They're harvesting it in December. Right, because there are wines that are, there's other kosher examples of quote unquote ice wines, but all they do is freeze the grapes themselves. They do it, you know, industrially, not the traditional way, which was when grapes were harvested right in the winter on a frozen grapevine.

and it's a really unique wine. If you've never tasted one, that's a great choice. So great choice. Okay, so then you are up. See, I had problem here and I think I may have put an extra wine in, but I may have five and you may have four, but anyway, that's fine. I have a fifth, don't worry. I was worried about you there and I added a fifth just in case. Well, I'm gonna maybe think of a sixth. We'll go all day. All right, so you're up.

Let's do you next. We're looking, I guess, at 25 to 35 now. Is that the range we decided? I think so. 25 to 35. Let's just say your next bump up in price. That works. This one, I paid 35 bucks US for it. And it's one of my faves. This is Ranu Bado, all the way from the Rebe himself, Jonathan Hadu. This is the Pinot Blanc, 2023.

I bought a case of it, it's fantastic. It's just fantastic. It's one of my, I think maybe it's my new favorite white. Yeah, it's a little pricier than what I usually pay for a white, but I love it. I agree, it's great wine and it's really universally been loved too. Like everyone's talking about that.

You know one thing I don't like about that, and I actually want to tell John that I don't like the way that the black label sits on the white wine. Right? Right? It kind of makes it look drab a little bit. And it's such like it's such great wine. And I love his labels. I just feel like that. Like Israel. I just feel like it needs color a little bit. I just mean, you know, who am I to say that his wife is fantastic artist. And by the way, I will mention that again. Really great file. She's very interesting pop culture artist.

That's a great choice and that retails what like low 30s. I I paid 30 I paid 33 bucks for it Yeah, I think that's about what it is here. Mm -hmm. I never I Didn't think about that by the way that our prices may be a little bit different Yeah, it's something okay, but in any case and also we're we're very international here. So right Well, I also don't know the

what's it called, the rates on those. But in any case, I chose, you know what's an interesting thing, by the way, and one wine I always think about is the Yarden Blanc de Blanc. It's fantastic always. And an interesting thing about it, this has nothing to do with our larger topic, but an interesting thing about it is that it's very often cheaper in the United States than it is in Israel. It makes no sense. And the Israelis, they've like,

They complained to me every time I like highlighted, I used to be able to buy that for a long time for 25 bucks in America. It was never whatever the equivalent is. Let's say 75, 80, 90 Shuckle, whatever that that is. It was more expensive there. I don't remember the reason why somebody to do the importing and maybe it's made for the American market. I don't know, but that's always a classic. I did not pick that, but I could very much very easily have picked that right in the category I'm going to do right now, which is in the $30 range. I chose.

another, it's very hard for me to pick, you know, without thinking of wines that are perennial favorites of mine. And mine in this category is the Hagaffen Dry Riesling, which is always, first of all, I love Riesling. I love Bubblies, I love Riesling, I love white wine, but I love Riesling and I couldn't do this feature without talking about a Riesling. And this is an old favorite of mine.

So with the way they used to do it in Hagafen was like the even years were the dry Riesling and the odd years he was doing what I think he calls the Lake County Riesling, which is a sweeter, it's an off dry to semi sweet. I always have preferred, that's a really lovely Riesling too, but I've always preferred the dry one. Interestingly,

Riesling for those who don't know is a wine, not always, but a lot of Rieslings can be aged. I'm still drinking, anyone that knows me well knows about me and this wine, but I still have a bunch of them. I still have the 2012 Agafa and Dry Riesling. And it's still holding up. It is still holding up. Now you kind of have to like what happens with Riesling. You have to like that. And that turns into this like Petrol -y type of thing. Now, as long to me as I love that, and as long as the acid is held up,

and the fruit's still there, it's fantastic. But this is just a great wine year in and year out. They really make like high quality Riesling and it's something you can sell or and you can watch evolve. So that is my pick. I'm looking at my notes here and in the 20, I think the 2018 was about 22 bucks is what I paid for it. Also an interesting thing is that Hagafen,

I'm I've long time part of their wine club, but I'm part of the pre wine club, which is where you get the cool hug off and pre and their higher end wines. You can only they they're very strict about that. You don't find those pre's floating around the market. A Goffin the regular label, of course you can buy from them, but you can also buy it everywhere. That's the one that's distributed all over the country. The thing is you pay more if you buy it from them. Never understood it because they can always like add to my

to my club order. This is going to go in our wine club episode, but it's always been an interesting thing. So I always buy that, you know, and just the regular marketplace. And I paid $22 for that just a few years ago. And now it's like 30, like everything else has crept up terribly, but it's a great wine and well worth it for 30 bucks. One of my favorite things about a Goffin is there, there are three lines, the beret, the purée and the Goffin. Right. It's, it's genius. I love it.

Okay. So I think you're up. I lost track. I think you should do your last, your number four. Yeah. Okay. So my next one is I guess in the 35 to 45 category, I guess we could say. And this falls out, I paid maybe 40 for it. This is the Bina Blanc de Blanc.

I had to do a bubbly, Blanc de Blanc, sparkling wine out of Pennsylvania. Of course he had to do the bubbly. I thought about doing, I was gonna totally surprise you and do all bubbly. So at least I featured some other wines because I actually wouldn't have been surprised because you are the man, the bubbly. I love it. I love the bubbles. What's a party without bubbles? What's any night without bubbles? So I picked the new Bina Blanc de Blanc.

I know I spoke about it briefly a few weeks ago. And that's another guy we have to have on. Someone actually wrote to me and he's like, you should really have on Kevin Dana from V9. I'm like, I absolutely will. Kevin's become friend of mine. He's a really interesting guy. And he has some interesting viewpoints on things, but how cool is it to make wine, especially this one is Blanc de Blanc, which is made in the traditional method, the method champagne.

which is not true for a lot of other sparkling wines, but this one is made in that traditional method where he literally does everything by hand in Pennsylvania. Wow. Which is so cool. And this guy has this little kosher winery in Pennsylvania. This is his second Blanc de Blanc. I like this even more than the first. So maybe he's getting better and better. I don't know. I think he explained it to me that he has, he got really great grapes also, but,

He ages this sirlee, which is means that on the dead yeast cells, which always sounds worse than sirlee. So I, when I write it up, I write sirlee, but what that does, that yeast is it gives it depth and yeastiness of course. And it has real body and character to it. And talking to Gabe Geller, we both agreed that on the market today, that this is a top like QPR.

for method, champagne, sparkling wine. With the first one being almost impossible to beat is the Gilgal, which I really wanted to pick for this. The Gilgal Brut is the winner every single time. That should be on any list. And that I would say is, and that's, it's really 20 something bucks. So it's impossible to beat that. But I would honestly put up this Bina against.

any of your your friend's champagnes. I know people will say that's crazy, but I love this. I think everything I'm looking for in a champagne style sparkling wine is there. It's all it's it's just really great. I'm interested to see. And I just told them I'm buying some more because I'm interested to see how it's going to age, like maybe like a you know, a traditional champagne. There's no reason it shouldn't, you know. So.

I love it, that's my pick, the 21 Bina Blanc de Blanc. I think Pennsylvania is exactly between us. Maybe we should meet there and do an episode live. That's a good winery to visit. It's very possible that's right between us. It's about, well, it's probably closer to me. It's about, he's in Allentown, that's probably about three hours from me. I feel like you're from there. No, no, it's like nine hours from me. But I would meet you there. That's my kind of meeting, meeting 25 % of the way.

Okay, you're up. Let's say this is your 35 to 45 one. My 35 to 45, I went a little closer to 45. I'm curious what you're gonna say about this because in my opinion, if I think white wine, this is it. There's no. That's a big statement. I know, I know. There's no better white wine. And I think that people who don't know white wines,

probably never heard of it and don't know what it is. So I love, I'm gonna present it, but if you agree with me, I'd love to talk about it for a minute. Sure. So I had a couple that I had to choose from. I love them all, but I chose this one for a particular reason. So the Sincere. Which one is that? So this is the Gulière Fragette.

I, so many Americans don't know what this means to white wine. This is really, there is nothing that compares to a Sancerre.

you're killing me because all my list was a Sancerre and I'm like, I just, it was so hard for me to fit everything in, but I'm gonna let you talk about it and then I'll say the one that I was thinking about putting. I agree, it's such a, much in the way that Marlboro is so known for Sauvignon Blanc, Sancerre is like, that's the godfather of Sauvignon Blanc. And it's worlds apart from not just in distance,

but in flavor profile and in aroma from Marlboro, it's a totally different type of wine. It's just, it stands in a league of its own. You can't even compare anything to a Sancerre. So the other one is the Joseph Maloe. I love the Joseph Maloe as well. Those are my two favorites. There's a Villabois also. That was the one I was gonna do. Exactly, the Villabois. So that's the Joseph Maloe, Villabois. Is that right? Yeah. Okay. The one I...

thought about doing was the one that's made from Silex, the area, the region in Sancerre, which is the sub region of Sancerre. And it's one of the best white wines I've ever had. And now I'm kind of kicking myself that you beat me to the punch on Sancerre, but I'm glad you brought it up because I, and I just want to mention that because that Silex Sancerre, wow, like I love that. And that's such a unique profile to it. And yes, like Rabbi Bernath saying like that's

If you've never tasted a Sancerre, go do it. It's a... If you like whites, if you just happen to be, especially in the summer, if you like a white, there's nothing that compares to it. Well, I would tell anyone, you know, we have to get people out of this idea that you can only drink red wine. I still look so many people. I'm like, dude, just taste it. Just taste it. Exactly. I so agree. And chill it a bit. Don't chill it too much.

Right. Then you're going to lose a lot of that flavor because anything that tastes good, very cold. Totally agree. That's something we should talk about a little is that, you know, it's the classic idea of chilling white wine and it's almost off putting the people when I serve them and I'll serve it room temperature. I don't serve anyone really room temperature, but I serve it slightly chilled if at most or just my cellar temperature because.

The colder things get, you know what cold wine is for? For bad wine. It's like when you have bad white wine and you have no other option, okay, make it super ice cold. For the most part, these are generalizations, but when you really chill down wines, it loses a lot, like you said, it loses a lot of the aroma and a lot of what makes that wine. And for a Sancerre to make that ice cold is absolutely the wrong move. So thanks for pointing that out.

I think that's a great choice. Great choice. You know, the grass and little greenery, the earth, really good earth. I mean, it's the funny thing is this and I love red wine. I'm not a crazy white wine drinker like you, but I love red wine. And I think that the Sancerre is the red lovers white. That's interesting. That's an interesting way to say that.

I think white wines and something you brought up before that I wanted to flesh out a little bit was like the fact with oak and white wines. So for some specific varietals varieties, they're specifically not oak because they lose oak. Well, it does good things, but it also takes away from the grape and something that's really aromatic doesn't always help it to put it in oak because you're going to lose some of what makes it really fresh. And that's more common. That's why.

you'll find even on high end white wines, you're gonna find a lot of times they're on unoked because it'll lose what really makes it characteristic. It gives it its characteristic aromas. And so that's not, you know, I don't think that's a bad thing. And honestly, I hope the world gets away a little bit from the oak, because it just gets, it's like gone overboard. Everything has to be an oak, but.

There are other reasons to use oak. It helps control the tannins. It helps the ageability, these other things, but not everything needs to be on oak. So it's nice when you can taste just the grape and just the fruit. I so agree with you. I think that oak is a little overused, though I'm not a winemaker. So I feel like it's not my place to tell them when to use oak and when not to. Totally your place. We can say whatever we want. It's our podcast. Sometimes I drink it and I'm like, it's a little too much oak.

Yeah, too. Yeah. So, but you know, the, the winemaking world, like other, all their things is it runs in waves and things get popular things, you know, the, the amount of Oak use on, on wine nowadays is far exceeds what it was a generation ago because that became popular. So it'll, you know, things wax and we, is that all of your wines or did you have one more? I had one more surprise, but let's go for your surprise first. Okay.

wasn't really a surprise. It's my top. It's my top expensive wine. I wouldn't say it's my top end. I would drink any of these almost interchangeably and it's really nice. And I went for that on my list that I didn't want. Well, that's under $15, but I wouldn't put it in a $30 category. I went for ones that I would pay, you know, basically the same for any of these. I love all of them, but the one I chose and also because I felt like I needed to include one because it's Shavu is there on those.

their chabot sorry sorry, Rabbi Bernas fans, but I and you know, it's so focused on cheesecake and obviously everyone loves to have these kind of like dairy desserts because it's like such an interesting thing. And if you ever go to a bakery where they actually use butter, you're like, wow, this is amazing. I'm like, well, it's because it's butter. That's, that's the answer. I mean, because we're so used to eating part of things, right. But in any and I'm totally losing what I'm even talking about. I just love hang on.

But I really wanted to also like you did focus on one dessert wine or as it's called dessert wine. I happen to think that's not a great name because then people only think about it for dessert. And the same way when I talk about bubbly, like don't only think about it for a party. Like it's great all the time and it pairs with many more things than you think. But so I chose one sweet wine and I chose the Carmel Late Harvest Single Vineyard Gewurztraminer.

2019. Great choice. Great choice. And also I wanted to make sure I had an Israeli wine on here. I could have chosen other ones. I love this wine. The one problem I have with it is its price. It's super expensive because it comes in a 375. And for those that don't know, that's half the size of your traditional bottle. And it's about 50 bucks. So you're basically looking at a hundred dollar bottle the way you look at it that way. So it's very pricey.

But of course, you know, these kinds of wines are not meant to drink, you know, three, four, five ounce glasses. You drink a small amount more like you would with brandy, you sip it. It's fantastic. I love Gevert's. I love, it has the most like expression filled nose. The classic fruit that it's associated with is litche. And this one very much so shows that.

This comes, Carmel is in the north of Israel and this in the upper Galilee and it's 3 ,300 feet above sea level. And it's, it's fantastic. It's full bodied. It has great acid, which is really what makes, you know, you, you, everyone thinks sweet wine. They think of the worst types of sweet wine, but what makes a sweet wine, a great sweet wine to me. And I think to a lot of people is it's acid. It has to also have.

good balanced acid. This one is it's full bodied. It's like it's nectare, but it has a fantastic acid and it has a really beautiful sweetness. It's not cloying. It's not over the top in any way. And even with all that sugar shows great balance and I love it. It's worth the money. Yes, buy it. Yes, I so agree. Well, I'm excited to hear your surprise line.

So my surprise was a little similar to you. I did not have an Israeli wine, so I said, if I have an opportunity, I definitely want to show an Israeli white. I also know that my podcast co -host loves Bubblies. So I chose a Bubbly and it is a Blanc de Blanc. And it's from one of my favorite people in the whole world, Yaakov Oria. It's a Sparkle Silence.

Blanc de Blanc, I love this wine. It's pricey, no question. I mean, that Guilcow, I mean, I know that it's a very different price range, but this Blanc de Blanc is something very special.

Agreed. I've had it. It's delicious. It is expensive, but it's great also. I love that you chose that one for a variety of reasons. And I, by the way, when you said, after you said Isabella, I was thinking of one of a few. I won't mention other ones, but that was one of them. I was thinking maybe. And Orias, I mean, yet another guy we have to, an interesting guy, an interesting story. The mad, mad scientist of wine.

That's great wine. That's a great choice. How much is that retail for in where you can get it? Where I pay, I pay about 90 bucks US for it. Wow. I think it's more like 70 here, but I may be wrong, but I was trying to look it up real fast. It's not worth it, but it's, it's, that's a great choice. I love that you chose that. So that's it. That's our, that's our list. I think by the way, an impressive list.

I was, I am amazed with your choices because every one of your choices was a choice that I would have made as well. And I, I think I can't remember every one of your choices. That's why I told you to write it down to send it to me. But cause I'm half the time I'm like spacing out when we're talking, honestly, is that obvious? I'm not, I'm listening. I'm listening. My wife always tells me I'm not a great listener, but I think I am.

Anyway, I agree. I think your choices were all wines that I would easily put on my list also. In fact, like I mentioned before, I think one or two of them, I'm almost embarrassed I didn't put them on, but you know, you can only pick five. So what am I supposed to do? Well, that's why you have me. And that's why I have you. That's the point that we actually have 10 total. It's perfect. Anyway, all great choices and...

Shavuos is really a great time to highlight white wines, which I think people really, really sadly overlook. So buy some white wines, buy Israeli white wines, of course, but these are all great choices. If you have a wine that you like, let us know. We would love to say your name on our podcast because we love all the feedback we get. And if you want us to say your name, just send us an email and say, just say my name. And we'll just randomly in the middle of the podcast, just like pop up your name. You know,

We, I, some people sent me things and I don't think we have the time to get into it, but someone sent me a great email on the corks. I'm trying to find it real fast. I think we'll talk about it next time, but he sent me a real, he's now involved in winemaking in Israel, Yichiel Wogel, who's a good friend and he's doing really cool stuff. He made aliyah and he's working at wineries and really interesting guy. He sent me a great cork email. So we have to.

I at least mentioned him. Sorry? Was it a quirky email? Sorry. I wish I didn't hear that the first time. I didn't hear it the first time. I wish I didn't ask what it was. How about that? Anyway, it was I can't find it right now. But I'll try to read it because it's worth discussing. But we'll do it on one of the next ones. But the point being is like my co -host said, send us your name.

Send us your email. We're happy to give you shout outs. Osharwinepodcast at gmail .com. It's that simple. Happy Shavuos. Happy Shavuot.