Fun 'Sip & Sizzle' Wine Tasting in Stamford Hill, London (UK)
A tasting dinner that I happily got drafted into...
NOTE:
1. A version of this article was published in the October 1st, 2024 UK edition of the English language weekly version of Hamodia newspaper [officially the “28 Elul 5784 // Oct 01, 2024” edition; Elul, or more properly אלול (in Hebrew), is the 12th month of the Jewish Calendar].
2. Hamodia, or המודיע, is a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Jerusalem, Israel. A daily English-language edition is also published in the United States, and weekly English-language editions are published in England and Israel. I’ve previously written wine and spirits articles for the U.S. and U.K. editions.
3. All the wines featured in the article are also available in the United States, at least in and around the New York/New Jersey market. The article was originally written for the British market and has been loosely adapted, below, to American English. However, I have kept the UK pricing and product links because the wines are not all available online in the still complicated web-based US wine market, also pricing may vary a bit by market.
4. By way of Context: I was drafted relatively late in the planning of this event to give a presentation on the history and dynamics of CEDEV, the company behind the kosher production of the wines featured at the event. I have written a fair amount about CEDEV, and Noble Wines, the American branch of the family company, and—best I can make out—was essentially thrust upon the local importer for this event at the behest of the CEDEV/Noble folks simply because they like me and thought I’d add some value to the proceedings.
On 9 September [2024], UK importer Drumstick Wines & Spirits hosted a sumptuous “Sip & Sizzle” wine tasting and grilled meats dinner for well over 100 appreciative attendees, showcasing a selection of wonderful premium European kosher wines from the CEDEV portfolio. The evening was a lot of fun and helped to introduce some of CEDEV’s newest wines to the UK Jewish community.
The evening began with an assortment of tasty canapés paired with the Baglietti Brut (£19; mevushal1)—a dry, elegant, Italian Prosecco Spumante (bubbly) that is slightly citrusy with appealing pear and subtle almond notes.
Reb Robby Israel, founder of CEDEV, was also on hand to begin the dinner and welcome guests. He emphasized that the evening was not just for tasting and learning about some of his wines, but also about having a good time and appreciating how quality wine, and plenty of it, can help elevate and enliven one’s table.
From France, Italy, and Hungry, the wines we tasted that evening were produced for the kosher market under Kedassia and Badatz hashgacha [Kosher supervision2] by CEDEV (Centrale Européenne des Vins or the European Wine Center), an Antwerp, Belgium based producer and distributor of European kosher wines that produces over 60 different wines and exports to 25 different countries. Drumstick Wines is their exclusive UK importer.
Mr. Jacob Abadi, who flew in from New York, served as the event MC and led the entertaining yet richly informative program. An adjunct professor of business at Touro University (New York), Abadi is known in the NY kosher wine world as “The Ace of Wines” and regularly runs successful wine-tasting events in both Heimishe and Sefardishe circles [broadly, traditional—rather than Modern—Orthodox Jews from across the spectrum in both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic communities].
We were also treated to insights on the featured wines from special guest Olivier Goujon, CEDEV’s Oenologue (wine specialist) who came in from Bordeaux, France. Full disclosure: as a known wine writer with detailed knowledge of CEDEV and its wines, and extensive experience with public speaking, I was also part of the evening’s program to provide a little insight regarding the dynamics of CEDEV’s work with respected non-kosher wine producers, most of whom I have interviewed at length.
Held at the beautifully decked-out “Clapton Country Club” in Stamford Hill, the event was organized by Drumstick Wines & Spirits, a leading importer and distributor of kosher wines and spirits since 1967. While the setting was smart, and the tasty food was plentiful, the real star of the evening was the wines.
Among the standout wines of the night was the Aimé Arnoux, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2022 (£70). This is a premium, rich, sophisticated red blend of old-vine Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvèdre from the Rhône Valley wine region of southeastern France. Made in partnership with the Arnoux family, which has been working the vineyards in that area since 1717, the food-friendly wine offers wonderful elegance and complexity with notes of delicate wild red berry and black cherry, ripe plums, and dried figs, overlayed with some black pepper, hints of licorice, and a delicate impression of sweetness on the long finish. This will reward a few years of further cellaring but is delicious now.
Another star wine was the Château La Perriere, Bordeaux Superieur, 2022 (£25) which was presented in a surprise blind tasting—that is, the label was covered to prevent anyone from knowing the identity of the wine until after the tasting, and some lively audience participation to guess its provenance. Made from Merlot grapes grown very near Saint-Émilion, and essentially sharing the same clay and gravel soil composition, the wine is lovely, dense, and deep, with fleshy, ripe berry fruit notes. It’ll also reward a little aging in the cellar but is distinctly moreish now and works a treat with grilled meat. [Note to American readers: “moreish” is a British idiom for something so appealing that you invariably want more.]
Some of the other notable reds include the delicious Château du Vieux Put, Petit Verdot, 2023 (£23; mevushal; the winery’s name was mercifully abbreviated to “VIP” by the CEDEV and Drumstick teams), the elegant, complex, and rich Château Canon Chaigneau, Lalande-de-Pomerol, 2021 (£46), and also from Lalande-de-Pomerol the Château Grand Cormier 2021 (£40), which is absorbing and seemed to effortlessly pair with the juicy grilled red meats offered in abundance during the dinner.
One of the more unusual red wines presented during the dinner was the Plum de Paloumey, Haut-Médoc, 2022 (£40), a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon which is made with “no added sulfites” and, according to CEDEV, was the first, and perhaps still only, wine of that region to be certified USDA organic. It is fresh and lively, with aromas of dark fruits and a little spice, leading to a juicy, somewhat full palate that seemed cherry-driven, with just enough balancing acidity and mellow tannins to keep it very pleasing and refreshing. The lack of added sulfites suggests it’ll be at its best now through the next two years rather than held for further maturation.
Also on offer was the wonderful Keresztúr ,Tokaji Late Harvest, Oak Aged, Private Reserve, 2022 (£30; 375ml bottle), a naturally sweet white dessert wine that is harvested “late”, at the end of October, to allow the grapes to ripen to their fullest to produce a more luxurious sweetness. The grapes also reflect some of the distinctive and complex characteristics of botrytis (aka, noble rot), which brings a unique flavor and further concentrates the sweetness. This wine is from the Tokaj wine region of Hungary, grown and produced near the revered home of Reb Yeshaya “Shaya’la” Steiner, zt”l [Note: an acronym for the honorific Hebrew phrase zecher tzadik livracha, or זכר צדיק לברכה , meaning “may the memory of the righteous be a blessing”]. This tasty, slightly honeyed, sweet wine would make for a lovely Shabbos or Yom Tov treat and seems an especially suitable selection for Rosh Hashanah.
The Drumstick Wines event proved a huge success, was great fun, and helped introduce CEDEV’s excellent portfolio of European wines to the London kosher market.
L’chaim!
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By way of background, I have been drinking, writing, consulting, and speaking professionally about kosher wines and spirits for more than 20 years. For over a dozen years I wrote a weekly column on kosher wines and spirits that appeared in several Jewish publications, and my writing generally has appeared in a wide variety of both Jewish and non-Jewish print and online media. A frequent public speaker, I regularly lead tutored tastings and conduct wine and spirits education and appreciation programs. Those interested in contacting me for articles or events can do so at jlondon75@gmail.com.
In what seems like a lifetime ago, I also wrote an entirely unrelated slice of American history: Victory in Tripoli: How America’s War with the Barbary Pirates Established the U.S. Navy and Shaped a Nation (John Wiley & Sons, 2005).
When not focused on wines and spirits, I work in pro-Israel advocacy. Previously a longtime D.C. lobbyist, I relocated with the family to the U.K. during the COVID period and really prefer life across the pond despite the ongoing absurd and frankly uncivilized dearth of kosher Beaujolais here.
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Mevushal, or מבושל (in Hebrew), is the term for kosher certified wine and grape juice—and these are essentially interchangeable products in this context—that undergo an additional special thermal processing as a sort of prophylactic step that essentially inoculates the kosher wine from being rendered not-kosher by the handling of someone from outside the community of the faithful. I have written about this at length before, one of those articles was published by The Jewish Link newspaper and is available here. I will soon write an updated, consolidated post on Mevushal wines for subscribers.