Jeff Smith

Maker of Kosher Wine Takes His Covenant Seriously

Published on March 16, 2010

A friend came over to dinner the other night with a bottle of wine that he described as “interesting.”

“Interesting” is one of those loaded words that can mean different things depending on the context. It can be an affirmation that someone is on the right track, as in, “He’s doing interesting things with pinot noir up in Sonoma.” Or “interesting” can mean the equivalent of a movie that you don’t really understand. On this night, the wine was a white from Italy, made by nuns in the Montefalco region, an area known for its idiosyncratic indigenous grapes. After swirling, sniffing and slurping this “interesting” little wine, I told my friend that, while I appreciated what Our Ladies of the Vineyard had concocted, I’ve recently come to appreciate a different kind of wine.

Finally —delicious kosher wine

Published on April 10, 2008

"Quietly and without attracting much consumer attention," said wine critic Mark Squires, "Israel has developed a wine industry that will confound preconceptions."Only in the past 25 years has there been any real quality wine produced in the Promised Land that deserved attention. But now the plot -- though thankfully not the wine -- thickens. A growing number of boutique winemakers have turned the corner qualitatively and are making some superlative wines. Indeed, there is one Israeli wine that plays on the world stage and merits inclusion in any great cellar: Domaine du Castel.