October 16, 2007 | 8:02 am

Winos in WeHo

There was something ironic about attending a wine tasting the same week the Torah portion depicts a self-medicating Noah planting a vineyard and getting trashed. I paused to consider this as I ascended the steps to a historic 1936 apartment building where a crowded residence filled with interested wine consumers gathered to imbibe. When I stepped inside, I was stamped with a nametag and poured a glass of sparkling--in the midst of a busy week, swishing the sweet bubbles around my tongue was a relief to me, too.

Standing at the center of a dimly-lit drawing room, in a satiny black dress and pointed high heels was Courtney Cochran: a smart, sassy sommelier from San Francisco. An elegant eyepiece-yes, but with a self-assured braininess uncommon in such leggy blondes. She held a glass of Chardonnay while explaining the nuances of kosher wine to Stephen S. Wise’s “W” Group. In town to kick off her book tour for ”Hip Tastes” Ms. Cochran prepared a private tasting focused on kosher and Israeli wines for her Jewish hosts. Guests sipped while they listened, eager to learn what the young woman had to say about mevushal.

“Boiling wine causes it to lose freshness,” she said and proceeded to pour from bottles of boiled-to-the-brim Pinot Noir so everyone could taste for themselves. The crowd was only too happy to oblige...Cochran’s knowledge of kosher winemaking, like her expertise in other varietals and regions, was astounding. I only wondered, why would a non-Jewish wine cognoscente make a point of learning about parve wineries? The answer is in Cochran’s business background, which alerted her to the importance of niche marketing. She makes it her business to know her audience and she seized on an opportunity to reach a new, young generation of connoisseurs who were otherwise being ignored by the wine industry.

Not anymore.

In fact, Cochran launched her own enterprise as a private sommelier, where amongst other things, she designs tasting events specifically targeting young people - young people who are spending more money on wine than their parents did, she notes. Her book, “Hip Tastes” speaks to that audience, replacing snobby winespeak with a saucy rap that is both interesting and accessible.

Her cutting edge approach has also led her to discover under-the-radar, emergent wine regions, of which she considers the Golan Heights one. Since Israel invited viticulturalists from France to incorporate the latest technology in winemaking, Israeli vineyards are on their way up.

It’s all rather sensible for a people who bless the fruit of the vine every Sabbath. Although Noah was surely fascinated by the art of viticulture, wine isn’t usually an inebriate’s drink of choice. With a low alcohol content typically between 11-15%, he would have been much better off with the nearest bottle of scotch.

Posted by Danielle Berrin in 1 Comments — Leave your comment

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