The Highlights of the 2016 Kosher Food and Wine Experience

For the last 10 years Royal Wine Corp. has led the charge to educate and introduce amazing kosher food and wine to the masses.  This year back at Pier 60 was the biggest and best with a special VIP yacht where the library included ..

The event offers over 300 wines and spirits available for sampling as well as the finest selection of food tastings from over 20 restaurants, caterers, and gourmet kosher food purveyors. 

The best part about tasting the wines at the show is being able to meet the winemakers.  I love hearing their personal stories and hearing about their passion in making wine that you can taste in the final product.  

Here are a few wines at a range of prices that I enjoyed this year. 

2012 Amuka Shiraz (Israel); $17. A dry red wine made of 100% Shiraz. It has a deep, purple color, an aroma of very ripe, red fruit, with a hint of berries and toasted oak wood, a velvety taste with an enjoyable finish.

2010 Or Haganuz Horkenus (Israel); $100. This flagship dry red wine just became available and is a high quality boutique wine.  At this price point it is not an every day wine for most of us, but if you get the chance to try it you will notice its distinctive qualities that make it a favorite. 

2012 Tulip Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Israel); $33.  A dry red wine made of 90% Cabernet taken from five different vineyards.  It is an easy to drink wine that is earthy, fruity and spicy. 

2014 Domaine Du Castel C Blanc (Israel); $36.  I always love the Castel Grand vin, but this year I also enjoyed their Chardonnay.  Made of 100% Chardonnay grapes and fermented in French Oak Barrels.  The aroma is fruity and the taste has some citrus notes.   

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2014 Psagot Chardonnay (Israel); $20.  I have started to enjoy white wine again, especially in the Summer and this is one I highly recommend.  Produced from Chardonnay grapes which were harvested in vineyards of the hills of Jerusalem. The wine is well balanced with a variety of fruit flavors. 

Now for the food, a little highlight reel. 

My partner in crime for the day, Naomi Nachman, The Aussie Gourmet, made sure we got to taste everything.  Check us out on her radio show as I tried to help us detox from our night. 

Pomegranate, the Brooklyn store, always has a nice display.  This year their theme was various meat dips with bread crackers, like this Chicken Liver Mousse.  Still for many at the show, especially the non Jewish reporters I overheard, the potato kugel was the real winner. 

Ari White doesn’t stop, between his 4 companies and his tremendous selection I couldn’t pick just one to mention.  Here he is putting the finish touches on his House Cured Headcheese with Kumquat Mostarda and Fried Lotus Chip, but my real favorite from Ari this year was the pickle. 

His Smoked Chicken Sliders with house made pickle was a reminder of how much a pickle can transform a dish. 

Chef Jeff Nathan from Abigael’s restaurant wowed us with a Beef & Ginger Dumpling in a Szechwan Black Peppercorn Sauce – I hope you can find this on his menu. 

Finally, the most buzz of the evening was the real surprise from Fireside, a new bistro in Monsey.  This Deep Dish Meat Pizza enhanced with flavorful mushrooms and beef bacon was the hit of the evening. Their Tumbleweed Onions (not pictured) were also a highlight. Now you have a reason to travel to Monsey.  

There were many other delicious foods and wines at the show, if you were there please share your favorites and/or pictures in the comments below. 

Hope to see you there next year.