A royal wine experience

In anticipation of next week’s upcoming Kosher Food and Wine Experience, I took the opportunity to pay a visit to Royal Wine, KFWE’s host and the kosher wine industries’ undisputed king. As I drove up to their headquarters in Bayonne, New Jersey, I wasn’t greeted by a palatial edifice that one might expect from The King of Kosher wines, but rather a simple, functional, homey building that was most certainly function over form. Inside the building, in what is the nerve center of Royal Wine, is a series of cubicles and small offices that are filled with busy employees who each serve a vital function within the corporate infrastructure of Royal Wine. As I walked through the catacomb of partially enclosed workspaces, I was struck by the realization that this was the workforce that runs the company that owns almost 75% of the kosher wine industry. These were the people who ensure that those who keep kosher have as many options as they do when they go shopping for wine.

The Kosher Food and Wine Experience is held every year around this time to showcase some of the new and best wines that Royal represents. The event is augmented by a number of high-end food establishments that present their top efforts alongside Royal’s wine selection. This combination makes for one of the most anticipated kosher events of the year. I felt it would be worthwhile to not just attend as I have in the past, but to get Royal Wine’s take on why KFWE is so important and what their thoughts were on the growing kosher wine industry. To that end I sat down with Gary Landsman, Royal Wine’s Director of Marketing and Public Relations, to pick his brain and hear what he had to say about the goings on at Royal.

When asked about his take on the kosher wine world, Gary responded, “What’s going on in the kosher wine world is wonderful; you’re seeing quality improve by leaps and bounds.” This is a statement that I know many wine snobs would disagree with but could be countered by the fact that deeply respected wine review websites like International Wine Review, Wine Advocate and Wine Enthusiast, have been providing Royal’s products with high marks even when compared to non-kosher counterparts. I have to agree with both Gary and these sites when they say that kosher wine is trending upward, since I am myself partial to the really unique and innovative wines that are coming out of vineyards like Shilo, Alexander, and Psagot that were unavailable as little as five years ago. During our talk, Gary stressed to me his belief that, regardless of marks or reviews, people should drink the wines that they like. So while I may like the Psagot Edom, that doesn’t make someone’s love of Bartenura’s Moscato any less valid. After all, if that is what gets them drinking wine who knows where that could lead.

That’s what KFWE is really about. It’s the opportunity for consumers and press to sample a wide and diverse variety of wines. In doing so, we are offered the ability to take in different perspectives and pair the wines we are trying with alternative foods. Does a gewurztraminer pair well with a southwestern chollent? I don’t know and on my own I probably would have never tried the two together, but thanks to KFWE I intend to find out.

One of the wines that Royal is particularly excited about showing this year is a wine made in Israel called Tulip. Royal provided me with samples of the 2010 Tulip Just Cabernet Sauvignon, which I eagerly cracked open when I got home. It poured a wonderfully dark plumb color, and has an accompanying fruity nose. It was full in the mouth, and had bold flavors of oak, vanilla and tart berries. It finished clean with a note of spiciness. Overall, I understood why Tulip has long been considered one of Israel’s top wineries by those who call themselves aficionados.

Reflecting on my time with Gary and Royal wine, I thought about their status as King of the Kosher Wine Industry and how the statement “it’s good to be the king” doesn’t really apply. Royal is constantly battling to cement the status of kosher wine in the overall wine market, while at the same time dealing with the under the table scrutiny that they get from others within the industry. This scrutiny comes from blogging oenophiles and sometimes from competing companies. In my view Royal is doing an exceptional job. They are providing high quality wines to consumers who demand such a product, accommodating those who are looking for something less intense and doing the leg work required to guide them to products that are new and often more complex.  

Zechariah Mehler is a widely published food writer and expert in social marketing. Follow him on Twitter @thekoshercriticAs I drove up to their headquarters in Bayonne, New Jersey, I wasn’t greeted by a palatial edifice that one might expect from The King of Kosher wines, but rather a simple, functional, homey building that was most certainly function over form. Inside the building, in what is the nerve center of Royal Wine, is a series of cubicles and small offices that are filled with busy employees who each serve a vital function within the corporate infrastructure of Royal Wine. As I walked through the catacomb of partially enclosed workspaces, I was struck by the realization that this was the workforce that runs the company that owns almost 75% of the kosher wine industry. These were the people who ensure that those who keep kosher have as many options as they do when they go shopping for wine.

The Kosher Food and Wine Experience is held every year around this time to showcase some of the new and best wines that Royal represents. The event is augmented by a number of high-end food establishments that present their top efforts alongside Royal’s wine selection. This combination makes for one of the most anticipated kosher events of the year. I felt it would be worthwhile to not just attend as I have in the past, but to get Royal Wine’s take on why KFWE is so important and what their thoughts were on the growing kosher wine industry. To that end I sat down with Gary Landsman, Royal Wine’s Director of Marketing and Public Relations, to pick his brain and hear what he had to say about the goings on at Royal.

When asked about his take on the kosher wine world, Gary responded, “What’s going on in the kosher wine world is wonderful; you’re seeing quality improve by leaps and bounds.” This is a statement that I know many wine snobs would disagree with but could be countered by the fact that deeply respected wine review websites like International Wine Review, Wine Advocate and Wine Enthusiast, have been providing Royal’s products with high marks even when compared to non-kosher counterparts. I have to agree with both Gary and these sites when they say that kosher wine is trending upward, since I am myself partial to the really unique and innovative wines that are coming out of vineyards like Shilo, Alexander, and Psagot that were unavailable as little as five years ago. During our talk, Gary stressed to me his belief that, regardless of marks or reviews, people should drink the wines that they like. So while I may like the Psagot Edom, that doesn’t make someone’s love of Bartenura’s Moscato any less valid. After all, if that is what gets them drinking wine who knows where that could lead.

That’s what KFWE is really about. It’s the opportunity for consumers and press to sample a wide and diverse variety of wines. In doing so, we are offered the ability to take in different perspectives and pair the wines we are trying with alternative foods. Does a gewurztraminer pair well with a southwestern chollent? I don’t know and on my own I probably would have never tried the two together, but thanks to KFWE I intend to find out.

One of the wines that Royal is particularly excited about showing this year is a wine made in Israel called Tulip. Royal provided me with samples of the 2010 Tulip Just Cabernet Sauvignon, which I eagerly cracked open when I got home. It poured a wonderfully dark plumb color, and has an accompanying fruity nose. It was full in the mouth, and had bold flavors of oak, vanilla and tart berries. It finished clean with a note of spiciness. Overall, I understood why Tulip has long been considered one of Israel’s top wineries by those who call themselves aficionados.

Reflecting on my time with Gary and Royal wine, I thought about their status as King of the Kosher Wine Industry and how the statement “it’s good to be the king” doesn’t really apply. Royal is constantly battling to cement the status of kosher wine in the overall wine market, while at the same time dealing with the under the table scrutiny that they get from others within the industry. This scrutiny comes from blogging oenophiles and sometimes from competing companies. In my view Royal is doing an exceptional job. They are providing high quality wines to consumers who demand such a product, accommodating those who are looking for something less intense and doing the leg work required to guide them to products that are new and often more complex.  

Zechariah Mehler is a widely published food writer and expert in social marketing. Follow him on Twitter @thekoshercritic