NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- With Passover less than two months away -- it begins at sundown on April 22 -- the countdown is to stock-up on kosher for Passover wines for the week-long holiday. (Kosher for Passover wines must be kept free from contact with leavened or fermented grain products.)
Enter the 18th Annual Kosher Food & Wine Experience, held this past Monday at the Hilton Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. for the trade. It was hosted by Bayonne, N.J.-based Royal Wine Corp., the largest producer of premier kosher wines and spirits. And while the wine was free-flowing, there was plenty of food to go along with it.
There were thousands of bottles of wines and spirits from across the globe -- from the U.S. and Mexico to Italy and France to Israel and Ukraine to South Africa -- leaving virtually no wine or spirit region left out.
"Forty percent of annual kosher wine sales occur right before Passover, however sales have been growing significantly throughout the rest of the year," said Royal Wine Corp. PR Director Gabriel Geller.
Among the new products at the event was kosher for Passover Carmel Black Cabernet Sauvignon, produced in Galilee, Israel, which debuted this month. Carmel is the largest winery in Israel.
Yiftah Peretz, chief winemaker of Carmel Winery, said, "Our new Carmel Black is meticulously aged for 14 months in French oak barrels. Grown in the Galilee, its climate provides comfortable temperatures which offer excellent conditions for nurturing and enhancing the unique qualities of the grape."
Royal Wine Corp.'s Geller said of Israeli wines, "At Royal Wine Corp. we continue to support the wineries in Israel, which are among some of the top-rated wines in the world."
There were also breakout sessions focusing on Israeli wines, whiskey, bourbon, tequila and the Herzog Wine portfolio from its winery in Oxnard, California.
Jay Buchsbaum, VP of wine education at Royal Wine Corp. was quick to dismiss any preconceived notions about kosher for Passover wines.
"There’s nothing cookie-cutter about these Passover wines – they are top notch, award winning and distinctive," he said. "And, while red wine is traditional for the Passover Seder, it can be a nice Burgundy or a Pinot Noir, or a Cabernet - just as long as it is kosher for Passover. There are dozens to choose from. And, just to be clear, our portfolio consists of acclaimed wines that just happen to be kosher, recognized for our quality and value."
Also at KFWE was Flegmann winery, produced in Israel. The winery has a storied history that began in Hungary several generations ago.
"Our father, Tibor Flegmann, a’h, was born into winemaking and frequently spoke about how he used to spend his free time in the wine cellars and crush the family’s grapes with his feet," according to the winery. "The family’s wine was considered the highest quality; it was enjoyed by the most renowned Chassidic masters, as well as the Rothschild family and even Kaiser Franz Joseph."
"After the devastation of the Holocaust when so much was lost, from our father’s will to rebuild was born a dream to revive the Flegmann wine label. Late in his life, this became a reality, as he looked to the Judean Hills to be the new home for Flegmann wine."
Tibor Flegmann passed away before the wine made it to the U.S., but today, his children and grandchildren run the business.
Another notable exhibitor was XDar, vodka currently produced in Ukraine, despite Russia's invasion of the country. The vodka is produced with artisanal well water and premium grain harvested from black soil.
