A couple of weeks ago, wine lovers of the Dan Hotels club gathered at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem to taste Israeli wines. At the event, which I attended, we heard a talk by Adam Montefiore (Israeli Wine Experience and the Jerusalem Post) about matching wine and food, and tasted Israeli wines. The wine tasting was facilitated by Adam Montefiore and David Bar-Ilan (wine maker, Tulip Winery). We tasted a total of 13 fine wines from leading Israeli wineries that were served with the dishes of Chef David Biton.
Every couple of months, the Dan Hotels club organizes meetings for its members. The first meeting was held at the Dan Accadia Herzliya. Following its success, this event was organized. The events are inexpensive; this luxurious event was priced at NIS 155 for club members.
After having an aperitif at the lobby (Golan Heights Winery, Rosé, 2010), the event started with a fascinating talk by Adam Montefiore. He opened with breaking a common myth by saying that we should "Match the wine to the diner, not to the dinner”. Following that, using a series of slides, he taught us the principles of professionals for selecting and matching wines including rules related to the weather, location, type of food, its cooking and its heaviness, order of wines in the meal, etc. He also gave a lot of examples. I highly recommend his talks.
Then, together with David Bar-Ilan, they presented the wines and served them to us with the food. Each course (we had a three courses meal) was served with 3-4 wines and we tasted them before and with the food, and discussed our impression. It’s quite interesting how our preference changed with the food we ate.
The first round of wines was served with crispy tuna
Bartenura, Moscato, NV
Tulip, White, 2014
Golan Heights Winery, Yarden, Odem Chardonnay, 2016
Gush Etzion, Lone Oak, Pinot Noir, 2014
Crispy tuna in roasted fish sauce, smoked anchovies and Wakame seaweed, roasted Kohlrabi cream. The dish included Shimagi mushrooms and herbs.
The second round of wines was served with duck “Rossini”
Tulip, Net Sauvignon Blanc, 2017
Chateau Maime, Rosé, 2016
Maya, Mare Nostrum, 2014
Segal, Unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon, 2013
Grilled duck breast, apple vinegar and bitter almonds, Jerusalem artichoke.
The third round of wines was served with dessert
Five Stones, David and Goliath, 2016
Tzora, Shoresh of 2016
Golan Heights Winery, Yarden, "Heights", 2014
Pineapple, macadamia and Louisa nuts and. Petit fours.
As a bonus, David Bar-Ilan brought us some wine straight from the barrel: Tulip, Black Tulip, 2016. An excellent wine as it is, he said it is not ready yet, and he is still working on it.
For a full review of the event, including the food served, click here.
Disclosure: I was a guest of the event.