On the back of their laurels as Decanter’s Best Subscription Wine Club, and Outstanding Wine Retailer of the Year 2020, innovative UK Wine Club Honest Grapes is now making headlines in the world of kosher wine. Already in their 4th vintage of kosher production via exclusive crowdfunded syndicates, here is a rare and unique opportunity to enjoy premier and grand cru kosher wines.
Jewish wine lovers around the world will immediately identify with the struggle of finding, as Wine Director Tom Harrow succinctly puts it, “great wines that happen to be kosher, rather than kosher wines that happen to be drinkable”. As such, Honest Grapes has partnered with two of their favourite growers - the legendary 100-point Saint-Emilion winemaker Jonathan Maltus and Burgundy maestro Etienne de Montille - to make hands down some of the best kosher wine available on the market.
The process for the consumer is simple. The wines are crowdfunded by syndicates in volumes of 2+ barrels (600+ bottles) and made available at 20% below the market rate to syndicate members. All wines are supervised by Rabbi Akiva Padwa, Director of Certification at KLBD, and project managed by Honest Grapes’ Chairman and Co-Founder Nathan Hill on behalf of the syndicate.
The winemaking process, on the other hand, poses more of a challenge, not least because of the extraordinary quality of the wines involved and the miniscule scale of the production. Certainly for Rabbi Akiva Padwa this is a project like none other: “such small "boutique" productions of exclusive wines”, he says, “at the highest standards of kashrus could never have been realised without the fantastic dedication of all parties coupled with the utmost respect and cooperation between our kosher supervisors and the prestigious winemakers”.
The quality of the wine here merits serious consideration. The current syndicate will have not only have access to the very respectable Grand Cru Chateau Teyssier, but also to the twin jewels in the Maltus portfolio, Chateau Le Dome & Pontet Labrie, of which only 300 cases are produced annually of the latter. Having picked up 100 point scores from Robert Parker on two occasions, there is a real investment case here too as Le Dome is a contender for elevation to Premier Grand Cru Classe “B” in 2022, with an accompanying increase in both the price and prestige of the label.
Burgundy lovers will of course be familiar with the legendary Domaine de Montille and no doubt delighted to hear they are making kosher wines for the first time in the estate’s prestigious history. Owner Etienne de Montille is particularly excited to be working with Honest Grapes on this project, as both are guided by a keen interest “to satisfy the thirst of Jewish wine lovers with great wine”. The estate is making excellent premier crus from their most prestigious vineyards in Volnay, Puligny-Montrachet and Pommard, including “Les Grands Épenots”, often thought of as Pommard’s Grand Cru vineyard.
The 2020 kosher production syndicate is well under way, with almost 80% of shares allocated. Honest Grapes is now looking to fulfil the last the few shares. To discover more about this exciting and exclusive production, as well as see a range of delicious ready to drink kosher wines, head over to www.honestgrapes.co.uk/wines/kosher-wines or email nathan.hill@honestgrapes.co.uk.