Matisyahu, Klezmer, Jewish and Israeli Music and Culture

Summer is here and we all like to enjoy it in different ways.
A passion of ours here at matisyahu.co.uk is wine.

We enjoy buying, collecting and most of all drinking wine.

Over the years the wine market has changed massively. I remember a time when the only respectable country of origin for wine was France and anything else was just cheap and nasty. Today France is still a powerhouse in wine production and export – Champagne for example is going from strength to strength.
But the new world has really taken the imagination of the drinking public and offers great wine with attractive properties. Namely drinkability and price – without the pretentiousness.

Another major change is the way we buy wine. The local off licence store may have closed down and the move to supermarkets or to order wine online has been the direction of travel. Looking at Tesco Wine for example there are over 600 different wines available. There are nearly one hundred bottles for under £4.

Conversely there are some very expensive bottles available. Maybe the Louis Roederer Cristal 2002 would interest you at £145 per bottle.

Of interest to our readers the world of Kosher wine has really taken off. When I was a lad Kosher wine was associated with Kiddush wine. Sweet dessert wine for sacramental use only. Now for a variety of reasons the selection of Kosher wines available is better than ever. From Israel there has been several small vinyards that now have an international reputation for quality wines. They are winning wine competitions and some of the best are available in Michelin restaurants throughout the world. To be able to have crossed over into the secular marketplace is an amazing achievement.

We will be writing more on wine shortly. I am just going to have a little drink first.