When You Find It, Grab It! 🍷

Tasting Notes

Color: medium gold

Aroma: Beautiful floral notes of rose, honeysuckle, and orange blossom, followed by aromas of peach and apricot, with hints of tropical fruit, citrus, and a subtle touch of spice.

Taste: Ripe stone fruit meets bright citrus flavors of lemon, lime, and tangerine. Rich and flavorful, yet wonderfully balanced.

Body: Medium to full-bodied

Finish: Long, clean, and refreshing

About the Wine

First, let me say this: I love Viognier! I have enjoyed this beautiful grape ever since I was first introduced to it several years ago by my friend Jill, a wonderful winemaker who has traveled the world making all kinds of interesting wines.

Viognier (pronounced vee-on-yay) is a white wine grape known for its lush texture, full body, and intensely floral and fruity aromas. In terms of texture and richness, it is somewhat similar to an oaked Chardonnay, while its beautiful floral and stone-fruit aromas are reminiscent of Gewürztraminer or Roussanne. In other words, Viognier gives you a little bit of the best of all worlds!

The grape originated in the Northern Rhône Valley of France and today is grown in many parts of the world, including California, Virginia, Australia—and, of course, Israel!

Covenant Israel’s Blue C label produced this Viognier from grapes grown in high-altitude vineyards in the Galilee and Golan Heights. Like all Covenant wines, the grapes were hand-harvested and fermented with native yeasts. No malolactic fermentation helped the wine retain its crisp, fresh character. It was then aged for six months in neutral French oak before bottling.

And here is the important part: Covenant is no longer producing its Israeli line of wines, which makes the Blue C Viognier increasingly difficult to find. But if you happen to come across a bottle, grab it! This is a wine you won’t want to pass up.

As a matter of fact, I picked up a few bottles at Total Wine in Cherry Hill just last week. Sometimes it pays to do a little wine hunting!

About the Winery

Covenant Winery began in 2003 when Jeff Morgan, a musician, writer, and winemaker, joined forces with Napa Valley vintner Leslie Rudd. Their shared goal was ambitious: to create a world-class kosher wine in California. An Israeli wine they tasted together helped inspire the idea and ultimately gave Covenant a meaningful connection to Israel from the very beginning.

The winery started with just 500 cases, but Covenant quickly grew. In 2014, the winery moved from Napa to Berkeley, California, where it established a 9,000-square-foot urban winery.

But Covenant was never simply a California wine story.

In 2013, the company launched Covenant Israel, producing wines from grapes grown in some of Israel’s most important wine-growing areas, including the Galilee and Golan Heights. The Blue C wines became a special bridge between California and Israel, combining Covenant’s winemaking philosophy with the unique character of Israeli-grown grapes.

In 2019, Geoff Rochwarger joined Covenant as a partner. Living in Israel and already a longtime friend of the winery, Geoff brought an important connection between the two countries and their wine communities.

Eventually, however, maintaining wine operations in both California and Israel became too costly, and the Israeli operation was closed.

But that doesn’t mean the Blue C wines have disappeared completely. They still turn up from time to time—and when they do, you just might want to grab a bottle!

About the Winemaker

Jeff Morgan, Covenant’s founding winemaker and co-owner, took a rather unconventional path to wine. Before dedicating himself to winemaking, Jeff was a professional musician and writer. His creative background ultimately found a new expression in wine, leading him to become a respected winemaker, wine writer, and cookbook author.

Jeff has been making kosher wine for more than two decades. His winemaking philosophy emphasizes native-yeast fermentation and a thoughtful, minimal-intervention approach that allows the character of the grapes and the vineyard to shine.

Covenant’s winemaking team also includes Jonathan Hajdu, who joined the winery full-time in 2008. Jonathan has his own line of wines, Hajdu, which can be found through the Covenant website.

Where to Find

I found my bottle at Total Wine in Cherry Hill, NJ, and their website currently shows the wine as available at select stores around the country.

Covenant wines can also be found online at Kosherwine.com. And don’t forget to use the code IWG5 for a discount!

Final Sips

There is something especially fun about discovering a wine that isn’t easy to find. And when that wine happens to be a beautiful Israeli Viognier with a story behind it, even better.

So, if you see a bottle of Covenant Blue C Viognier, don’t hesitate. Pick it up.

You may not get another chance!