Kosher Food and Drink

KFWE: The Kosher Food & Wine Experience

For some years now, one of the highlights of the kosher wine world’s calendar year is Royal Wine’s Kosher Food & Wine Experience, a series of major wine and food tastings in various cities around the U.S., U.K., Tel Aviv, and other cities in varying years.

KFWE is a chance to taste many of the new wine hitting the market, meet with winemakers and wine tradespeople, as well as many of the other personalities in the business. For the events which are open to the public, it is a chance to eat some good bites while accessing an unparalleled bevy of wines to taste.

KFWE has grown and expanded, in most cases for the better, and in some cases, and out of necessity, for the worse. Additionally, KFWE has had to modify its aim in certain years.

When covid hit, like most other things we love, KFWE was forced into a virtual event. While having drawbacks, the program was inventive, as Royal turned to an online event and a pre-order kit of tasting wines utilizing its new machinery producing 25 wines in sample 100ml bottles so the viewer could drink along with the online festival. The virtual KFWE 2021 also featured various cooking displays. Nice ideas, but I don’t want any remembrances of covid. I am so happy for the full return of the in-person events.

But KFWE has not fully returned to the events of pre-covid days. One thing that differentiates the events of today are the lack of general public events. KFWE NY and KFWE LA, while both back (and scheduled for 2/10/25 and 2/12/25) are not open to the public, but rather just trade events. That said, there are certainly plenty of attendants who have no connection to the business but get tickets one way or another. Fine with me certainly. I do miss the days of the early 2-3 hour trade event followed by the open to the public hours in the evening. This seemed like accomplishing the best of both worlds.

Still, KFWE Miami, while not run by Royal Wine, and rather run by (and as a fundraiser for) WIZO, is indeed open to the public. Royal no longer seems interested in running these major public extravaganzas, and for good reason: They were major money-losers for the company (but still great advertising). I believe Royal is only too happy to hand over the reins of their event to WIZO, and Miami is an essential location for Royal to capture a foothold. So KFWE Miami remains under the KFWE brand which means exclusively Royal wines.

Once again this year, KFWE Miami was organized by, and run as a fundraiser for WIZO, the Women’s International Zionist Organization, “dedicated to the advancement of the status of women, the education and welfare of children, the care of the elderly, and the protection of the most vulnerable members of Israeli society.” You can donate here. As in the old days of KFWE, the food is done by local vendors, so the variety is wide and interesting. But I won’t comment on the food since I barely tasted any. While I have not been diagnosed with OCD, public food just doesn’t tempt me. Too many things can go wrong. I stick to the wines, but most importantly, I attend for the people.

Miami suffers from one issue in that regard. Very few winemakers or high-ranking winery reps attend. It was nice to see David Galzignato from Herzog, the Morgans from Covenant, Avi Feldstein of Feldstein Winery, Gabe Geller of Royal & Elk from elkwine, Yakov Shuchatowitz of Jezreel, Elvi’s David Cohen-Aleta, Roni Jesselson of Carmel/Yatir, Menachem Israelievitch of Royal Europe, and some others. It was also cool to again see Amar’e Stoudemire who was promoting his line of Stoudemire wines. Stoudemire is made in the U.S. by Herzog and in Israel by Tulip. I, for one, think it’s a sign of the continued growth of the kosher wine market that we are beginning to see celebrity wines. Amar’e is also a good dude, and a good mouthpiece for Israel. More power to him.

I think the event could have benefitted from a map of the wineries and food vendors placed at the entrance to more easily identify locations. I also like to see water stations at these events, even just finding bottled water more easily. Finally, while the kashruth component is tricky, as non-mevushal wines are being poured, Royal is forced to employ shomer Shabbat wine pourers, so the vast majority of those pouring the wines know nothing to very little about wine, hampering the educational experience of the event, another facet which would be enhanced by the attendance of more winemakers.

There were no Ben Shapiro or Amb. David Friedman sightings this year, but lots of good people. As always, the lines seemed a bit long at the food tables, and particularly at the Krudo sushi stand. But the event was not overcrowded or claustrophobic. The last time I recall KFWE NY in Chelsea Piers, when I believe it was partly held on a boat, it was a nightmare mass of people with long lines to get inside and the distinct feeling of being at the worst kiddush of your life. It was just too many people, a mass of New York humanity, most of whom would push their way to the front just to ask for either “the most expensive wine” or “the sweetest wine.” Feh. It was such a welcome change to go to Los Angeles the following year at the Peterson Auto Museum, my favorite KFWE site, now retired from the circuit.

As another point, I was glad to see that the event planners did not again force the stemware onto that necklace gadget. While seemingly useful, it made for stained shirts and a great degree of difficulty in rinsing glasses and pouring wines.

But Miami has the distinct advantage of, well, being in Miami. Even though the traffic is horrendous, the weather in December is incredible and there’s just always a great vibe. The JW Marriott Turnberry Isle Resort is a pretty place and convenient to most of the kosher-keeping Miami scene.

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A History of KFWE

KFWE New York

The first KFWE occurred in 2007, although there was a prior “trade tasting” – small and intimate – in 2006, which led to the push for expanding the show. Additionally, there was the (non-Royal Wine) Gotham Kosher Wine Extravaganza (hosted by Gotham Wines) which dated to 2004, and was held in locations such as Lincoln Square Synagogue and West Side Institutional.

Gary Landsman, the veteran wine man and event planner, was hired in 2008, as Royal’s director of marketing, for a KFWE event at Chelsea Piers in NYC, and this created the now-well-known and successful format still employed today. It was at Chelsea Piers most every year other than 2015 when the location was the NYC Metropolitan Pavilion, which was generally not well-received.

In 2016, the event returned to Chelsea Piers, where it was held through 2020. I believe 2019 brought the final attempted rollout of the KFWE App which did not return in 2020. The KFWE App was a great idea with not-such-great performance. I hope it gets reconfigured and reintroduced at some point soon. 2021, of course, brought the virtual KFWE, which I am sure took much thought and effort. That said, I hope to never see it again! One of the greatest features of wine is its ability to bring people together.

In 2022, KFWE was returned to the Meadowlands in New Jersey. I won’t complain, as the Meadowlands are far more accessible for me coming from Baltimore. In 2022, the event was open to the public, but only as a VIP option, and the format was different in that there was only one show: public combined with trade, which ran from 3pm-9pm.

In 2020, KFWE NY was at Chelsea Piers, Pier 60 once again, with VIP access at 530pm and general public from 6:30 to 9:30 pm.

In 2022, KFWE NY was open to the public that year only as a VIP option, and the format was such as consumers and trade and media all attended the same event, which was open from 3pm-9pm, differing from the previous Chelsea Piers events which separated trade/media from general public.

In 2014 and 2016, a boat was rented which was attached to Chelsea Piers, and used for the VIP area.

In 2023, KFWE hosted its largest show ever, returning to Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers, in NYC, and again mixed the trade/media with the general public. Though while the main event was held at Pier 60, the VIP area was at “Current,” next door on Pier 59.

Due to the major cost of the event, the event was not opened to the public in 2024 as the event shifted back to the Meadowlands. Originally, Royal announced that they would alternate years of being open to the public, however in 2024, the void was filled by independent shows hosted by KWD at the Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn (which I was unable to attend due to timing) and The Jewish Link Grand Wine Tasting at the beautiful Factory 220 in Passaic, NJ, which I did attend (a really nice event marred by moron anti-Israel protests outside the event). KWD will return this year on 2/6 (tickets here) but sadly The Jewish Link will not host a show this year. These events highlighted the wider world of kosher wine, not just limited to Royal, but convinced Royal to stick to trade entrance only for the upcoming show at the Meadowlands on February 10, 2025. Royal, for its part, will show its wines at KWD, which because it is independent, will host other wineries/distributors.

KFWE Los Angeles

Following the success of Royal’s NYC event in 2007, the first event in Los Angeles took place at the Herzog Winery in 2008, and was called IFWF (International Food & Wine Festival). By 2012, the event was rapidly growing and moved to the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City, with food from Todd Aaron, chef at Herzog’s Tierra Sur at that time. In 2015, the event’s name was changed to KFWE Los Angeles, which formalized the KFWE brand, and moved to the W Hollywood Hotel, with food from Herzog Winery’s chef at the time, Gabe Garcia.

From 2017-2018, the event was held at the Peterson Auto Museum, my favorite venue of all. Peterson is a beautiful museum and allowed the guests to really spread their legs while enjoying the very cool auto exhibits.

In 2019 and 2020, right before the world shut down, the event was moved to the Hollywood Palladium, a legendary but seen-better-days Hollywood theatres. It returned in 2023. The Palladium has seen better days. Kind of a cool spot, but not my favorite venue. The VIP was held on the mezzanine level, which was a different way to do that, and featured more impressive food and some cool wines.

In 2024, KFWE was moved to the Herzog winery and called the VIP Experience. Only 150 tickets were sold.

KFWE LA 2025 will again take place at the winery on February 12, 2025 and will be limited to trade only. The winery in Oxnard is really a lovely place with a great restaurant and if you are somehow able to attend, it’s quite worthwhile. Hopefully, coming years will bring back the larger event to Los Angeles. It was always a nice reason to travel to L.A. for a few days in the winter.

KFWE Miami

Miami’s first event was on December 13, 2013 and was held at Gulfstream Park’s Sport of Kings Theatre in Hallandale Beach, FL.

In 2015 and 2016, KFWE Miami was held at the Diplomat Beach Resort, but has been at the JW Marriott Turnberry Isle Resort since. In 2021 there was, as with all other locations, no event.

KFWE London

KFWE London is run by Kedem Europe, Royal’s sister company in the UK, and the top kosher wine importer in the UK (still miniscule next to Royal in America). Every year has been held at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane in London. It has a similar format to the NY events, and the food has always been from the same caterer, Arieh Wagner. This year, KFWE London will be held on February 18, 2025. As you can see in the picture above, the event itself is in a smaller hall, though somewhat more elegant.

KFWE Tel Aviv/ZUR

Israel’s KFWE event began around 2011 solely as a trade tasting put together by ZUR, Royal’s sister in Israel, which has grown much larger in recent years. The ZUR event began being called KFWE in about 2018, with limited general public tickets, and the focus still on trade/media.

KFWE Tel Aviv moved from the Sheraton Tel Aviv to the Azrieli Towers 2C event space on top of the tower, before moving to Trask at the Tel Aviv Port. The event is very well-received and nowadays resembles the large NYC events of yesteryear.

Israel, to its credit, hosts many wine festivals and shows, as it certainly should, as the home of a multitude of kosher wineries in such a small parcel of land, but KFWE Tel Aviv is a welcome addition to the landscape.

KFWE Elsewhere

There have been many events in Paris unofficially called KFWE Paris, but really run by Selection Bokobsa. This show features many Royal wines but also other Bokobsa imports. The event has not been held since 2022.

I did want to also mention Sommelier, the large Israel two-day wine event held in Tel Aviv. It is certainly not all Royal – it’s not even all kosher. It’s a really wonderful event at which many Israeli wineries and winemakers are present. I was lucky enough to attend in 2023. It is being once again held in Tel Aviv on February 4-5, 2025. There are many other wine events in Israel, Europe, and America, but I’ve kept this to KFWE and its subsidiaries and growth.

KFWE has also taken place in Toronto (2018-19) and Houston (2023). They were small, Royal-sponsored events. For some time, I have been hoping to bring a similar event to the Baltimore/D.C. area. Maybe it is time to begin again. The antiquated wine laws of Maryland make distribution very tough which limits the number of wine SKUs which make it into our state. Hopefully, Gov. Wes Moore’s new attention to some other outdated laws which help the few and hurt the many will get the ball rolling in a positive direction.

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Many thanks to my dear friend, Gabriel Geller, for his assistance on some of the history of KFWE.