Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/288975
66 / the tasting panel / april 2014 M eet Doug Simon, new VP/National Sales Manager for Royal Wine Company. Surprise: He's not Jewish. But his background of leading sales divisions for some of the biggest international wine portfolios—including Kendall Jackson and The Henry Wine Group—has given him access to a family business that has, up until now, been keen on keeping it . . . kosher. "Wherever there is great wine to be pro- duced, we are there," says eighth-generation Joseph Herzog, Director of Herzog Wine Cellars in California. His family's Royal Wine Corp., based out of New York and distributed nationally, has revolutionized the world's view of kosher wines, importing premium wines from 48 wineries in about 15 countries. The family's vision to impart the message that kosher can mean quality is a mission that Simon will champion. "This challenge is intriguing for me," he tells THE TASTING PANEL, when we met in Los Angeles at the company's International Food & Wine Festival. "The model of being able to bring in a new dynamic to these outstanding wines— from Israel, Italy, Spain, New Zealand . . . and French wines that are partnerships with the Rothschilds—takes these fine wines out of the fog of kosher and into an upscale niche that speaks to today's wine buyers." With the Herzog family driving change in the kosher category (Simon's 13-person national sales team will expand to about 25 in the coming year), a new awareness of this stunning portfolio, which speaks the language of quality from value-packed wines to outright luxury offerings, will surely be dawning on- and off-premise wine professionals. Kosher Crossover AT THEIR 7TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL, ROYAL WINE CORP. AND HERZOG WINE CELLARS FILL A NICHE THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN by Meridith May / photos by Mark Ryan Joseph Herzog with Doug Simon, Royal Wines new VP/National Sales Manager. TP0414_034-71.indd 66 3/21/14 2:42 PM