Celebrity chef José Andrés once famously said that “every time I open a bottle of wine, it’s an amazing trip somewhere” — and nothing could be truer of Bayonne-based Royal Wine Corp., the world’s leading purveyor of kosher wines and beverages. One hundred and seventy-five years after its original founding by the Herzog family and sporting royal European roots, the company remains dedicated to quality and purity and takes pride in bringing consumers the finest wines, spirits and liqueurs from around the globe.
Founded in 1848 in what was then Czechoslovakia, the Herzog family winery was renowned as the royal wine supplier to Emperor Franz Joseph of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the winery was seized by the Nazis during World War II, however, patriarch Eugene Herzog moved the family to New York City, where he began working for Royal Wine Corp. in 1948 and purchased the company a decade later in an effort to re-establish the splendor of the Herzog family name and its longstanding association with premier wine.
The family ultimately turned Royal Wine Corp. into the largest purveyor, producer and distributor of kosher wines worldwide, said Jay Buchsbaum, executive vice president of marketing and director of wine education at Royal Wine Corp. “Today, we have offices in Paris, London, Tel Aviv and Oxnard, Calif. (the site of our own winery, Herzog Cellars); own and operate the Kedem Winery in Marlboro, N.Y.; and have been headquartered in Bayonne for over 20 years.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1390939488/1685990646/articles/O3--ldim81686836988670/8671888889.jpg]
As a parent organization, Royal Wine Corp.’s extensive portfolio currently features over 400 different wines from 17 different countries that represent most every major wine-growing region of the world, including Italy, France, Spain, Argentina, South Africa, Chile, Portugal and Israel (where Royal Wine Corp. sources product from 36 different wineries alone). “Our wines feature the broad range of grape varieties such as chardonnay, cabernet, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, merlot and many more, as well as the delicious new Argaman grape indigenous to Israel,” Buchsbaum said.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1390939488/1685990646/articles/O3--ldim81686836988670/7187661966.jpg]
Although the company started out catering to the kosher consumer and continues to faithfully serve that market, “so much of what we do has crossed over to the general market,” Buchsbaum noted, “such as our Kedem Grape Juice, which is the second-biggest selling grape juice in America behind Welch’s brand. We sell several million cases of it annually — half of it going to kosher households and the rest to the general population — and all of it is finished and bottled in Bayonne from Concord grapes harvested in New York State.” Beyond their grape juice, he said, “our single most well-known product is a wine we make in Italy under the name Bartenura Moscato di Asti. We currently offer the most popular brand of Bartenura in America and estimate that less than 20% of the nearly 10 million bottles we sell annually go to kosher households.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1390939488/1685990646/articles/O3--ldim81686836988670/7687888689.jpg]
Buchsbaum is quick to note that a wine’s kosher designation comes not from what a rabbi ensures happens during the wine-making process, but what doesn’t. “A rabbi certifies that non-...
Founded in 1848 in what was then Czechoslovakia, the Herzog family winery was renowned as the royal wine supplier to Emperor Franz Joseph of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the winery was seized by the Nazis during World War II, however, patriarch Eugene Herzog moved the family to New York City, where he began working for Royal Wine Corp. in 1948 and purchased the company a decade later in an effort to re-establish the splendor of the Herzog family name and its longstanding association with premier wine.
The family ultimately turned Royal Wine Corp. into the largest purveyor, producer and distributor of kosher wines worldwide, said Jay Buchsbaum, executive vice president of marketing and director of wine education at Royal Wine Corp. “Today, we have offices in Paris, London, Tel Aviv and Oxnard, Calif. (the site of our own winery, Herzog Cellars); own and operate the Kedem Winery in Marlboro, N.Y.; and have been headquartered in Bayonne for over 20 years.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1390939488/1685990646/articles/O3--ldim81686836988670/8671888889.jpg]
As a parent organization, Royal Wine Corp.’s extensive portfolio currently features over 400 different wines from 17 different countries that represent most every major wine-growing region of the world, including Italy, France, Spain, Argentina, South Africa, Chile, Portugal and Israel (where Royal Wine Corp. sources product from 36 different wineries alone). “Our wines feature the broad range of grape varieties such as chardonnay, cabernet, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, merlot and many more, as well as the delicious new Argaman grape indigenous to Israel,” Buchsbaum said.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1390939488/1685990646/articles/O3--ldim81686836988670/7187661966.jpg]
Although the company started out catering to the kosher consumer and continues to faithfully serve that market, “so much of what we do has crossed over to the general market,” Buchsbaum noted, “such as our Kedem Grape Juice, which is the second-biggest selling grape juice in America behind Welch’s brand. We sell several million cases of it annually — half of it going to kosher households and the rest to the general population — and all of it is finished and bottled in Bayonne from Concord grapes harvested in New York State.” Beyond their grape juice, he said, “our single most well-known product is a wine we make in Italy under the name Bartenura Moscato di Asti. We currently offer the most popular brand of Bartenura in America and estimate that less than 20% of the nearly 10 million bottles we sell annually go to kosher households.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1390939488/1685990646/articles/O3--ldim81686836988670/7687888689.jpg]
Buchsbaum is quick to note that a wine’s kosher designation comes not from what a rabbi ensures happens during the wine-making process, but what doesn’t. “A rabbi certifies that non-...
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Jersey's Best (Digital) - 1 Issue, Summer 2023