This dry mead is a tribute to Abraham Löw, whose nickname was Abba. 

Produced in 2022. Composed of two barrels: a traditional mead in the Polish style that was barrel aged for 18 months and a Vidal Blanc pyment that was barrel aged for 11 months.

As part of the tribute series, each of the Loew descendants has the opportunity to help Rachel produce a mead in honor of one of the Löw family members. This series provides us the chance to share stories of the family members whose lives were affected by the horrors of the Holocaust, bringing their story forward in a unique and meaningful way.

This mead was produced with help of Rachel’s cousin, Dora, who chose to name this mead in tribute to Abba. When asked why she chose to name this mead Abba, she wrote:

“I was really excited to make this mead in dedication to my Hebrew namesake and great uncle, Abe. Abe, who also went by Abba, was a serious, stoic man and a brilliant thinker. He was studying in Warsaw during the war when he went missing and was killed. My grandfather and Abe had a large age gap between them — he was the eldest brother of three. When my grandfather talked about him, there was almost an air of mystery lingering in his descriptions. Being able to learn more about Abe through creating this mead was a special way to connect with a part of myself I didn’t know existed, especially as an academic thinker myself. We channel Abe’s refinement and sophistcation in the mead’s elegance, with a careful balance of acidity that might represent the aspects of his personhood that will remain a mystery. Abba can be described as one of the most delicately balanced traditionals Loew Vineyards has ever created.”

More about Abraham Löw

According to William, Abraham was a PhD student studying Philology at Warsaw University when WWII broke out. Sometime around 1941, Abba went to the hospital to get some medicine, and never came back. It is rumored he was rounded up by the Gestapo as they were clearing out the hospital.

Part of William’s testimony of survival that was recorded by USHMM:

“A bomb hit just a part of our house, just a part of it, but it was -- the damage was done not directly to our houses in general, but the staircase, for example, which were concrete staircases, where they were marked and there were some splits in it. Although we didn't think anything looked collapsed, but there was damage in it already. When we were in the cellar we had some other friends and some people who were in the cellar. When we got out, and it was a while after (the bombing) that I got out with Abe, my older brother, to see the damage. We didn't see any fire. Nothing was really down other than one portion that was hit and there were some other buildings that were attached to our house, and we checked that. And, I remember my brother said, “well, there's not much damage to our hiding place.” So that I recall, that we were hit by a bomb. Apparently, it wasn't a large bomb, but from there on, that was the beginning of the war and in probably the next few days things had happened that Poland was divided into two major areas with the lights somewhere west of Lwow and the Russians came in. This was a new era that we began.”