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What is Kosher Wine?

By Dr. Kenneth Friedman


 

What is Kosher Wine?

Wine and Judaism are inextricably linked. Throughout history, wine has - and continues to be - at the center of ritual Jewish life. Considered a beverage that carries special significance, and with its own blessing both before and after consumption, wine is involved in many of the important Jewish events on our calendars. Two to three thousand years ago, wine accompanied the sacrificial offerings in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Passover Seder relegates a central role to the Four Cups of wine, symbolizing our freedom from slavery and the Jewish Exodus. Each Shabbat and holiday meal begins with the saying of Kiddush over a cup of wine. Jewish marriage features wine under the chuppah and with the “Seven Blessings” concluding the wedding. The list is quite extensive.

There is nothing about the laws of creating a kosher bottle of wine that would differentiate the quality of the final product from a non-kosher one. Many fallacies abound regarding kosher wine but the simple fact is that kosher wine can be every bit as good -- or bad -- as a non-kosher wine. Kosher indicates nothing about the quality or lack thereof in a wine. It is simply a certification that the wine within the bottle has been supervised as a kosher production. We are blessed to live in an era where we are easily able to taste world-class kosher wines from many of the globe’s top wine regions.

 

So What Makes Wine Kosher?

You’ve likely heard the urban legend that a Rabbi must bless wine to confer a kosher status upon it. Well, you’ve heard wrong. In short, for wine to be considered kosher the entire winemaking process from crushing to bottling must be handled by Sabbath-observant Jews and no non-kosher finings or additives may be included.

But nothing in Jewish law is ever so simple, so let’s go into greater detail.

Traditionally, wine holds a position of great importance in Jewish law and history and the accompanying Jewish law is significant. Intrinsically, wine needs to be made with only kosher ingredients. Grapes, of course, are always kosher in their natural state, but as with all kosher law, production is complicated and any finings or additives must be kosher, and in almost all cases, kosher for Passover.

 

 

What is Mevushal?

Picking up a bottle of kosher wine, you might notice the term “mevushal,” or “non-mevushal” branded next to the kosher symbol. (Occasionally you’ll see neither, and must assume the wine as non-mevushal.) Translated literally, mevushal means “cooked.” In reality, and in most situations, this now means that the wine undergoes flash-pasteurization or flash détente, whereby the grape must (the destemmed and crushed product) is heated for a short period of time to a high temperature. The process has become fashionable in some of the non-kosher world, as it is useful in removing the flaws of under-ripe grapes and in other circumstances.

The mevushal process allows the wine to be handled by anyone. Otherwise, from when the grapes are first crushed, until when the wine is bottled and sealed, non-mevushal wine may only be touched by Sabbath-observant Jews to be considered kosher. Separately, but equally, a bottle of non-mevushal wine may only be opened and poured by a Sabbath-observant Jew, as well. The mevushal process allows the wine to be handled freely by anyone, a condition that greatly simplifies wine usage commercially, e.g. in restaurants or at events such as bar mitzvahs and weddings. Thus, the need for mevushal wine in America is prevalent. In the past several decades the process for mevushal has been transformed by some practitioners so that the wine could be indistinguishable at times from wines that remain non-mevushal. In fact, some mevushal wines have been shown to age for many years.

Still, most premium wines are made non-mevushal, as many winemakers want total control of their wines and as little outside influence as possible on their products.

 

 

So What Could Invalidate a Wine's Kosher Status?

With a Sabbath-observant person handling the production from crush to bottling in place, what is left for wine to be considered kosher is the intrinsic kosher ingredients, including the yeasts and fining agents, as well as cleaning products used in the process of winemaking. Fining agents are used by some winemakers to remove “colloids,” or unwanted aspects of a wine, including clarification for color, aroma, or bitterness as well as to stabilize the product. These agents bind to the unwanted component and can then be filtered out. Traditionally these agents have included dried blood powder, but today more typically include two categories of agents: organic compounds from animals and solid or mineral materials.

Organic compounds include:

  • egg whites
  • isinglass (from a fish bladder)
  • gelatin (from animal collagen)
  • casein (derived from milk).

Solid/mineral materials include:

  • pulverized bentonite clay

  • activated charcoal carbon

  • potassium ferrocyanide.

In kosher winemaking, ruling out complicated agents of isinglass, gelatin, and casein (as it is dairy), the most commonly-used agent is bentonite, though egg whites may be (and occasionally are) used in smaller productions outside the U.S., though egg whites would render a wine problematic for vegans. Many winemakers prefer not to fine their wines, worried about losing important compounds for aroma and flavor. Additionally, the rising demand for vegan and kosher products has played a role in which fining agents --if any-- are used. And last, as popularity for “natural winemaking” increases, winemakers seek the most “natural” finished product and frown upon fining agents.

 

Is Kosher Wine Hallal?

The similarities between Jewish dietary restrictions (kosher) and Islamic dietary restrictions (halal) are many but still there are major differences. As the scope of this review is kosher wine, we will discuss just that. While much of what is already kosher would normally also be considered halal, this does not extend to kosher wine. This halal prohibition is not specific to just wine of any kind but to the consumption of any alcoholic beverage in any form. So it is not that kosher wine is not halal, but that no alcohol is halal.

 

Kosher Wine From Israel:

Archaeological digs throughout the Land of Israel prove that far from being a “new wine region” in the world, Israel, and the “Eastern Mediterranean Region,” is likely the oldest, clocking in at 5000 years. Following the Islamic conquest and Turkish rule, alcohol was banned in the Holy Land, but was revived in the 19th century with the aid of Baron Edmond de Rothschild of the famed Château Lafite Rothschild who brought world-class winemaking techniques back to Israel. Following the birth of the modern State of Israel in 1948, wine production increased in the coastal areas but was still made primarily for religious use. In the 1970s and 1980s the Golan Heights, with its high altitude and cooler climate, became the premier terroir in Israeli winemaking.

So while Israel is still considered a newly-emerging viticultural area and many of its wineries are in their infancy, the coupling of internationally-trained winemakers with the latest farming technologies are birthing wines receiving worldwide recognition. Recent years have seen the (re)emergence of grape varieties native to Israel, such as Marawi, Bittuni, and Argaman, and while classic Bordeaux varieties can fare well and are popular in this climate, Mediterranean-origin grapes such as Marselan and Carignan produce beautiful wines in this similarly warm climate. Israel now boasts over 300 wineries from its six main wine regions:

  • Golan: Upper and Lower Golan, northern Israel

  • Galilee: Upper Galilee East, Upper Galilee West, and Lower Galilee, northern Israel

  • Coastal Plain: Zichron Yaacov-Hanadiv Valley, Judean Coast, Mediterranean Coast

  • Central Mountain: Gilboa, Shomron, Judean Hills, Negev Judea, central Israel

  • Judea: Judean Foothills, Lachish, central Israel

  • Negev: Ramat Arad, Mizpe Ramon, southern Israel

 

A common misperception is that all wine from Israel is kosher. While the overwhelming majority of wine exported from Israel to the American market is indeed kosher (over 90%) and the overwhelming majority of exported Israeli wines are to America, many Israeli wines are not made with kosher supervision.

Kosher wine made inside Israel is also assigned to follow additional laws, many of them Biblical agricultural laws. Some of these Biblical laws are today used in international viticulture not for religious reasons, but for the betterment of the vineyards.

Jewish agricultural laws include:

Orlah

Orlah refers to the biblical prohibition against eating fruits of a tree during the first three years after planting. These fruits are to be left alone as one may not receive any benefit from them. This prohibition is one of the few biblical agricultural prohibitions that even applies to fruits grown outside Israel, though there are leniencies.

Terumot & Ma’aserot

There is a mandate to separate terumah and ma’aser from Israeli produce. In the Jewish Temple era, these separated portions were given to members of the Priestly Tribe, Levites, and to the poor, or eaten in Jerusalem. Although we no longer eat these portions in Jerusalem, these portions are still designated and even fruits grown in Israel may not be eaten in the Diaspora unless these portions were taken.

Shmittah

Every seven years in Israel the land is to have a sabbatical year, and to lie fallow and rest. All agricultural activity is forbidden. The next shmittah year in Israel is the Jewish year of 5782, or 2021-2022. There are some methods with which produce from shmittah years may be sold and consumed.

Kilai Ha’Kerem

In Israel, it is biblically prohibited to plant another crop species within and between a vineyard’s vines. This is an uncommon practice in any regard nowadays.

 

 

Where To Buy Kosher Wine:

The kosher wine world is growing by leaps and bounds annually, as today over 4,000 individual labels of kosher wine brands are produced -- quite the hop, skip, and jump from the relatively few kosher wines produced just two generations ago. Kosher wine is being produced in many of the top wine regions all over the world, allowing the strictly kosher consumer to enjoy the greatest the world has to offer. In fact, otherwise non-kosher wineries in many famous regions including Bordeaux (France), Tuscany (Italy), the Finger Lakes (America) and many others now commonly make kosher runs of their wines as they see the value in increasing their customer base and brand. Most wine styles and varieties are today represented among kosher wine brands, and the availability and growth of this market is booming.

The future is here. Internet commerce allows us to shop for the wine of our choice and have it delivered to our doorstep in short order. The vast array of kosher wines available to the consumer are very tough to find in many American local markets. Online wine buying from sites such as KosherWine.com allows those in even remote areas the opportunity to taste much of what the kosher wine world has to offer.

 

The Future of Kosher Wine

If current trends continue, the market for anything and everything kosher will continue to grow exponentially, and not just for kosher-keeping individuals. Kosher is now a huge industry representing the big business of world-leading brands and iconic items. And kosher symbols are sought after for those seeking items that are healthier, adhere to guidelines that dictate ingredients safe for those with allergies, lactose intolerance, and other dietary restrictions such as halal, or those seeking strictly vegetarian or vegan items. The point is that kosher can be trusted without deeper research because of the extra levels of supervision and oversight and because of truth in labeling.

Kosher wine continues to abandon its image as thickly-sweet sacramental wines (we do still have those for those who seek them!), and further delineate into wines which just happen to be kosher. Kosher wines are now being made in much of the wine-producing world, with an ever-growing portfolio of varieties and styles. Kosher wine is available at all price levels and is available in many cities and via the internet for most consumers. As interest continues to grow, the future for kosher wine could not be brighter.