Is That Kosher?

The term kosher is an anglicized form of the hebrew word, kasher, which means "fit" (as in fit for consumption).  Kosher foods must meet a number of criteria under Jewish law.  But what about kosher wine?  What requirements must a bottle of wine meet for it to be, "kosher for Passover," or kosher for those of the Jewish faith who adhere to this dietary code?

Kosher wine produced in Israel must conform to these regulations (source: Oxford Companion to Wine):

1. No wine may be produced from a vine until its fourth year
2. The vineyard, if within biblical lands, must be left fallow every seven years
3. Only vines may be grown in vineyards
4. From arrival at the winery, the grapes and resulting wine may only be handled by strictly sabbath-observing Jews, and only 100% kosher materials may be used in the wine-making, maturation and bottling processes

For Kosher wine produced outside of Israel, only the fourth stipulation must be met.  I wonder if Mega Purple is Kosher?  But I digress.

Kosher wine in North America has a reputation for being overly sweet (blame it on the native Concord and Niagara grapes).  Nowadays however, observant Jews (and curious gentiles, like myself) can track down seriously good (and dry) kosher wine. 

The Israeli wine industry boasts a number of high quality vineyards near the sea of Galilee, Samaria and other locales.  In fact, this year marks the first ever annual Israel wine expo, called IsraWineXpo (June 13-15, 2006).  Some Israeli wine producers of interest are Golan Heights Winery, Amphorae Vineyard and Tishbi Estate.

The Ramat Magshimim Vineyard in southeastern Israel.  Planted in Muscat Canelli and Muscat Alexandria

If you are looking for kosher wine produced in other countries, the Kosher Wine Review is a good place to start.  You can search for wine by country of origin, color and even Mevushal!

So, to all of my Jewish readers (there must be at least one!), have you had any good kosher wine lately?

[update] Moshe of the Kosher Wine Review answers our question about regulation #2:

"About the land lying fallow during the seventh year. Although that's the technical requirement, all Israeli wineries that I'm aware of take advantage of a loophole that's been approved by the Israeli rabbinate for use in modern times: if the fields or vineyard are owned by a non-Jew, then the land does not have to lie fallow. During the seventh year, the fields and vineyards are sold to a non-Jew. At the end of the seventh year the mortgage comes due and the land reverts back to the original owners.

However, any wine produced during that year is, in theory, supposed to be consumed in Israel as it retains a certain holiness. This restriction is not enforced by the rabbinate, and to the best of my recollection these wines are exported without restriction."

Tags: kosher wine, wine, israel wine

Comments

[Andrew]

Rule 2 - fallow

Does this mean the vineyard has to be dug up every seven years (little chance for the vine to mature) or is it just left untended (disease, unchecked growth) or unpicked (diseases)?

[beau]

Andrew - Oy Veh. I don't know the answer to that. My guess is that the vineyard isn't tended in the 7th year (rather than getting ripped out). But that is a mighty good question. I'll do some more research..

[Andrew]

Another thought - if only "sabbath-observing Jews" can handle the grapes once IN the winery does this mean that anyone can actually pick them or use equipement to pick them?

[beau]

I'm going to see if I can't get some more detailed answers from the folks at the Kosher Wine Review..

[Tamara]

I swear by the 2002 Yarden Odem Organic Chardonnay ($18) from Israel. It has depth, complexity and goes great with food.
http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2006/04/15/its_a_miracle_a.php

[beau]

Tamara -
Thanks for the recommend. I've yet to sample any Israeli wines. Next time I'm in New York, I plan on picking a couple up.

Any NYC Israel-friendly wine shops you'd recommend?

[Moshe Yudkowsky]

Hi, this is Moshe from Kosher Wine Review. I'm sorry I'm joining this discussion so late, but the Passover holiday intervened this week; for Orthodox Jews, that meant no work at all from Tuesday evening until late Thursday evening. (And last week we could not work, use the computer, drive cars, etc. from Wednesday evening until Saturday night.)

I'm going to comment on one question and come back later — after the Sabbath — for another comment.

About the land lying fallow during the seventh year. Although that's the technical requirement, all Israeli wineries that I'm aware of take advantage of a loophole that's been approved by the Israeli rabbinate for use in modern times: if the fields or vineyard are owned by a non-Jew, then the land does not have to lie fallow. During the seventh year, the fields and vineyards are sold to a non-Jew. At the end of the seventh year the mortgage comes due and the land reverts back to the original owners.

However, any wine produced during that year is, in theory, supposed to be consumed in Israel as it retains a certain holiness. This restriction is not enforced by the rabbinate, and to the best of my recollection these wines are exported without restriction.

[Moshe Yudkowsky]

And now for the question about picking the grapes.

Anyone may pick the grapes; the requirement for Jewish-only labor begins when the grapes are pressed. From that point forward only Jews may handle the wine. (Some hasidic sects claim that non-Jews, or non-observant Jews, can't even look at the wine, but that's not the law, and I suspect that notion is just another bit of hasidic mysticism. However, I will state that if I were supervising a winery, I would be leery about allowing any non-Jews on the premises during many stages of the production, because of the risk of accidents.)

Non-Jews may handle properly sealed bottles and casks of wine; but if they open, pour, or otherwise handle the wine after it has been opened, the wine is no longer kosher. There is a loophole: wine that's been heated is exempt from this rule. This kind of wine is called "Mevushal," which means "cooked." Because restaurants and hotels have both Jewish and non-Jewish employees, kosher restaurants and kosher banquets almost always serve mevushal wine exclusively.

Mevushal wine, by the way, is usually lower quality than non-mevushal wine -- in my experience. The temperature to which the wine is heated is the subject of Jewish legal debate, but the generally accepted rule is about 180 degrees F. Furthermore, the heating can be done via flash pastuerization, which limits the damage.

But the wine is damaged. Furthermore, no one will abuse really good wine that way, and most mevushal wine is destined for weddings and bar mitzvahs. So while some very good wines are mevushal, I don't think I've ever seen a mevushal wine that cost more than $30 per bottle.

Finally, here's a comment about "Sabbath-observing Jews." I admit that I was puzzled by this concept; why the requirement for Sabbath observance? A Jew is a Jew, after all. I'm still looking into the details, but two reasons come to mind. The first is that Sabbath observance verifies the pedigree of an individual; while anyone can claim to be Jewish, it's very rare indeed to find a person who is not Jewish but still observes all the Jewish laws about the Sabbath. The second reason, which I've seen in legal tomes I've consulted, is that historically Jews who refused to observe the Sabbath were converts to other religions, and were therefore treated as members of other religions for purposes of handling wine.

Beau, thank you for bringing me into this discussion!

[WinederingJew]

Check out Columbus Avenue Wines and Spirits on the Upper West Side. Well curated kosher wine selection. I think it's up by 96th.

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