Last night I attended a Kosher wine tasting at Bacchus wine store on the Upper West Side. There were 15 wines to taste, hailing from a myriad of countries. While the majority of wines were produced, not surprisingly, in Israel, there were wines from Italy, France, Spain, California, Chile, Argentina and Australia.
Most people associate Kosher wines with Manischewitz’ Concord grape wine, which has been traditionally used for Jewish holidays and Shabbat celebrations. Consequently, this overly grapey, sweet wine was my first taste of wine as I was growing up.
However, today’s range of Kosher wines is much wider as evidenced by the breadth of countries represented. Moreover, these wines are produced from vitis vinifera (European) grape varieties as opposed to the native American (vitis labrusca) Concord grape. Thus, the foxy, grapiness doesn’t exist in these wines.
Kosher wines are Kosher because they come from wineries where Kosher practices are observed. This means that all of the winemaking processes are carried out by Sabbath-observing Jews and that attention to Jewish dietary laws is observed. For example, some wineries might use geletin as a fining agent, but as geletin is derived from pigs, which are not dietarily Kosher, geletin is not used in the making of Kosher wines. Instead, a fining agent such as Bentonite, which is a type of earthen clay, might be used. A final process of pasteurization may also be followed, thus rendering the wines Meshuval, which permits them to be handled by non-Jews without compromising their Kosher status. Wines that are Kosher for Passover must be produced from special strains of yeast given this holiday’s restriction on bread products.
Vineyards in Israel also abide by Jewish laws such as waiting until the fourth year to use the grapes for wine, tithing a certain volume of the grapes and refraining from cultivating the vineyard every seventh (sabbatical) year. In practice, this generally results in a smaller volume of grape production for these years.
Overall, I was impressed with the presentation of wines. Prices ranged from $7.99 – $36.99 (Bacchus’ prices) and much value existed in the lower-mid priced wines. I was particularly pleased with Five Stone’s Becketts Flat from Margaret River, Australia, which was a Bordeaux blanc-style blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. The wine had vibrant fruit and herbal characteristics both on the nose and palate, with long length. At $17.99, it had a great price to quality ratio. The only other white wine I liked was an Arbanel Riesling from France, but at $21.99, I was less impressed.
There were quite a few red wines that delivered good quality and value, including the Layla Malbec from Argentina ($13.99), Joseph River Cabernet/Merlot/Shiraz blend from Australia ($11.99) and the Efrat Israeli Series Merlot from Israel (11.99). More expensive options included the Tzora Vineyard Judean HIlls Merlot/Cabernet ($17.99) and Yatir Cabernet/Merlot/Shiraz blend ($36.99), both from Israel, the latter of which was extremely nice with blackberry, oak, spice and currant leaf notes.
The other pricey wine, also at $36.99, was the Taltalim Cabernet/Merlot blend, but I detected too much brett on both the nose and palate, so I may need to re-taste another bottle of this wine someday. I also didn’t care for the sparkling entry, a Rashi Pinot Brut Spumante from Israel ($17.99), but my husband thought I was overly critical (I felt the wine lacked aroma and was neither autolytic or fruit-driven on the palate – simply bland).
While I knew that Kosher wines had come a long way in the wine world, I hadn’t been entirely sure what to expect before the tasting. My experience was generally a positive one and thus, I am happy to report that Kosher wine need not be synonymous with poor quality any longer. In fact, I would recommend a number of these wines, particularly those noted above that retail under $15.00, regardless of whether you require a Kosher wine or not. They are simply good wines of great value. L’Chaim (to life)!