KOSHER WINE

Until the 1980's many Kosher wines tasted like a cross between Kool-Aid and Children's medicine. Today, however, Kosher wines are  in an entirely different league. Made by winemakers with good credentials from  such classic varieties as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, Kosher wines now compete with fine wines made anywhere in the world. To be Kosher, a wine must be made under rabbinical supervision and must be handled throughout vilification by a Sabbath-observant Jew. Wine handled or served by a non-observer is considered unfit for sacramental use. Historically, of course, Jewish religious authorities knew that wine was used not just for sacramental purposes but also socially. Wine eased and encouraged social interaction. Religious scholars speculate that rabbis and Jewish intellectuals may have feared such socializing, viewing it as the first step toward the disintegration of Jewish culture and the assimilation of Jews into other cultures. To mitigate against this, two versions of Kosher wine were made. The first, Mevushal (cooked) wine, would be boiled, making it in a sense morally sterilized. Though Mevushal wine would therefore be less palatable than regular wine, it could be shared by non-Jews and nonobservant Jews with observant Jews. The other type of Kosher wine would be non-Mevushal and, as result, generally better tasting. Non-Mevushal wine could be drunk and served only by Sabbath-observervant Jews. If a non-Jew or a non-Sabbath observant Jew touched a non-Mevushal wine, even accidentally, it could not be consumed by someone who strictly followed Kosher dietary law. Initially, Mevushal wines were quite literally boiled. Today the unfermented grape juice or wine is flash pasteurized- a more modern method of sterilization- and the wine is then aged. Flash pasteurization is also kinder than boiling when it comes to preserving the wine's aroma and flavor. In both Europe and Israel, Kosher wine has always been made from classic European grape varieties, such as Cab Sav, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Merlot. While that is now true in Untied States as well, in the past most American-made Kosher wines were produced from foxy-tasting native grapes, such as Concord, which were also used for jelly. These grapes thrived along the East Coast, where the largest centers of Jewish population were to be found. Over time, American-made Kosher wine became inextricably linked with syrupy sweet wine, such as Manischevitz. The largest U.S. importer and distributor of Kosher wines is the New York based Royal Kedem. As for specific producers of Kosher wine, the best in California include Weinstock, Hagafen, Gan Eden and Baron Herzog. The most famous French Kosher wine is the one called Baron Rothschild, an expensive Kosher Bordeaux produced by Baron Edmund Rothschild of Lafite-Rothschild. From Israel, the producer to look for are Yarden and Golan.