Kosher = Hebrew for “Pure”
Israel… a country where three of the world’s major religions – the monotheist traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – are all inextricably linked. Israel…a beautiful country, but without living there, I have no way of knowing what life is like day-to-day for its people. Although religion causes conflict, strife, and divisiveness among us, it is hard to ignore how similar the basic principles/morals of three religions actually are. Which brings me to the “peace” I find in the country. With so much going on in this country and everywhere these days, I am going to focus on what I enjoy, which is this: Israel produces some spectacular wine. Both kosher and non-kosher.
First let’s dispel a couple kosher wine myths: Perhaps the most obvious myth is that not all Israeli wines are kosher wines and a wine is not kosher just because it is blessed by a Rabbi.
The truth on kosher wines: STRICT guidelines must be followed. For example, a Rabbi must supervise the winemaking process and only kosher substances are allowed. So, no animal (i.e. gelatin) or dairy derivatives. That means no egg whites allowed – yes, folks, sometimes egg whites go into wine for balancing purposes…don’t be grossed out though, I’ll leave that for another post. Back to kosher wines. The winemaker (and anyone involved in the grape / wine process) must be an Orthodox Jew. Non-Jews can direct cellar functions, but only religious Jews can do hands on work.*
No grapes can come from a vine until its 4th year after planting and all wine cellar equipment must be entirely sanitary and devoid of foreign objects (in another words, “kosher”). Most interesting to me, 1% of the wine must be discarded, a symbolic remnant of the 10% tithe, paid to the Temple in Jerusalem in days gone by. And barrels must be cleaned daily. Understand that there are different levels of “kosher”, but it gets complicated… if you want to know the two types of kosher wines, here it is. No regulations govern quality on kosher wines, but there are regulations to guarantee that the aforementioned have been met.
Many other countries make kosher wine as well – the U.S., Argentina, Portugal, even South Africa… How do you know? Well it’s tricky as Israeli’s are largely trying to promote, say kosher Israeli Cabs, as simply Israeli wine and will put them in the same bucket as Cabernets instead of a segregated “Kosher” section of a wine store. They want these wines to sell to the non-Jewish community so labels are even obscured. Most Kosher wines have, either on the front or back of the label, the letter “O” with the letter “u” inside it (The Union of Orthodox…) but somewhere on the bottle you will typically see “kosher wine.”
Why is it important to know if it is kosher or not? It may not matter at all! There are some phenomenal kosher wines out there. Some food for thought if you are indifferent, you could (but not necessarily) be sacrificing quality for the cost of kosher wines just because of all the extras it requires to make a kosher wine. While I completely respect the process of kosher winemaking, it is a religious process and can be costly. As Howard Goldberg in Decanter “in an increasingly terroir-hungry world, Israeli vintners are positioned to express their region rather than religion.” This means, kosher or non-kosher, vintners are expressing their terroir (something I talked about in my previous post) which means quality wines for YOU. While Israel has no indigenous grapes (if it did, I bet it would have the most rad name EVER), you primarily see Cabernet, Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.
Again, with the stress in my life, I find that having a new wine, exploring its smell, color and taste…brings me “peace”… a little joy, if you will. So, I tried an Israeli wine recently that I thought was pretty darn good (see below). If you haven’t yet tried one, go out and buy one! Most are under $20 and will give your palate a reason to dance. If you have the wallet, why not try a kosher and non-kosher wine to see what you think. Leave your comments; I’d love to hear about your experience!
Israeli wine I tried: 2007 Yarden Cabernet, Golan Heights Winery (95% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Merlot), $18, I found it to be tobacco-ish, black fruits, gun smoky and delicious! Dry finish, would have liked it to be a little fuller (not as thin), but it was a fun experience for me…
* Note: I have omitted some nuances to kosher wines which could make this post very long (i.e. every 7th year the fields must be left fallow, there is a prohibition on growing other fruits and vegetables between the vines, etc)…If any Israelis want to chip in additional thoughts (or correct any mistakes I may have made) on the process, please do so.
