VAT and all taxes for UK are included in the price. And free delivery for orders +£150!

Decántalo
Contact
Wine blog
Don't miss our articles on the world of wine. Wineries, production types, wine regions, pairings, interviews with the top professionals in the winemaking world and all the latest wine news.

Kosher wines: suitable for the Jewish religion, perfect for everyone

07/07/2020 Winemaking

Do they have a different flavor than regular wines? Are they made only in regions of Jewish religion? Are they only to be consumed by practitioners of the Jewish faith?

The answer is a big, categorical, NO.

Surely when listening to talk about kosher foods including wine, many questions like the previous ones have come up for you. Although it’s true that kosher wine is made following certain rules so it can be consumed by Jewish people, it’s within everyone’s reach, that is to say, it’s not necessary to be Jewish to enjoy it.

vino kosher

Below we’ll explain what kosher wines consist of, so you’re encouraged to discover them for yourself.

Let’s start at the beginning:

What is kosher wine?

The term “kosher” derives from the Hebrew word which refers to “fit“, that is to say, it’s a wine fit for consumption according to the dictates of the religious laws of Judaism that refer to food (Kashrut). They’re a set of rules to be followed for food preparation and winemaking, essential for all practitioners of this religion.

In this particular case, in order to be able to speak of a kosher wine all the stages involved in its elaboration have to be handled by “observant Jews”: it’s not enough that they’re believers only, respecting the strict laws stipulated by this religion.

The basic principles for its production are the same for both a kosher wine and for a non-kosher wine, that is, the grapes they’re made with are grown and harvested in the same way. A winery that makes kosher wines will be the same as one that makes regular wines. Therefore, whether or not a wine is kosher is not a determinant of quality and for this reason, its flavor isn’t different either. It’s not possible to know through a tasting whether a wine is made under these precepts or not; its taste is the same as that of a regular wine of similar style and quality.

But then, what are the main differences?

According to Kashrut precepts, for a wine to be kosher, yeasts and filtration and clarification elements must be certified as such and must not be derived from animal by-products. As is well known, gelatins (of animal origin), casein (derived from milk) or isinglass (fish gelatin) are often used for wine clarification, ingredients that are not allowed in the case of kosher wines.

This is an interesting detail because in addition to being suitable for consumption by practitioners of Judaism, many of these wines are also suitable for all those consumers, Jewish or not, who are vegetarian or vegan.One more point in their favor! You just have to watch that they haven’t been clarified with egg white, which is allowed in the Jewish rite but not admitted in the diets of people who follow veganism.

In Israel the regulation is even stricter as it also obliges kosher processors to respect the agricultural laws in the vineyard, which, it must be said, are the oldest cultivation laws in the world since they date from Biblical times and establish that the grapes cannot be used to make wine during their first three years of the vine’s life. The cultivation of other fruit among the vines is also prohibited. Interestingly both practices are applied by some non-kosher winemakers with the aim of promoting quality in the production of their wines.

It’s also obligatory to give the land a sabbatical year so it rests, during which year the grapes are not harvested (Sabbat, every seventh year), something which nowadays is to a certain extent more flexible, for economic reasons.

Mevushal or non-Mevushal

This term refers to kosher wines which go through a part of the production process which is a kind of instant pasteurization (the liquid reaches high temperatures for a few seconds) to guarantee its purity, which also makes them suitable for serving by a person who is not a practitioner of the Jewish religion (for example, those provided in catering or restaurants by non-Jewish people).

What can this pasteurization result in?

On one hand, it’s said that after being heated, the wines in question stabilize their color and tannins. They don’t spoil in the short term but they do lose the bacteria which contributes to good aging.

Whether or not a wine is kosher is irrelevant to quality, but it’s perhaps among non-Mevushal wines that you can find the best quality and those that can be preserved over time.        

Kosher wine and its categories

There are three basic categories

Kosher: wines that are made in compliance with all the precepts established by the Jewish Dietary Laws (Kashrut)

Kosher Pesach or Passover: kosher wines that haven’t come into contact with bread, grains or products made with sourdough, that is to say, practically all those that are made, and which are also the wines intended for Jewish Passover (Pesach), identified by their label with a letter P.

Kosher L’Mehadrin: wines that follow the strictest rules of the Kashrut for their elaboration and undergo a higher level of supervision in order to be approved.

As you can see, all these processes and what they mean for the Jewish religion are very interesting to discover and help us understand that, although these wines have to meet strict production criteria, without a doubt they’re also suitable to be enjoyed by all of us who love wine.

You can find kosher wines of every type: sparkling, white, red, rosé … there’s even a Fino sherry made under Kashrut precepts.

Here are some options for you to verify that in terms of flavor and quality, they’re like any other similarly produced wine, and even some examples of great wines which will surprise you.

4 kosher wines for all wine lovers

Peraj Ha’abib (Spring Flower) An award-winning and internationally recognized kosher red wine made in the DO Montsant in Catalonia by Celler de Capçanes and which demonstrates that cooperative wines can be of the highest standard. It’s a non-Mevushal (unpasteurized) wine and is suitable for Jewish Passover.

Recanati Marselan Reserve A great wine if ever there were one! Made with the Marselan variety, rare in the Galilee area in Israel, but where it has adapted wonderfully, giving rise to a wine with a Mediterranean essence, elegant and voluminous.

Taanug Amphitheater Priorat 2015 Made in the DOQ Priorat by Pinord, a centennial Catalan family winery, this kosher wine reflects all the character and strength of the terroir that sees it come into being.

Recanati Yasmin White For these summer days, nothing like a refreshing kosher white wine made with Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc which originates precisely in Galilee, and offers us all the wealth of the Israeli sun.

In short, high quality wines which also happen to be kosher, totally recommended for all of us who enjoy the products of the vine. We challenge you to compare them with a non-kosher wine and try to find some differences. Why not have a go?

Image by Ksenia Chernaya.

Original source at Pexels.com

Decántalo