By Emily Moore, JTNews Correspondent
Diving into the new world of kosher wines
Over the decades, we have become used to being able to only quaff glasses of marginally tasty, very sweet wine whenever we “drink kosher.” Now we’re a bit intimidated by the absolutely wonderful kosher wines that have now appeared in our midst. Most of the “new” kosher wines are so good that they can be sipped for pleasure before, after or during dinner, as well as on holidays. Some are even good enough to be winning some of the highest international awards. Who knew? But in order to delve into this wonderful wine world, a little guidance might be needed.
The new kosher wines are made exactly like any other great wines in the world, with the exception of the mevushal practice that some are exposed to. To be deemed mevushal (or truly kosher, by some designations) a wine must be brought to the boiling point and then quickly brought back down and allowed to continue its fermentation process. For centuries, this meant that the wine was brought quickly to the boiling point, sometimes boiled for a few minutes and then allowed to return to a cool temperature.
Needless to say, the quality of the mevushal wine became severely compromised. With current technology, winemakers can flash the wine to the boiling point for a millisecond and then chill it down within seconds, so the effect on the wine is minimal and its character can be developed without further impediment.
Not all of the lovely wines in the kosher market today are mevushal; many vintners believe they have a choice of process, because the basic kosher restrictions have more to do with the other requirements of wine kashering than just whether the wine is mevushal.
In order to be kosher, the wine grapes may be picked by non-Jews, but as soon as they arrive at the winery Jews must take over and handle all other processes, from crushing to bottling. A non-Jew may oversee the winemaking or consult in decisions made along the way, but non-Jews may never actually have their hands on the wine. And the winery equipment must be ritually cleaned and blessed according to the laws of kashrut.
These laws are followed in every kosher winery all over the globe, and to our benefit, these wines now come from all the great winemaking regions throughout the world.
Let me explain a little about wine labeling, for those unused to buying wines. In the U.S., wine labels bear the name of the winery, the grape or grapes that make up the wine, the year the grapes were picked and usually a blurb extolling the unsurpassed qualities of the wine.
Israeli, South African and Australian wine labels are similarly composed. French and Italian wines have labels expressing somewhat different information: they include the name of the winery and the region the wine comes from. The grapes that make up the wine are known because that region’s winemakers only use—and have always used—the same particular grapes—to make their wines. This is because the region is known to be the best growing area for these grapes.
Besides denoting the year the grapes were grown, these labels also include an indication that the wine has been rated by the national/regional judging body and has been accorded a level among its peers. New world wines have too little history to be part of such long-established governing associations, although California is beginning to create regional “appellations,” much like the appellations of France and the appelaziones of Italy, which are rigorously controlled by those countries wine-governing bodies.
For kosher wines, it’s easiest to introduce them according to their makers and point out the different wines each winery releases. I’ll also include relevant information like price and year, and perhaps suggest some foods to pair with the wine. Because of space constraints, in this column I’ll introduce some of the better wines from Israel and France and continue with more in a future installment.
The most celebrated of the new kosher wines are sold under the label of “Yarden” and are actually not that new. Their Israeli maker, Golan Heights Winery, at one point decided to go “mainstream” and stop highlighting Yarden’s kosher aspect, believing they could gain a much larger audience if they stopped using a kosher wine distributor. That made the wines very hard to get for a few years but I’m happy to say that they’re back and just as impressive as ever.
Among current releases are a very round and citrusy 2000 Chardonnay (four years is an impressive age for any white wine). This one is honeyed and luscious and can be picked up for $19.99.
The ‘99 Merlot ($24.99) has both a smooth berry scent and accents of plum and sweet smoke as you drink it. Like many Merlots, it will go well with rich meats that are roasted, braised with fruit, or even barbequed. A sophisticated and well-structured ‘99 Cabernet ($27.99) is less fruity but is exceedingly smooth and gives a variety of flavors from the beginning to the long finish. It goes well with steaks and deeply flavored poultry and game dishes, or for vegetarians, with portabella mushrooms and roasted vegetables.
Golan Heights’ lower-priced line is called “Golan” and includes some excellent choices for “everyday” drinking. The Chardonnay is even older than Yarden (‘99, $13.99), has apple and apricot hints and is pleasantly aromatic. Drink it as a before-dinner treat or pair it with halibut in a light sauce or pasta with smoked chicken or salmon.
A 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon ($16.99) is much lighter than Yarden and has very nice but restrained fruit. The really interesting offering from Golan is a light, yummy Moscato made from the muscat grape. (2002, $11.99). It is perfect before dinner, well-chilled, to drink with appetizers or just a nibble of grapes or strawberries.
The selection of fine wines from France is both surprising and gratifying, in a variety of price ranges. My favorite “find” comes from one of the better champagne makers in France: Laurent-Perrier. While expensive ($67.99), it offers such a wonderful opportunity to make kosher toasts on the more festive occasions in life—weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, whenever!
True champagnes are given “year” designations (vintages) only when the year has been exceptionally good; other champagnes are blends of wines from various years. This one—Laurent-Perrier Brut— has no vintage, but has a lovely yeasty (a good thing in champagnes!) and flowery nose, very small bubbles (again a good thing) and a clean dry taste with accents of rose and grapefruit. Truly a lovely, world class champagne, and kosher!
Another rather surprising wine in the kosher firmament comes from a branch of the very famous wine family, the Rothchilds. This one is Chateau Malmaison, 1999 ($31.49) from Baronne Nadine de Rothchild, apparently one of the women winemakers in the family. You can tell that because it is from a chateau it was made in the Bordeaux region, meaning that the grapes used were Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. These wines are usually taut (not full of free-flowing fruit) and well made with lots of reserved but accessible fruit under flavors of wood and acidity.
Generally, they are very sophisticated and delicious. Serve with big flavors and open the bottle a long while before drinking it to allow some air to get into the bottle and release the wine’s subtleties.
Another attractive French wine comes from one of the most currently popular wine regions, the Rhône in the southeastern part of the country. This is the region of the well-known wines of Chateau-neuf-de-pape (near Avignon: “the new home of the pope” from the period when the Catholic church split apart hundreds of years ago) and can be made from as many as 13 different grapes. This wine is called Cuvee du Centenaire, Cotes du Rhône (2000, $14.99) and will be very accessible, rather rough and fun to drink with lots of body—fills up the mouth easily—and dried fruit and cherry flavors. Drink with grilled meats, risottos and roasted poultry, or with pasta with red sauce.
These wines are available at University Village QFC or Mercer Island Albertson’s. Enjoy!
Emily Moore is a local chef with 30 years experience in her field, including 13 years in local and regional restaurants. Her business, Emily’s Kitchen, provides culinary services to all facets of the food industry and catering to the Jewish community. She also currently teaches culinary arts at Edmonds Community College.