Wine-making in Israel dates back to the Bronze Age. Photo used in Wikipedia from Biblewalks.
Hurray, we are out of quarantine and can visit friends and family, especially for celebrations. Covid-19 has affected our travel. I stayed home for months. Then I travelled to a wedding, and was invited to assorted celebrations, including a Sabbath meal and a Rosh Hashanah meal. What could we take as a gift? Wine. But did it have to be kosher wine?
Wine is wine, surely? What is special or different about kosher wine?
If you are invited to a celebration at a Jewish home, a meal at an event such as the Sabbath, or a wedding, should you take food or wine, and what sort?
Firstly you need to know how observant are the hosts, and what about their guests? If you have an event such as a wedding, you might find that although the couple getting married or their parents are not observant, they are entertaining a rabbi, or an elderly aunt, or grandparent, and out of consideration for their guests, they may have decided to hold a kosher event.
What Is Kosher Wine?
What makes kosher wine different? Surely the ingredients are natural, from grapes, with no pig products nor shellfish?
What could be added, or contaminate the wine? Maybe gelatin. In some wines, particular in Spain, egg white is added to wine to help drag down the detritus, the grapeskin and woody bits and possibly even leaves which make a mess at the bottom of the barrel or bottle as the wine settles.
This is puzzling. What is non kosher about an egg? It is an aimal product and you are not allowed to add animal products to kosher wine.
Did you always know that egg white was added to wine? I didn't, until I went to a winery in the Rioja region of northern Spain.
That proves the point. You don't know what somebody else might add to your wine. Contaminate it. Unless you check the whole process yourself, or ask an expert in the production of kosher wine to supervise it for you. A rabbi.
This means the wine must be prepared by somebody Jewish, or supervised by somebody Jewish. Why such fuss about wine. Do we make such a fuss about food? Why?
Kosher And The Bible
Not everybody understands the rules about kashrut (making what you eat and drink kosher). For example, the kosher rules are similar to halal rules but more strict. The rules are laid out in the Bible, in the section or book of Leviticus (which means laws) in the bible, which Christians called the Old Testament when they started following the New Testament.
One of the laws in the bible is about not eating pork. However there are other laws. these involve: not consuming blood, not mixing milk and meat, not eating shellfish. Not eating living things including insects. A list of animals, birds and fish which can be eaten and those which cannot. The rulings by the individual rabbi or the collective board in an area (such as the London Beth Din), on what is allowed.
One is about not eating or drinking blood. (Hence the rules of some groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses, against blood transfusions.) This means not eating steak with blood in it, and not eating black pudding, a favourite dish in the north of England, and not draining blood from a living animal, to drink, which is done by the nomads in Africa.
It also means kosher kitchens separate meat and milk areas. washing up bowls, tea towels. When you go into a hotel, or hired premises, all the utensils have to be new, only used for kosher food, or made kosher by a heat or disinfection process. This might involve boiled water or lining with aluminium foil or some kind of heat gun - which obvisouly must not set fire to anything!
The same would be done by strict vegetarians. I had a friend in London whose Hindu mother-in-law came to stay with her and scrubbed all the iron pots, inside and out, with sandpaper.
What could go wrong? Your chocolates could have a red coating made from the blood of crushed insects. Your liqueur or liqueur cake could be made with chocolate. Your strawberries could contain insects hiding under the top layer of greenery, so you must cut the tops off.
Glatt kosher
Kosher meat is inspected by a rabbi (meaning, teacher, guru, expert) who has been trained to check the meat comes from an animal which was healthy and fit to eat. Glatt kosher, even more fussy, checks not just the meat you are eating but also the lungs.
In London most people were satisfied to see the Beth Din of London label on a restaurant in London, England, where I grew up (Americans say was raised).
The Beth Din checks not only the quality of the food. The restaurant has to close on the sabbath, giving the staff their day of rest. The sabbath starts at sunset (actually, when you can see three stars - if in doubt check with a Jewish diary or newspaper).
The hours vary in a seasonal country. In the UK, Europe and the USA. in summer and winter. Sabbath is early on Friday in winter and also ends early on Satrday in winter, but in summer ends late on Friday, and late on Saturday..
How does this affect you? it affects when you will find the shops open to buy your kosher wine. You might also find that Tesco and other supermarkets have closed off their kosher wine and food section during the sabbath or a religious holiday.
You might find that one knowledgeable person is making life difficult. But another knowledgeable person is making life easy. For example, in a strictly orthdox family everybody rests on the Sabbath. You have candles instead of electric light. You cannot turn on the cooker or use a lift. So the food is slow-cooked on a timer. Everybody walks to their destination.
The bible clearly says that on the sabbath you do no work, and neigther does your manservant nor maid servant.
On the other hand, some authorities will allow Christians and others who keep Sabbath on different days to help Jews on the Jewish Sabbath. I read that Elvis Presley acted as a 'Sabbath goy', (goy meaning non-Jew) who would turn on the lights and heating and cooker for his Jewish neighbour.
Let me give you an example of what could go wrong if a not very religious Jewish family holds an event at a non-Jewish restaurant. When our son was at school in London, he attended the barmitzvah of a shcoolfriend, including a celebratory meal at a lovely local Italian restaurant. The starter was smoked salmon, as specified by the hosts, the parents of the barmitzvah boy. The chef had generously decided to add a free garnish of prawns.
But prawns are not kosher! They are shellfish. (I happen to be allergic to shellfish. I looked at them and my companions said, 'You can eat them. they can't be real prawns. They must be white fish made to look like prawns.'
I knew they were prawns. Shortly afterwards, so did everybody else.The starter was withdrawn. You can imagine that the hosts were embarrassed and unhappy. So was the restaurant, at the wasted food.What about the money? Somebody lost out. The hosts had paid for a salmon starter but ended up receiving melon. I expect it all ended amicably. But you can see why fussy people, or cautious people, or experienced people, will 'build a fence around the law'.
Now, let us go back to wine.
Kosher wine is supervised. Some mevushal wine is also heated to cut out contamination. Restaurants require this because the wine could be contaminated when it is being shipped in containers to be bottled in another coutnry and then handled and served by people who don't know the rules.
Mevushal
So restaurants order mevushal. However, if you are buying a wine bottled in Israel, marked kosher, and collecting it from the shop, no chance of contamination. You don't want the flavour spoiled or alterered by the heat treatment.
Red Or White Wine
Now, red or white? Red wine goes with meat dishes. Dark colour, strong flavour.
Red wine, made with the skins or dark grapes, has a bitter, tannin flavour and some people don't like it. With red wines and shellfish, you could have a food intolerance, feeling queasy and nauseous and not liking it. Or a more violent, more serious allergy, coming out in a rash or swelling up and having trouble breathing.
Red Wine
Red wine can be drunk at room temperature. White wine is best chilled.
We took a red wine to a dinner party. The hostess did not drink wine. Her daughter did not like nor drink red wine. The husband liked red wine, but could only drink a little because he had gout, which is either caused or exaserbated by drinking red wine.
In retrospect, it might have been simpler to have bought very nice kosher chocolates or halva or dates or a plant.
How about asking?
Israeli Wine
Red or White
What Is Kosher For Passover?
Passover is a time of year when certain foods are forbidden to be consumed and are cleared out of the house. Wheat and other grains, so no leavened (risen) bread, only matzos (dry crackers).
I watched a Discovery programme which investigated the ten plagues suffered by Pharaoh and the Egyptians when Moses was not allowed to leave with his flock of Hebrews. The modern investigators decided that the so called slaying of the first born must have been accidental poisoning by mouldy wheat, in a wet spring, similar to the St Vitus's dance experienced in mor recent times in the USA. The result of a catasphrophic and widespread posoining was a rule about discarding the wheat stored from last year, before the new harvest. This resulted in the Jewish passover customs, as well as giving food up for lent, in the UK Pancake day meant using up the last of your flour in pancakes. Anything marked Kosher for passover, is not just kosher, but also contained no wheat products.The ban also applies to four more common grains: barley, rye, oats, and spelt.
When and Where To Buy. For kosher wines, go online and use wine searcher. We drove into London to the Sampler in Islington on a friday evening. We got caught in one way systems and traffic. the traffic lights were every few yards, not co-ordinated to speed you up. They seemed designed to slow you down. Fortunately, we had left enough time.
Should You Ask? In theory, red wine goes with red meat. Many Jews don't drink much. However, they might appreciate learning about wine.
If you ask what to bring, people often say, 'don't bring anything, just bring yourselves'. Either because they son't like to be asking for something, or they cannot decide, or they think the question is should I bring something or not.
Instead of asking whether to bring something or not, ask which of two choices the host or hostess would prefer. eg white or red wine. Maybe even a third choice, would you like red or white wine or juices? Would you prefer wine or chocolates? Would you like me to bring some cheesecake, you could ask, would you prefer cheesecake or strudel - or savoury? Or would you like a or b or something else.
For a really grand affair, you might order a huge bowl of lilliies, a plant for the garden, or a chocolate cake with the names of the couple in chocolates.
You might also think that people are hesitant to change and don't know what they want until they see it. Henry Ford, who produced the first popular motor car, supposedly said disparagingly of market research, "If I had asked the customers what they wanted, they would have told me faster horses."
What about Kosher Food?
Loads of options. Look in the nearest kosher deli, supermarket with a kosher section, kosher brand or online.
Foods include:
Meal contributions:
Chopped liver, fish balls, smoked salmon, hummus (made from chickpeas), pickled cucumber, chollah, Danish pastries, dates, nuts, halva (sesame seed dessert). Ask the shop assistant in the Jewish deli for advice and offer your host or hostess a couple of options.
Be sure to ask if it is a meat meal or a milk meal. If it is a milk meal there will be no meat served at lunch or dinner. You will have to wait until tea time, possibly three hours. Also if it is a meat meal, you cannot eat chocolates or anything containing milk.
I might not have my facts right or up to date or applicable to your coutnry, family and friends and the latest rules and opportunities. So you should do your own reserach. But at least you have a better idea of what to look for and consider when doing your own research and planning, as a host, guest, or event organizer.
Israeli Wines
Kosher wines include one with the label 1848 reflecting its year of origin.
Happy buying, eating and drinking.
Greetings And Toasts
L'chaim! (A toast to Good health. Chaim is life.)
If you are celebrating, eg a success, engagement or wedding, congratulations:
Mazel Tov! (Good luck, literally luck good.)
Shanah Tovah (Happy New Year. Literally, year good.)
Want to learn more, or buy?
Useful Websites
KOSHER WINES
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_wine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_wine#:~:text=Mevushal
KOSHER & VEGAN
https://www.city-vino.com/blogs/blog/what-is-kosher-wine/
UK
https://www.kosherwinecellar.co.uk/
ISRAEL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_wine
Read about Carmel Wine, founded in 1882 by Baron Rothschild, Tulip Wine and several others:
Israeli Wine Producers' Association
USA
Give them your email and in exchange you can receive
discover/12-mistakes-to-avoid-when-buying-kosher-wine
Wine Clubs, USA
Not meetings but year-long subscriptions to a delivery service of selected wines at various prices, could be a gift to yourself or a wedding gift to somebody else
https://wineclubs.kosherwine.com/faq
If you want to have a meeting or a series of meetings with others drinking kosher wine, you could advertise in a synagogue newsletter or on Meetup.
- Kosher Wine Official Website
- "The Art of Kosher Wine Making", Star-K Kosher certification website.
- "Learn about Kosher Wine", Kosher Wine Society.
- Laws of Judaism concerning wine From the Torah and Maimonides’ Code of Jewish Law
About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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