BEST KOSHER WINE

The Jewish community is known for their dietary differences and this is extended to wines also. Kosher wine is specific to the Jews. It is called kosher because it is made as per the religious dietary laws for the production of wine. Kosher wines come in all types, ranging from the mediocre to the outstanding and more often than not kosher wine is no different from our regular wines.

The word “kosher” means “fit”, so kosher food and wine is “fit to eat” because it clears certain technical specifications about food and drink. Kosher wine has some very specific rules that must be followed during its production. The main point to remember is that the creation, the bottling, the opening, handling and the pouring of kosher wines must be done by Jews only. The wine is deemed non-kosher if a non-Jew pours a cup and passes it on. But if the wine is heated to just short of boiling then it can be handled by a non-Jew.

Two decades ago, kosher wines were characterized as being red, thick, coarse, and syrupy sweet. Most wine lovers would avoid it totally. But around the early 1980’s wineries in California and Israel woke to the act that there was a demand for good quality kosher wines and when some of the best kosher wines made their appearance in the market, they were snapped by wine connoisseurs. Today the best kosher wines have attained a quality so good that they did not have to apologize for their status of “kosher”.

With kosher wines becoming popular wine connoisseurs decided to put together a list of the fifty best kosher wines out of the over 500 wines which were mainly linked to Kiddush. Some of the best kosher wines can be separated in to red wine, white wine, sparkling wines and champagnes and dessert wines. Among this elite list of best kosher wines, twenty eight were from the wineries of Israel, France followed with nine of the best kosher wines, Spain had the two of best of the best kosher wine from one winery and California followed with ten of the best kosher wine.

A few names in this best kosher wine list for red wine are the Herzog, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Special Reserve, year 1996: Capsinius, Peraj Ha'abib, Flor de Primavera, year 1998: Golan Heights Winery produced Katzrin, year 1996 and Cabernet Sauvignon, Yarden, year 1997: the Chateau Giscours, Margaux, 1999: and from Tishbi, Cabernet Sauvignon, Jonathan Tishbi Special Reserve year 1998.

In the list of best kosher wine for white wine, are names like the Chardonnay, Yarden, 1999from the Golan Heights Winery, from Dalton you have the Chardonnay, Reserve, 1999 and Sauvignon Blanc Fume, 1999, from Napa Valley comes the HaGafen, Chardonnay, 1999 and from Baron Herzog you have the Chenin Blanc, Clarksberg, year 1998.

Apart from this there are best kosher wine as desert wines like the La Cave de Sigolsheim, Gewurztraminer, Grand Cru Mambourg, 1998, the Golan Heights Winery, Heightswine, 1999 and the Golan Heights Winery, Moscato, Golan, 2000.

In the champagne and sparkling wines best kosher wine category you have the non-vintage range of Laurent Perrier and the Pommery Brut Royale, both from France. From the Golan Heights winery the best kosher wine is the Brut, the Blanc de Blanc and the Charles Heidsick, all of course non vintage.