The KOSHER WINE CLUB

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Article 1 July 15, 2009

A First Step in the World of Fine Kosher Wine

the Vino-Maven

Here is your first step in the world of fine wine: FREE YOUR MIND.

All the rest is commentary.

The commentary is important, and you will get it right here. Just let me repeat that first step again because it is so central to wine tasting: FREE YOUR MIND! Freeing your mind is not that easy to do, and I think that for us frum Jews particularly challenging. So I hope you will read this little essay before starting your journey into wine tasting. I hope you will find my words useful and enlightening.

Article 2 July 23, 2009

Your Second Step in the World of Fine Wine

Free Your Mind Some More!

the Vino-Maven

In my previous article I explained that tasting wine is more than enjoying yourself or impressing the neighbors with your sophistication. It is a way of experiencing the subtle kinds of beauty and joy that hide in this physical world. I described my own first experience with a truly fine wine, and my surprise at what happened. I tasted things that I didn’t think could be tasted, like the sun on the grapes and the cold mists of the night. I was even more surprised to discover that such experiences are for real, meaning that experienced wine tasters can actually share these kinds of experiences and agree about them. At the time, I was unsure if I was actually tasting these unusual qualities or just imagining them. Sure enough they are really in the wine.

Article 3 July 28, 2009

What’s Kosher in a Kosher Wine?

The Vino-Maven

Even as a little kid I wondered about Kosher Wine…and Kosher Grape Juice too. Why did they need to be Kosher? All the old frum guys in the neighborhood drank beer and whiskey without any concerns. There is simply nothing un-kosher in those brews, I was told. Well what then could there be in wine but grapes? What could be un-kosher about grapes? When all the other Non-Jewish kids on the block were drinking Yummy Welch’s grape Juice from concentrate, why did us Jewish Kids have to make due with Grape flavored Kool-Aid? (Come to think of it, the Hassidic parents didn’t even let their kids drink that for fear there was something un-kosher in it.

Article 4 July 28, 2009

Is Pasteurized Kosher Wine Cooked Enough

I’m not Jewish, Should I Feel Insulted?

The Vino Maven and Friends.

Hi everyone, this is your Vino Maven. In a previous article I put down everything that I knew about kosher wine, and I discussed how the touch of a non-Jew can disqualify a wine from being consumed by Torah observant Jews. In ancient times when there were Pagan non-Jews about, their touch could make a wine into Yayin Nesech. According to Torah law a wine would not be forbidden unless it had actually been used in pagan worship. The sages enacted a stringency that the touch of a non-Jew was enough to make the wine forbidden because of idolatrous thoughts.