Like matzo and brisket, kosher wines are a staple at the Seder table. But the usual syrupy, Concord-grape-based suspects haven’t exactly advanced the perception that kosher wine can be enjoyable, nostalgic attachment to the purple stuff aside. Let’s put it this way: in the kosher wine universe, Manischewitz is still the shiniest star.
In recent years, though, wineries around the world have been chipping away at that saccharine stereotype by striving to make great wines in accordance with kashrut, the body of Jewish law that governs consumption. Kosher vino producers like California’s acclaimed Covenant and Israel’s Galil Mountain Winery have been upping their game to appeal to serious wine lovers, Shabbat-observing or otherwise.
The movement to make kosher wines that don’t suck is seeding on a local level, too, trickling into a still-obvious gap in the market.
Tzafona Cellars, launched about a year ago by partners Toby Berkel and Avraham Gislason with Niagara’s Diamond Estates, produces a Riesling and an ice wine from Vidal. A Tzafona Chardonnay was bottled recently, and a Cabernet Sauvignon is still in barrels.
At Huff Estates in Prince Edward County, a rabbi and observant Jewish helpers produce a kosher Riesling under the supervision of Huff’s winemaker, Frédéric Picard.
Good local kosher wine is a relative rarity, however.
For a wine to qualify as kosher, every step of the vinification process – from crushing grapes to filling fermentation tanks to barrelling and bottling – must be done by a mashgiach (an ordained kosher supervisor), and the finished product must be certified by the Kashruth Council of Canada.
The cost of hiring a mashgiach (often, though not always, a rabbi) to undertake such a labour-intensive task is enough to dissuade many wineries from making kosher products, a factor that’s stunted the growth of the local kosher wine industry, Berkel says.
Though Tzafona caters to the Jewish community, the winery is also trying to reach a broader consumer base by simply making good local wine. Riesling was selected as a flagship variety because it represents some of the best of what Ontario has to offer.
“We wanted to work with a varietal that was familiar to Niagara, an offering that spoke to the appellation,” says Berkel. “We’re trying to make an incredible Ontario wine that not only the kosher consumer can enjoy.”
And you can, quite easily. Tzafona Cellars Riesling is available in Vintages, and a variety of international kosher wines can be found at a handful of new kosher boutiques at select LCBOs.
Try these kosher vinos:
Tzafona Cellars Cold Climate Riesling 2014
Rating: NNN
Why One of a handful of local wines to hold the kosher classification, Tzafona means “we the north” in ancient Hebrew – okay, more accurately, it means “northward.” Smells of apples and pineapples with a subtle sparkle of melon-y freshness. A hefty meal will help to temper oxidative bruised-fruit flavours that might otherwise linger.
Price 750 ml/$19.95
Availability Vintages 445569
Hafner Zweigelt Classique
Rating: NNN
Why Besides staking claim to the title of Austria’s most widely grown grape variety, Zweigelt is best known for its trademark cherry character. Though this particular wine has been subjected to more oak than I prefer, it’s got an undeniably tasty spiciness.
Price 750 ml/$17.50
Availability Vintages 896043
Psâgot Winery M Series Chardonnay 2014
Rating: NNN
Why This Israeli chard dishes all its fruit and butter almost immediately, but that’s quickly remedied by decreasing the time between sips. Bright and citrusy, it’s made for drinking, not overthinking.
Price 750 ml/$33.95
Availability Vintages 441675
What we’re drinking tonight:
Zwack Unicum Slivovitz
Why So plummy it could inspire you to raid the fridge without bothering to leave an apology note, this kosher plum brandy is an appropriate after-dinner treat that’s all too easy to continue drinking and drinking and drinking. Be warned: at 47% ABV, it rests just below what old-country Eastern Euro grandfathers consider adequate strength for chest-hair cultivation. For the rest of us, that spells a delicious but likely disastrous night of revelry that, when indulged in once a year, is probably worth it.
Price 750 ml/$31.80
Availability Vintages 454603
