Passover Wines
by Al Hernandez
The Jewish community has a long tradition of celebrating their holidays with wine, and Passover is no exception. Passover, or Pesach, is an eight-day long celebration that begins on the night of the fifteenth day of the month of Nissan of the Hebrew calendar. In 2007, Passover begins at sunset on April 2nd and ends at the nightfall on April 10th. In Israel, Pesach is celebrated for seven days only, where the first and last days are observed as holidays and no work can be done on these days. However, in other countries, the first two and the last two days are observed as holidays. Work can be done on the intermediary days that are known as 'Chol Ha-Mo'ed'.
The most commonly known celebration within the Passover celebration is the ceremony of Seder performed on the first two evenings of Passover. 'Seder' means 'order' in Hebrew and thus, all its rituals are observed in a particular order on this day. Seders are observed on the first 2 nights of the 8 day holiday with lavish meals, special foods, stories and history of Passover, plates, silverware, songs and prayers. It is the time for family and friends to gather together and observe their long held traditions and customs.
Four glasses of wine are poured during the Seder to symbolize the four main stages of Exodus that led Hebrew slaves to the promised land of freedom. These stages were:
-- Freedom
-- Deliverance
-- Redemption
-- Release
Besides these, there is a fifth cup of wine, which is poured and placed on the Seder table known as the Cup of Elijah. It is so known as it is an offering for the Prophet Elijah and thus, the door to the home is opened at this time to invite him in.
A new addition to the Passover Seder Jewish rituals is the Miriam's Cup to honor the contributions of women and the role of Miriam, the sister of Moses and the Prophetess in the Exodus. However, unlike Elijah's Cup, it is filled with water to commemorate the miraculous Miriam's well that saved the Israelites from dying of thirst during their long journey in the hot desert sun.
Over the past few years, Passover wines have gone through an amazing transformation. A new generation of winemakers are making Kosher wines, not just for Passover which can be enjoyed all year long. Once synonymous with a sweet and syrupy wine made traditionally from the Concord grape, many of today's kosher wines are actually dry and more elegant, produced from more popular grape varietals such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.
What makes a wine “Kosher”? All Kosher products must be produced and packaged under the strict rabbinical supervision of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (http://www.ou.org/). No artificial additives, coloring or preservatives may be used. Only certified kosher products may be used in the winemaking process right down to the equipment and machinery, which may be used exclusively for the production of kosher products.
There are two types of kosher wine--non-mevushal, your basic kosher wine, and mevushal, fit for the most orthodox wine lover. Non-mevushal wines must be produced, handled and even served by Sabbath Observant Jews in order to be kosher. In contrast, Mevushal wines go through an additional step, flash pasteurization, in which the wines are subjected to heat during the winemaking process but are not boiled, contrary to popular belief. This process originated from ancient times when wine was once used by pagans for idolatrous worship. By pasteurizing the wines, they were considered unfit for pagan worship and should satisfy the most orthodox Jew. As a result, mevushal wines may be handled by non-Jews and remain kosher. The back label should indicate whether the wine is mevushal or not.
Here are a few of our favorite Kosher for Passover wines:
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