Kosher wine explained. What is kosher wine?

Hi guys, WineTuber here and in today's video I'm going to talk about kosher wines. So if you like to know what's Mevushal, Mashkiach or Kashrut stands for and more importantly how the kosher wine tastes like, watch this video until the end. Before we start many thanks to the Corkscrew Wine and Spirit Merchants and Liberty Wines Ireland for helping me with this video and if you're watching my channel for the first time please consider to subscribe. In Hebrew word kosher means suitable or fit, fit for the consumption and is regarding to dietary law called Kashrut which comes from Torah. People who follow Kashrut cannot eat pork or shellfish and also cannot combine meat and milk at the same time. The Torah by the way is a compilation of five books of the Hebrew Bible. In Hebrew word Torah means teaching or instructions including instructions of the winemaking. Speaking of the winemaking, kosher wines are produced by using the same practice, the same winemaking technique like any other wines. So what actually makes wine a kosher? Well only practicing Jewish working can handle winemaking process of kosher wine. Wine can be called kosher only when entire process of winemaking from the harvest until bottling it's handled by Jewish person. Very important role during kosher wine production play Mashkiach which is a Jewish chief, mostly man, who is controlling the food and wine production to make sure that is according to Halakhah which is a Jewish law. Fun fact did you know that all kosher wines are vegetarian friendly? There are because according to Kashrut gelatine or cassine are not permitted during the clarification or stabilization of the winemaking process. And if the egg whites are not using during the fining process, kosher wines are also vegan friendly. Did you know that the vast majority of kosher wines are kosher for Passover? But what does actually means? Well kosher for Passover wines must be made in the cellar that it's free of dough, bread or any grain products. Or perhaps most importantly living agents such as non-kosher, non-indigenous yeast which are often used in the wineries to provoke fermentation. There are many kosher certified yeast that allowed in the winemaking and many kosher wineries to use them rather than waiting for indigenous yeast to start fermenting the wine. Before I share with you how the kosher wine tastes like you should also know one more term called mevushal. Kosher wines can be also labeled as mevushal or non-mevushal. But what does actually means? Mevushal means cooked or boiled and this labeling indicates that the wine has undergone the unique process of pasteurization. Wines labeled as mevushal which means that the wine was cooked is the only wine that can be served to the Jew by non-Jew. However the vast majority of commercial wines are labeled as non-mevushal which in fact indicates better quality wine. One of the biggest misconceptions about kosher wines is that all kosher wines are sweet and low in quality. An important part of the Jewish traditions take Shabbat which is a day of rest and during Shabbat quite often sweet wine were serving. However in today's video I'm going to show you something quite unique fantastic value for money dry red kosher wine. So stay tuned. Speaking of the kosher wine labeling there's a few symbols that can be found on the back label of kosher wines including rabbin stamp u in the circle which stands for orthodox union certification and k in the circle and all these three symbols confirming that the wine is kosher. Lastly p in the circle means that the wine is kosher for Passover. Cheers! The homeland of kosher wines is definitely Israel. However fantastic kosher wines are also produced in the United States, France, Spain and Italy. My favorite kosher wine producers are Capsanes in Catalonia, Covental in California, Yarden in Israel and Chateau Clark in Bordeaux. But now it's the time to show you the real hidden gem of kosher wines. In my glass a very unique kosher wine called Cigale Levin Argaman and Argaman is the name of the grape variety which is in fact cross and portuguese Suzal and french Carignan. Wine on the nose it's pronounced showing aromas of red and also black fruits including some blueberries, rosemary, cranberries, pomegranate and also mediterranean herbs. On the palate wine it's smooth and quite easy drinking with low amount of tannins with moderate acidity and medium finish. Absolutely fantastic! My score of Levin Argaman is 90 points of 100 and the retail price is only 20 US dollars. Thank you very much for watching and I hope you enjoyed this video as much as I'm enjoying my kosher wine at the moment. By the way don't miss out my next video about the differences in between Blanc de Noir and Blanc de Blanc. So stay tuned, don't forget to subscribe and see you next time!