I suggest you sit down first, okay, ready? : Kosher Wine (!)

Wine Pimps
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I’m trying to build a list of high end kosher wine buyers. Anybody have some good ideas?

All the best,

Rafi Schutzer

I’m also on twitter
http://www.twitter.com/KosherWineGuy

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High end wine buyers? I am not understanding your question?

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Rafi,

In 8 years, I’ve only had one person ask for a kosher wine. We have several bottles laying around that were given to us for the obvious reason. High end buyer and kosher sounds more like an oxymoron. Are you saying you have kosher wines that are considered high end?? [shrug.gif]

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Eric LeVine knows a fair amount about these. He’s posted notes on the kosher version of Leoville Poyferre. I guess that qualifies as high end!

But I agree with Dan, it is not clear to me what you are looking for. Is it end consumers who buy kosher wine or folks who buy kosher wines for stores or restaurants?

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Thanks Ken, I thought I was already clear as I had no idea what this guy was asking… [highfive.gif] [imwithstupid.gif]

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“Will they have Mogen David in Heaven sweet Jesus
And if not, who the hell wants to go?”

Larry Gatlin

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I’ve been around a lot of wine drinkers and collectors, socially connected, active, or well-heeled people both Jew and Gentile, and just plain food and wine enthusiasts. I’ve never heard of someone who was “in to” food and wine who also kept kosher. There are some who buy kosher wine for Passover however.

Question:

What is different about the kosher wine making process from the traditional wine making process?

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The grapes are killed painlessly & blessed by the Rabbi ! [tease.gif]

Here’s some info for you Randy
http://www.gemsinisrael.com/e_article000033155.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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everyone in the wine making process must observe the sabbath

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True, sort of–POST harvest that is. Also, some wines go through a flash pasteurization process called Mevushal, it heightens the Kosher-ness of the wine in the event the wine might be poured by a gentile or from Jew to gentile. I worked at a kosher winery and I was only allowed to pour the Mevushal wines because of these rules.

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Sarah, you can pour my Kosher wine any day. I always hated that rule! I found it so elitist that we Jews (i don’t include myself) exclude people who may be interested in learning, etc by telling them that if they touch the Kosher wine bottle, it’s ruined and no longer Kosher. note: although Jewish, I am not Kosher - so probably shouldn’t judge, but I no likey!

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This guy vanished…weird.

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Not to help this guy out (his next post may be that he needs us to help him cash the $5M inheritance check of a Nairobi prince…) but there actually ARE some fairly decent Kosher wines I’ve come across. A fair amount of special bottlings from Bordeaux and a smattering from other parts of France. One of the big BDx importers we work with actually has a Kosher division with its own brand manager. Having said all that, the wines are more special for being Kosher than they are being solid wines for the money, so we never carried any of them, but they were definitely as solid as any other somewhat overpriced wines out there.

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according to his website of “fine kosher wines” the Pontet Conet is kosher.

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Doesnt Trotanoy make a kosher wine?

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Covenant in Napa Valley (Jeff Morgan) makes two Kosher (and high-end) wines. Backsberg in Paarl makes some Kosher stuff as well, though not super high-end. Valendraud makes one of the highest end in Bordeaux. I know Smith Haut Lafitte has too. In fact a lot of Boradeaux estates are experimenting with Kosher wines. I think Debouef is too.

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Thats the one i was trying to think about…

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Leoville Poyferre, since we are carrying on this discussion.

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Hi,

Thanks for the responses. I actually forgot about this site and am just now getting back on. Sorry.

To answer all of the questions let me just say that I am among a very small fraction of the orthodox Jewish community that is interested in very good quality wine which must necessarily be kosher. I am interested in catalyzing the production of a kosher cuvee from a well known high quality Napa winery by building a list of buyers who would commit to a minimum of three bottles purchased forward. The production would be financed through these funds and the wine delivered after bottling in approximately two and a half years.

The bottles would sell for between $200 and $300.

The process of mevasheling (flash pasteurization) will not be used so an orthodox crew will be needed from the time of fermentation through bottling to do all “hands on” work. Mevushal wine is not more kosher in any way but it is thought to degrade the quality and age-ability of the wine.

If you have any more questions feel free to contact me.

All the best,

Rafi Schutzer
schutzer@mail.com
858 413 5860

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Mevushal wine does not lose its status of being kosher if it is handled by a non-observant Jew. By contrast, kosher wine that it is not mevushal loses its status as kosher if it is handled by any person who is not an observant Jew.

It is not an issue of Jews versus non-Jews. It is an issue of observant Jews versus the rest of the world.

I believe Rabbis could debate what is an observant Jew within this context but that it is generally understood to be only a Jew who observes the sabbath. The phrase for that is “Shomer Shabbos.”