By Vinously Speaking aka Veronique Cecilia Barretto One of the three VS Wine Bloggers
Now, I’m not Jewish, but that doesn’t stop me from showing some vinous love to kosher wines, especially during Passover, which begins tomorrow April 6, 2012, at sundown. Also, I think kosher wines still need a bit of advocacy here to keep people from thinking that only Jewish drink them and/or that kosher wines are just that cloyingly sweet wine, i.e., Manischewitz. Bottom line, kosher wines have been climbing up the quality ladder at rapid speeds with many of the quality kosher wine producers taking on the motto of “People should drink our kosher wine not because it’s kosher, but because it’s good.“
For those of you curious about what kosher wine is, here is a great video to sum it up by Lettie Teague, wine writer for the Wall Street Journal.
And for those of you who really want to get kosher wine nerdy, check out this blog post from Kosher Wine Musings, “Kosher Wine 101 – What makes a wine kosher or What is kosher wine?“
So what kosher wines will I be enjoying? Well that choice is easy, I’m heading straight for the delicious Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon & Yarden Pinot Noir (both $30ish retail). The Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon is outrageously delicious and has intense aromas of dark, ripe fruits (blackberry, cherry, cassis, plum), toasted oak, vanilla and a kiss of spice, and an oh so long complex finish. The scrumptious Yarden Pinot Noir has aromas of red fruits (raspberry, cherry, cranberry), with floral notes of violet, and hints of spices and tobacco.
Will you be enjoying any particular kosher wines this Passover? Please comment if there are any kosher wine recommendations you have.