The prevalence of heavy sweet kosher wines half a century ago caused the mistaken assumption that wine must be sweet to be kosher.

It just so happened that the poor Jewish immigrants in the early 1900’s could afford only the cheaper acidic Concord grape variety. Winemakers had to add much sugar to the concord’s bitter, painfully dry wine to make it palatable, but sweetness has nothing to do with wine being kosher.

As economic situations improved, however, kosher winemakers began experimenting with diverse and better grape varieties, and also upgraded and improved their production methods.

Today, high class kosher wines garner gold medal awards and gain international recognition. Kosher vintners are constantly increasing their kosher selections by broadening their horizons, going to the ends of the earth to produce choice elegant wines.

What makes wine Kosher?
A delicate and highly demanding product, wine is extremely sensitive to climate and handling, physically as well as spiritually. The fact that wine is a prominent social beverage, and has sacramental history, has subjected kosher wine production to halachic restrictions.

“Wine has soul!” exclaims Rabbi Haskel, who heads OK wine supervision operations throughout Israel, Europe and South America.

All equipment used to process the wine must be reserved exclusively for kosher production.

From the first stage of the grape crushing to the final sealing of the bottle, only competent, Shabbath-observant Jews can handle the production equipment and wine.

Non-kosher winemakers may use gelatin, rice, milk products or animal products for clarification and purification. Only certified kosher products can be used in the winemaking. Kosher wine is subject to a stringent filtration process that can’t use foreign substances.

To produce Kosher wine, a certified OK supervisor first visits the winery to explain the halachic guidelines and limitations to the non Jewish owners and harvesters. And they certainly know of what they speak. At least one staff member of every OK wine supervising team is a trained vintner who is thoroughly familiar and knows firsthand all the processes in the art of winemaking.

The Kosher production team then assumes full responsibility for the process. The area where the wine is kept is fully secured under lock and key to insure that there is no intrusion until the wine is bottled and sealed.

Aged wines remain 3-4 years in wooden barrels. If the non-Jewish vintner has to check the wine’s progress at any time, he must call in an OK supervisor. This may involve a 600 mile return trip, so the Kosher supervisor can allow the winemaker to take a single sip to ascertain the wine’s quality and status.

A violation can prove to be very costly. This year, an infraction of the Kosher rules at a Bordeaux winery caused the rejection of several vats containing several thousand gallons of wine, which became the talk of the town. As a result, there will unfortunately be no kosher Bordeaux available this year.

OK carefully inspects each vat and barrel. “We discovered that some oak barrels were glued together with flour and water, rendering it unfit for Passover.”

Finally, the wine is allowed to attain a “mevushal” exemption status only at high temperatures that meet OK’s strict standards. Containers are double sealed for shipment.

New Enzyme Breakthrough
OK Kosher Certification have invested years of research pioneering the development of original kosher Tartaric Acid, a necessary catalyst that helps with sugar fluctuations in the wine.

The subtle nuance and quality, character and flavor of each brand of wine depends on the distinct climate and soil condition of each specific region. Indeed, the various wine types are named after the towns or counties where they are grown and produced.

There are at least 15 Kosher wineries in Southern France, including Bogola, Parfinen, Bordeaux, Narvonne, Loire Valley, and Champagne.

The famous Torah commentary Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, popularly known as Rashi, is known to have made wine one thousand years ago in France, but hardly a Jew now lives anywhere near these distant wineries. Yet these places now bloom with kosher wines.

In their search for variety and quality wines, Kosher Wine production follows harvesting seasons all around the world. From April through May, OK supervisors conduct and supervise wine production in the southern hemisphere, in Australia, South Africa, Argentina and Chile.

Then, from August until October, OK supervisors follow the wine production season to the northern hemisphere in Israel, Italy, France, Moldova, Georgia and Spain.

Israeli wines come from the Jerusalem Hills, Golan Heights, Galilee, Samson, Shomron and the Negev desert. Outstanding wineries in Israel include Ramat Hagolan, Galil, Barkan and Habotik, such as Amiad, Zirah and Tavor.

Due to additional Halachic agricultural laws, Kosher Wine certification is more complex in Israel. Supervising wine in Israel begins four years earlier with the planting of the vines. Air photos of the vineyards help record the location of each row, as agricultural professionals log the progress of each sapling. The harvesting begins only after all forbidden three year “orlah” fruit have been removed.

In the 4th year, too, grapes classified as “Neta Revai” must first be redeemed. And all wines undergo the proper tithing to fulfill the “Teruma & Maaser” requirements. OK policy does not rely on “heter mechira” leniencies during the “Shmitta” Sabbatical year.

“In France we can draw on supervisors from nearby local Jewish communities. But in distant places like the Republic of Georgia, we have to hire a staff of six supervisors per winery for the harvesting season. One member of the staff had to remain on the isolated premises throughout the high holidays! It’s not easy to maintain 24 hour shifts for several weeks in late autumn cold temperatures out in the wineries, but OK supervisors are very dedicated in full accordance with Kosher laws.

Argentina has a sizable Jewish community, but we have to fly 12 supervisors from Buenos Aires all the way out to the Mendusa region each week of the harvest season.”

When we sit down at the Seder to drink the Four Cups of wine representing the four expressions of Freedom and Liberation, we are truly relieved to know that any wine carrying the OK symbol is totally Free of anything substandard, and is indeed the best of the best!