Huge Giant Disclaimer: I am not Jewish, and should not be regarded as an authority on Jewish matters. If you are serious about keeping kosher with wines, please consult your rabbi. If you are a rabbi and wish to correct my information, I'd be glad to learn.

A common misconception is that Kosher is a style of wine. This is not so. Any style of wine can be made kosher if it was prepared in accordance with Jewish dietary laws, in the same way that Tex-Mex food could be kosher if it was prepared right with kosher ingredients. You can find kosher Bordeaux, kosher Burgundy, kosher Italian wines, kosher Champagne, and more.

More generally, there are a great many misconceptions among us gentiles about what kosher-certified food is. The most common one is that it is "blessed" by a rabbi. This is simply not so; there is no religious blessing involved in certifying a food product as kosher. Certification only ensures that the food has been prepared in accordance with Jewish dietary laws. Saying that the rabbi blesses the food is like saying that the USDA blesses steaks. Certification and compliance inspection is a more accurate description of what is going on, even though the rules themselves are religious in origin.

What is Kosher Wine?

Making wines kosher imposes several additional rules:

Israel is treated differently from other countries because the relevant agricultural regulations in halacha (Jewish law) are different for the Promised Land. These extra rules obviously do not apply outside Israel. The most active area for wine cultivation in Israel is around the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights (while the political status of the Golan Heights is contested, it is a part of Biblical Israel and I'd guess that the restrictions would apply there regardless of which nation happens to control it today).

The reason why Sabbath-observant Jews are the only ones allowed to make kosher wine stems from sacramental use of wine. There were good reasons for not wanting to use wine that could have been used in pagan religious activities. Since non-Jews couldn't be completely trusted to manage this, supervision is required to guarantee that the wine is safe and untampered.

Most kosher wine is made mevushal (pasteurized). The wine is pasteurized either before (for white) or after (for red) fermentation. This is done very quickly and generally without actually boiling the wine. Mevushal wine can be handled by non-Jewish truckers, store clerks, friends, etc, and still retain kosher status. According to Jewish law, the pasteurization/cooking process renders wine unsuitable for idolatrous libations. While historic techniques actually boil the wine and thus greatly (and very negatively) alter the flavor, studies conducted by the University of California at Davis have concluded that modern flash-pasteurization techniques do not have an impact on taste in blind tasting.

The most common kosher symbol on wine (and many other foods) is the U inside a circle, the symbol of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (Orthodox Union). You may also see the K inside a star, the symbol of the Star-K Kosher Certification Agency. Smaller wineries are often certified by local organizations; look for the appropriate English/Hebrew writing (you'll often find the name of the rabbi responsible here). In any case, if you're an observant Jew, you probably already know how to look for a proper hechsher (sign of rabbinic approval).

Conservative and Reform leniencies

We use "kosher wines" to refer to supervised wines that are kosher according to Orthodox standards; this is the common understanding of the term anyway. However, Conservative Judaism differs from Orthodox practice in that they consider all wines to be, if not completely kosher, at least not unkosher and thereby permitted for regular consumption. Regular wines, of course, are not normally refered to as "kosher wines" by anyone; however, the Conservative movement does permit their use is otherwise "kosher" (by Conservative standards) homes.

As far as the rules go, the two main obstacles for kosher certification are the use of fining agents and the requirement of Jewish supervision. The Conservative movement has found reasons to hold that wines that do not satisfy either of these conditions are "kosher" (or at least not unkosher) as well. This leniency is adopted by the Conservative and Reform movements (but not Orthodox!); in practice, this means that virtually all wine made in the Western world is "kosher" (except for Passover).

The CJLS approved a teshuva by Rabbi Isaac Silverman on this topic in 1964. Rabbi Elliot Dorff revisited this topic in 1985 and this position remains standard today. Rabbi Dorff's paper considers a number of issues in wine production, including the use of non-kosher fining and filtering agents. Despite these possibilities, the paper states that uncertified wines are still kosher:

Even though restricting one's own home use to rabbinically certified wines is preferable, those who use uncertified wines in their homes should not thereby be considered Jews who do not keep kosher.

The main gist of the argument is that with regards to fining agents, the agents are added with the intention of clarifying the wine as opposed to halachically nullifying the fining agent itself, so there is plenty of halachic precedent to consider it kosher. As for the rabbinic prohibitions on wine touched by gentiles or made by gentiles, the original concerns about idolatry are non-issues today in the Western world (even Orthodox authorities, going as far back as Maimonides, do not consider Christians to be idolators) and the probihition does nothing to discourage interaction and intermarriage with gentiles (another cited motivation).

However, even though the other considerations can be argued away in accordance with Jewish law, their existence makes it preferable to use only certified kosher wines for sacramental purposes:

In light of the questions raised about uncertified wine, however, it should certainly be a standard for our movement that only certified wines be used for sacramental purposes - kiddush, the seder, etc. - at home as well as in the synagogue.

See Elliot Dorff, "On the Use of All Wines" YD 123:1.1985

With regard to wines and kashrut in general, Reform does not consider halacha to be binding anyway, so it is a moot point, especially for those that who bacon...

As far as I know, all kosher certification is performed by Orthodox authorities and none of them take advantage of any of these leniencies, so the kashrut of certified wines is beyond question.

Again, I emphasize that if you keep kosher and wish to take advantage of this position, you should discuss this with your rabbi. There are numerous opinions, and as Rabbi Moline famously said, "Everyone who keeps kosher will tell you that his version is the only correct version. Everyone else is either a fanatic or a heretic" (that's why you should ask your rabbi and not just some random goy on the Internet).

Why is it so Sweet?

As mentioned above, kosher wine does not have to be sweet. However, a lot of kosher wine on the market is extremely sweet. This is due to historical reasons. When the Jews first emigrated to New York, the only grape they had for winemaking was the Concord Grape. The Concord Grape is terrible for wine; it does not have adequate natural sugar and large quantities of sugar must be added to get it to ferment right. The resulting wine is disgustingly sweet and tastes not unlike Concord Grape Jam, which isn't that different. This sweet style has become entrenched in American Jewish culture, and amazingly enough, there are many Jews who actually like this stuff...

Incidentally, my best guess at the difference between the kosher-for-Passover Manischewitz and the non-kosher-for-Passover version is corn syrup (which is kitnyos and hence forbidden for Passover for the Ashkenazim) versus beet or cane sugar. Fine wines should not have this issue as sugar is not normally added, so there would be no special Pesach issues anyway.

I strongly recommend avoiding these wines. You may wish to try a bottle or two (they tend to be very cheap) out of curiosity, but believe me, it's not very good. If you are having difficulty finishing it, try mixing it with soda.

Wine Comments

Red Manischewitz Concord Grape
Incredibly sweet but still a touch bitter. Fairly vile.
$3 / bottle

Red Kedem Concord Grape
Sweet and juicy, but somewhat hollow. Soft grape juice. Not vile.
$4 / bottle

Red Dalton Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 (Galilee Region)
Strong forward and spicy fruit with green peppers. Light wood treatment. Smooth. Strong varietal characteristics in the California style.
$24 / bottle

Red Barkan, Petit Syrah 2004 (Dan)
Straight fruit with extremely lively mouthfeel and firm tannin.
$11 / bottle

Red Herzog Selection, Brouilly 2002 (AOC Brouilly)
Strawberry nose and flavors with rich tannins upon opening up.
$18 / bottle

White Bartenura, Moscato 2006 (IGT Provincia di Pavia)
Effervescent peach and honey, thin fruit, short finish.
$13 / bottle

White Abarbanel, Riesling 2004 (AOC Alsace)
Dry with strong fragrant flower flavors. Clean.
$21 / bottle

White Rashi, Moscato d'Asti 2005
Sweet and fruity nectarine, orange, and honey flavors. Pleasant.
$13 / bottle

White Yarden, White Riesling 2003 (Galilee Region)
Prominent and sharp fruit with moderate floral tones, refreshing crispness, long finish.
$14 / bottle

White Bartenura, Moscato d'Asti 2001 (DOCG Asti/Italy)
Very melony fruit, very sweet, almost syrup in texture. More like a good dessert wine.
$10 / bottle

White Bartenura, Moscato d'Asti 2003 (DOCG Asti)
Light and fizzy, with very sweet peach and apricot with a touch of mineral.
$12 / bottle