Kosher wine

Kosher means "pure", the terms kosher food, or kosher wine, of course, have an origin. People living in tropical climates suffered from food poisoning, as there was no way to store food for a long time at high temperatures, so preventive measures were taken, in order to protect against poisoning. Initially, these rules were not tied to any religion, but later they were incorporated by Judaism and Islam into their scriptures to ensure compliance with the rules.

There are also such rules for kosher wine. Here, the main focus is on a particularly well-kept hygiene. To produce kosher wine, the vineyard must be at least four years old. It is forbidden to produce wine from grapes, that come from a younger vineyard. In the area cultivated for the production of kosher wine, no additional plants may be cultivated, any forms of mixed cultures are prohibited and the vines must regenerate organically. In addition, two months before the harvest no organic fertilizer may be applied and another rule concerning the vineyard is that in the seventh year (sabbatical year) no grapes may be harvested.

All machines and objects needed for the harvest or for the production of the wine must be thoroughly cleaned under the supervision of a rabbi. The use of enzymes and bacteria is prohibited, only on the wild yeast occuring in grapes naturally must be used for fermentation. In addition, the fermentation must take place in a stainless steel tank. For subsequent fining only the clay mineral bentonite is allowed and to the subsequent filtration only paper filters are allowed. Wine bottles may only be used once for bottling. Basically, this is arguably the strictest food control that can be imagined, since the wine is under the control of a qualified rabbi from the time of harvest to double closure of the bottle. All operations must be carried out in accordance with the other requirements of the Halacha (Jewish religious law), the Shabbat must not be worked on and the vinification may only be performed by persons who honor and observe the Shabbat. The last rule requires 1% of wine production to be given to the poor. Due to the strict rejection of animal wine treatment substances, these wines are also recommended for vegetarians and even vegans.