And what makes Kosher wine special compared to its non-kosher brethren?
The wine making process begins in the vineyard. The vine grower determines which varietal(s) he/she is going to grow (Cabernet? Merlot? Chardonnay? Riesling?) and how much of each grape. Then the vines are trained onto trellises (this is done over a period of years).
In America, and in many places in the New World, these decisions are based upon two prevailing factors: the climate of the region (certain grapes do better in a hotter climate while others do better in a cooler climate), and the vineyard owner's own instincts regarding the land's productivity.
However, in Europe, much of these decisions are based upon centuries of tradition. To protect the integrity of these traditions, many European nations (most notably Spain, France and Italy) have set up Origin of Appellation controls. In France, they're called the AC, in Spain the DO and in Italy the DOC or DOCG depending on the area. More on Italy's system later.These rules govern which grape varietals may be grown in a given region and in some cases even the maximum/minimum proportions for any given permitted grape.
For example, in Bordeaux the primary grapes in any AC red wine must include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. There are other grapes permitted in a Bordeaux wine, such as Petit Verdot, but these are minor in terms of overall blending proportions. However, you would never see Pinot Noir or Syrah in a Bordeaux AC red because the French wine making laws forbid it. In Burgundy the only red grape permitted is Pinot Noir (the one notable exception is in the Beajolais district, where the primary grape is Gamay), and the only white grape is Chardonnay.
After the vines have been planted and growing for several years, they will begin producing grapes. These grapes are harvested usually at the end of Summer or beginning of Fall (there are a few exceptions, such as the German Trockenberenauslese and Eisweins that are harvested much later in the year, but we will address those in a different article).
The harvested grapes are brought to the winery where the berries are separated from any stems or leaves that are still attached. And then they are pressed. With only a handful of exceptions, most notably the Concord grape, all grape juice is white; that is, without any pigmentation in it. The coloration occurs when the grape juice, called "must," is left in contact with the grape skins. Incidentally, the only difference between a blush/rose wine and its red counterparts, in terms of coloration, is the amount of time the juice was left in contact with the skins after pressing. Some roses are only left in contact for a few hours, while some reds are in contact for months.
After pressing comes fermentation. Yeasts are added to the barrels or tanks of must and over the course of approximately two weeks the must is turned into wine. Yeast will consume the sugars that are in the must and convert that sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Because in most cases the wine is not fermented in a sealed, pressurized tank, the carbon dioxide escapes and we are left with the juice and alcohol.
The difference between a "sweet" wine and a "dry" wine is merely the amount of sugar that the wine maker left in the final product.In certain parts of the world, there is an allowed practice called chaptalization, whereby the winemaker adds sugar to the fermenting must with the goal of either increasing the alcohol content or increasing the sweetness of the final product. Many European countries have banned this practice, however.
Once the fermentation is complete the new wine is aged in barrels. The barrel has a surprisingly important (or unimportant, if that's the wine maker's goal) role in the wine's flavors and aromas. As part of the process of making the barrel itself, the cooper will place the partly-finished barrel over a fire, allowing the insides of the barrel to char, called "toasting" the barrel; generally speaking, the darker the toast, the more flavors the barrel will impart to the wine. There are generally three types of oak used in wine barrels: French oak, American oak and Hungarian oak. Hungarian oak, even with toasting, is generally neutral and will not impart much flavor to the wine. However, for American oak, a heavily toasted barrel will usually impart sweeter, vanilla and butterscotch flavors to the wine whereas French oak tends to give more savory qualities such as a buttery flavor or aroma.
While in the aging barrel, there is an optional second type of fermentation called malo-lactic fermentation that the wine maker can choose to have the wine undergo. This requires the introduction of a bacteria into the wine that will convert the malic acid into lactic acid in the wine. If you've tasted a Calfiornia Chardonnay and noticed a very strong butter flavor or aroma that's because California wine makers are notorious for relying heavily on malo-lactic fermentation.
Now, for those of you who are lactose intolerant, don't worry! This will not cause you to have any problems! There is no lactose in wine. Lactic acid merely gives a richer mouthfeel to the wine and provides for buttery flavors therein. There's no actual butter in the wine!
After aging (sometimes as little as a few weeks, other times they are aged for years), the wine is fined and filtered, removing any sediment that may have been in the barrels with the wine (note: not all wine makers do this nowadays. Particularly with some of the organic or biodynamic producers, many choose not to do this process to preserve the integrity of their organic product).
Lastly, the wine is pumped into bottles and corked, labeled and shipped.
Now, where does kosher fall into this spectrum? There are two major differences between kosher wine and non-kosher wine. The first is that Shomer Shabbos Jews are the only people allowed to handle the wine, from the moment the grapes arrive at the winery to the moment the cork is placed in the bottle. That means that they are the only ones allowed to introduce yeasts, malo-lactic fermentation bacteria, any fining/filtering agents, etc. Additionally, all ingredients added to the wine, such as the yeast, bacteria and filtering agents, must all be certified kosher themselves.
The second major difference between kosher and non-kosher wine is the issue of mevushal or boiling the wine. This practice goes back to the days of the Temple. A major concern for the Jews had always been ensuring that the wine used for the sacrifices at the Temple was never otherwise used for a libation offering for one of the neighboring pagan gods. To ensure their wine's sanctity, Jews would boil the wine first, as the pagans considered boiled wine to be an inferior product and not worthy of a libation to their gods. That practice has continued today with the following intentions: if a wine is mevushal then a non-Jew can handle the wine after it has been opened. If a wine is NOT mevushal, then after opening if a non-Jew handles the bottle, the wine is no longer kosher.
For most of America's history, nearly all kosher wine was mevushal. It was a simple necessity to ensure kashrut at all points along a wine's path from winery to table. However, today, mevushal wines are becoming less common, as more Jews are patronizing higher-quality wines. They realize that indeed boiling the wine does negatively affect the flavors of the wine (with some training, you can immediately tell from smelling and tasting a wine if it's mevushal or not. It has a telltale "cooked" characteristic).
So, to get the maximum enjoyment out of their investment, wine makers and consumers alike have been gravitating more towards non mevushal wine production, particularly in Israel. Even in America, most of the mevushal wines are priced in the $10 and under category. There are a handful of higher priced wines that are mevushal; I recall a few years back that Baron Herzog had made one of their higher-end Cabernets mevushal, and it was priced in the mid 30's at that time.
But that is wine making in a nutshell. There are nuances that I glossed over here because the goal today is to outline the overall process of making wine. As these nuances become important in a discussion of other wines, I will address them at that time. For example, take a look at my post discussing Cava and the Champagne method of bubbly production.
Tastings, reviews, advice and anything else relating to the joy of kosher wine.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Wine 101 part I
Today, instead of reviewing a wine and giving some background info about that particular wine or style, I thought I would start an ongoing series of posts to introduce concepts of wine to those who don't already know what it's all about.
To start, let's discuss the 5 S's of wine tasting: See, Swirl, Smell, Sip and Spit.
Wine (and all food for that matter) is something that uses nearly all your senses to enjoy at the deepest levels.
First, let's look at how wine and sight meet up. After you pour your wine into a glass (note: despite what you see in restaurants and at kiddush, you should never fill up your wine glass all the way to the top. Just fill it up to the widest point of your glass), simply look at the wine. The visual effects of the wine can tell you a lot about it without tasting or smelling.
What can you tell about the color? Red wines lose color as they age, while white wines gain color as they age. So, without even looking at the bottle to find the vintage (and to calculate the age of the wine therein), you can look at a red and if it is intensely colored, you can generally assume that it is a younger wine (say, 4 years from vintage or less). The more brick-red color it gets, the older the wine is.
The opposite is true in whites. Younger whites tend to be paler and almost clear in color, while older whites take on a more golden hue.
Again, the purpose of wine (and dining for that matter) is to please the senses. So take a minute and reflect on the artistry (selecting the percentages of different grapes to blend together, the amount of time it took to age the wine properly at the winery, etc.) and see how the finished product is pleasing to the eye.
Checking out the legs
Swirl the wine around in your glass for a second and then look at the droplets of wine that cling to the side. These are called legs. Generally speaking, the wider the legs, the higher the alcohol content. Additionally, if the droplets are moving down the glass more slowly than you would expect, that suggests that there is a significant amount of sugar in the wine as well (sweet! Literally.)
Swirl
Now, swirl your glass again, for maybe 10-20 seconds. The goal is to aerosolize some of the compounds in the wine itself. This will help with the next few steps.On a more aesthetic note, you just look cool swirling wine in a glass.
Smell
Part one of the moment you've been waiting for. Shortly after givng your wine a good long swirl (please don't do this with bubbly...you'll make your wine flat), stick your nose in the glass (yet ANOTHER reason not to fill the glass to the top). Inhale deeply. What do you notice? Each grape has distinctive characteristics that will let you know of its presence in the glass.
For example, Cabernet Sauvignon (perhaps one of the world's greatest hybrid grapes) characteristically has a green pepper note to it, as does Sauvignon Blanc (one of its two parent grapes.) On the other hand, Pinot Grigio tends to have more tropical fruit notes to it. Incidentally, in the Chianti region of Italy, it is law that any wine that wants to be labeled as Chianti must, among other things, have a violet smell to it.
Repeat the swirl and smell as much as you like. As you practice, you will begin to pick up on various other smells that are familiar to you. Particularly with California reds, often you will smell extremely ripe fruits, from strawberries to cherries, blackberries and beyond. Often you will also get spice notes (such as cinnamon, pepper, tobacco) and earthy tones as well (think mushrooms, etc.)
Swirl again to aerosolize more of the compounds to prepare for sipping.
The Sip!
Take a small sip of the wine; enough to be able to coat your tongue, but not so much that you can't move it around your mouth. Do your taste buds confirm or contradict what you smelled? Often your nose will tell you one thing and your mouth another. That's ok! It's part of the experience.
Some things to ask yourself when sipping: What fruits am I tasting? Tropical? Tree fruits? Berries? Are they under ripe? Over ripe? Are there any spices I can distinguish? What about earthen tones? How strong are they?
When dealing with red wines, there's the added component of tannins, the antioxidant that made headlines with "The French Paradox." It's the astringent, mouth-puckering sensation you get when drinking reds. Wines like a California Cabernet or Zinfandel will usually have a lot more tannin to them as opposed to many Pinot Noirs, etc.
Finally, and this applies to both reds and whites, what is the mouthfeel of the wine? Heavy bodied? Medium? Light? The best way to think of mouthfeel in this sense is to compare heavy cream (full-bodied) to whole milk (medium-body) to skim milk (light body).
Spit
This is perhaps the least glamorous part of wine tasting, but the plus side is that you only really NEED to do this if you are tasting a whole bunch of wines at once. When I've gone to wine tasting events, there have been upwards of 200 wines; now, if each sample is 1 oz, then without spitting I would have consumed 200 oz of wine. Suffice it to say, I doubt I would have been able to walk out of the event on my own two feet. Instead, most of these stations will have a bucket into which you spit your wine.
If you are only having a few wines and/or you're at a meal, it goes without saying that spitting is discouraged (and unsightly with your guests). But it is a recognized and necessary part of wine tasting when dealing with larger amounts of the fruit of the vine.
So there you have it. Armed with these tools you can go out and taste and appreciate virtually any wine without knowing much about what is on the label. As you taste and experience more wines (and keep reading this blog!) You will be able to identify some telltale characteristics of certain wines and grapes that will help you in understanding more about the geography of the wine's origin. For, especially in parts of Europe, the geography of the wine is as important as the grape itself.
L'chayim!
To start, let's discuss the 5 S's of wine tasting: See, Swirl, Smell, Sip and Spit.
Wine (and all food for that matter) is something that uses nearly all your senses to enjoy at the deepest levels.
First, let's look at how wine and sight meet up. After you pour your wine into a glass (note: despite what you see in restaurants and at kiddush, you should never fill up your wine glass all the way to the top. Just fill it up to the widest point of your glass), simply look at the wine. The visual effects of the wine can tell you a lot about it without tasting or smelling.
What can you tell about the color? Red wines lose color as they age, while white wines gain color as they age. So, without even looking at the bottle to find the vintage (and to calculate the age of the wine therein), you can look at a red and if it is intensely colored, you can generally assume that it is a younger wine (say, 4 years from vintage or less). The more brick-red color it gets, the older the wine is.
The opposite is true in whites. Younger whites tend to be paler and almost clear in color, while older whites take on a more golden hue.
Again, the purpose of wine (and dining for that matter) is to please the senses. So take a minute and reflect on the artistry (selecting the percentages of different grapes to blend together, the amount of time it took to age the wine properly at the winery, etc.) and see how the finished product is pleasing to the eye.
Checking out the legs
Swirl the wine around in your glass for a second and then look at the droplets of wine that cling to the side. These are called legs. Generally speaking, the wider the legs, the higher the alcohol content. Additionally, if the droplets are moving down the glass more slowly than you would expect, that suggests that there is a significant amount of sugar in the wine as well (sweet! Literally.)
Swirl
Now, swirl your glass again, for maybe 10-20 seconds. The goal is to aerosolize some of the compounds in the wine itself. This will help with the next few steps.On a more aesthetic note, you just look cool swirling wine in a glass.
Smell
Part one of the moment you've been waiting for. Shortly after givng your wine a good long swirl (please don't do this with bubbly...you'll make your wine flat), stick your nose in the glass (yet ANOTHER reason not to fill the glass to the top). Inhale deeply. What do you notice? Each grape has distinctive characteristics that will let you know of its presence in the glass.
For example, Cabernet Sauvignon (perhaps one of the world's greatest hybrid grapes) characteristically has a green pepper note to it, as does Sauvignon Blanc (one of its two parent grapes.) On the other hand, Pinot Grigio tends to have more tropical fruit notes to it. Incidentally, in the Chianti region of Italy, it is law that any wine that wants to be labeled as Chianti must, among other things, have a violet smell to it.
Repeat the swirl and smell as much as you like. As you practice, you will begin to pick up on various other smells that are familiar to you. Particularly with California reds, often you will smell extremely ripe fruits, from strawberries to cherries, blackberries and beyond. Often you will also get spice notes (such as cinnamon, pepper, tobacco) and earthy tones as well (think mushrooms, etc.)
Swirl again to aerosolize more of the compounds to prepare for sipping.
The Sip!
Take a small sip of the wine; enough to be able to coat your tongue, but not so much that you can't move it around your mouth. Do your taste buds confirm or contradict what you smelled? Often your nose will tell you one thing and your mouth another. That's ok! It's part of the experience.
Some things to ask yourself when sipping: What fruits am I tasting? Tropical? Tree fruits? Berries? Are they under ripe? Over ripe? Are there any spices I can distinguish? What about earthen tones? How strong are they?
When dealing with red wines, there's the added component of tannins, the antioxidant that made headlines with "The French Paradox." It's the astringent, mouth-puckering sensation you get when drinking reds. Wines like a California Cabernet or Zinfandel will usually have a lot more tannin to them as opposed to many Pinot Noirs, etc.
Finally, and this applies to both reds and whites, what is the mouthfeel of the wine? Heavy bodied? Medium? Light? The best way to think of mouthfeel in this sense is to compare heavy cream (full-bodied) to whole milk (medium-body) to skim milk (light body).
Spit
This is perhaps the least glamorous part of wine tasting, but the plus side is that you only really NEED to do this if you are tasting a whole bunch of wines at once. When I've gone to wine tasting events, there have been upwards of 200 wines; now, if each sample is 1 oz, then without spitting I would have consumed 200 oz of wine. Suffice it to say, I doubt I would have been able to walk out of the event on my own two feet. Instead, most of these stations will have a bucket into which you spit your wine.
If you are only having a few wines and/or you're at a meal, it goes without saying that spitting is discouraged (and unsightly with your guests). But it is a recognized and necessary part of wine tasting when dealing with larger amounts of the fruit of the vine.
So there you have it. Armed with these tools you can go out and taste and appreciate virtually any wine without knowing much about what is on the label. As you taste and experience more wines (and keep reading this blog!) You will be able to identify some telltale characteristics of certain wines and grapes that will help you in understanding more about the geography of the wine's origin. For, especially in parts of Europe, the geography of the wine is as important as the grape itself.
L'chayim!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)