What goes in . . . must be kosher

As I mentioned last Friday, this week I'll be talking about the finer points of kosher wine. Like any variety, kosher vino ranges in quality from spectacular to terrible, but today I'll focus on the simple basics. I'll be tasting and talking about several different brands and varieties later this week but for now, lets get to the root of the subject . . . what makes kosher wine kosher?

One of the first aspects of making kosher wine deals with the ingredients. Pasteurization and whom and how the wine is handled all plays a par in the process, but without starting with the right ingredients, kosher wine can't happen. Each and every ingredient, from the yeast to the grapes to the firing agent, all have to be deemed kosher and processed using equipment rabinically certified.