Tag Archives: Kosher wine

March 25, 2013 · 8:21 pm

Happy Passover – Italian Kosher & Non-Kosher Wines

Happy Passover to those who celebrate this holiday. Each year I try to bring a kosher wine to the Passover Seder and in the last years, it seems to be the same Italian winery that provides my kosher wine, Terra di Seta. It always pairs perfectly with my Mom’s brisket, providing enough acidity to offset the savory flavors in the meat. You can buy this wine at Union Square Wines in NYC.

IMG_2763

Kosher wine always gets a bad rap but I have had a number of them that I enjoyed over the years. Almost all Kosher wine seems to be brought in by Royal Wine Corp. which produces Bartenura, in all of its manifestations – Moscato, Chianti, Barolo, etc. Here is my friend and fellow wine writer, Lana Bortolot’s take on Kosher wines.

IMG_2764

I am also bringing a bottle of Terre Brune, a Carignano del Sulcis from Santadi. I’m looking forward to trying the different grape varieties with the same foods. Carignano from the Sulcis is sleek and subtle with less acidity than the Chianti.

In other news, later this week I will write a post about the great weekend I had meeting amazing bloggers and tasting great wines and food thanks to Snooth. One of the people I met was Ben Carter who pens Benito’s Wine Reviews. Here is his take on the weekend. It was great to learn about the wine scene in Memphis and hear his views on the Ribera del Duero wines we tasted at lunch and other topics. I also discovered Ben is a bitters fan but that there is little Amaro in Memphis. Some smart distributor should see to that.

1 Comment

Filed under Holidays, Italian regions, Italian wineries, Kosher wine, Memorable Events

Tagged as , , , , , ,

April 6, 2012 · 10:16 pm

Happy Passover: Kosher Chianti from Terra di Seta

Today is the first night of Passover and I brought a bottle of Kosher wine to my family gathering. I brought the wine all the way from Italy in fact, it’s the 2009 Chianti Classico Riserva from the Terra di Seta winery. I just met with Daniele and his life wife Maria at Vinitaly. They gave me a bottle of this wine to try at home and I thought I would save it for tonight.

I wrote extensively about them on this blog last year. They are a lovely couple that make a really nice Chianti at Italy’s only all Kosher winery.

Many in the States know other Italian wines but most are made by teams of religious Jews who work in an otherwise none Kosher winery. Today as my family celebrates the Exodus I know my Dad will tell the story of when his two relatives showed up after the Holocaust during the Seder. in 1948 when he opened the door to let in Elijah, he found his long lost relatives standing outside Lillian and Samuel. They were the only ones to escape from Auschwitz. My great grandmother lost 7 sisters and their families during the Holocaust, 80 people. Tonight, as always we remember them and all the others who perished because of their faith. I’m by no means a religious person but this is one holiday I always celebrate and a story I always will remember and pass on. Chag Sameach.

Leave a Comment

Filed under wines

Tagged as , , , , , ,

September 28, 2011 · 9:40 pm

Italian Kosher Wine From Terra di Seta

Tonight I’m celebrating the new year with my family. I’ll be having the usual fare but at least this year I will be drinking something I like, Chianti from Terra di Seta, the only all kosher winery in Italy.

I wrote a long post about the winery earlier this year which you can read here.

I’m looking forward to seeing how their wines have evolved since I last tasted them at Vinitaly in April.

I wish everyone a sweet and happy New Year.

1 Comment

Filed under Italian regions, Italian wineries, italy, Kosher wine

Tagged as , ,

April 19, 2011 · 3:42 pm

Passover Wines – Changes Afoot

Today is the first day of Passover. I had my first Seder last night with my parents and my niece. We had a pretty peaceful meal with the requisite brisket, horseradish, eggs, potatoes and other yummy items.

Wine as always is an issue. This year my Mother brought a wine from the Veneto, a kosher one. I brought one from Le Marche, a non-kosher wine. Both were interesting and quite different one from the other but it was the grape varieties that made them different and the vinification techniques and aging that split them apart, not whether or not they were Kosher. This is a very welcome change.

Here is a great article on Kosher wines on Snooth.

Happy Passover for those celebrating tonight.

After two weeks in Italy and Passover seders, I am going to need a food and wine detox, advice welcome.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Kosher wine, wines

Tagged as , , , ,

February 23, 2011 · 7:06 pm

Terra di Seta – An Italian Kosher Winery

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting the owners of Terra di Seta, the only 100% Kosher winery in Italy and perhaps in Europe. The choice means that much of the wine produced will be exported because Italy has such a small Jewish population, around 40,000 people.

The winery participated in the 5th annual Kosher Food & Wine Experience at Pier 60. Their wines are now imported by Royal Wine Corp.

It was an interesting blend of cultures and wines as well as much food. I was delighted to see the intrepid Italian Consul General Francesco Maria Talo’ attended the event and spent a considerable amount of time with the owners of this unique winery. I thought that was amazing actually to see an Italian official present at this event.

Back to the wine, Daniele Della Seta and his wife, Maria Pellegrini have owned this winery in the Chianti Classico DOCG region at 1,574 feet above sea level. Together with the winery, they have what seems to be a beautiful Bed and Breakfast or agriturismo. Le Macie. Della Seta comes from an ancient Roman family while Pellegrini is a Toscana DOC, or Tuscan born and bred from the Grosseto area.

They make two wines currently, a Chianti Classico DOCG and a Toscana IGT on 15 hectares.

The Chianti Classico DOCG 2008 is made from sangiovese with a hint of Cabernet sauvignon. It was fresh, fruity and acidic as sangiovese should be. This is their first vintage and I am sure that the future holds much promise for their wines.

According to Della Seta, the winery is “obsessed with hygiene” and they are organically certified in Italy and in Europe. The wine maker is Enrico Paternoster from the Istituto Agrario di San Michele all’Adige.

The wines are 100% Kosher but not Mevushal. For those who have no idea what that means, neither did I until recently, it is a pasteurization technique that some Kosher wines undergo but not all of them.

The production of Kosher wines entails a number of things including that the equipment and machinery used to make the wine must be used exclusively for the production of kosher products. From grape crushing to the sealing of the bottles, only Sabbath observant Jews may physically handle the grapes, production equipment and wine. Only certified kosher products (yeast, filtering agents, etc) may be used in processing.

Kosher wines are subject to very stringent filtration procedures and no foreign substance may be used and no artificial coloring or preservatives may be used at all.

It seems more complicated than it is at times but what it does do is often add to the price of the wines. I’m not sure what this Chianti retails for but I am happy to see another Chianti on the market and a good one at that. I rarely buy Kosher wine because I am not observant but I do drink it on passover and like to be able to recommend good kosher wine to friends. Now I have another one to add to my list. Meno o male….Salute!

8 Comments

Filed under Italian indigenous Grape Varieties, Italian regions, Italian wineries, italy, Kosher wine, Memorable Events, wines

Tagged as , , , , , , , , ,