Kosher Blog

Not a bad wine, but not a Port. It is definitely more oxidized than a real Port, but not as oxidized as a Cream Sherry. While not really Port-like, it still complements nuts and chocolate.As to the blue bottle,there’s nothing wrong with Moscato di Asti. Bartenura’s is as good as at least 90% of the nonkosher ones out there. There are much worse wines out there to like. By the way, I’ve never had a bad kosher Moscato di Asti (I’ve had several different brands- they’ve been pretty consistently good examples of the type). I understand even Shimshon has one.

First — formal greetings are in order to Avi, our newest KosherBlogger.Second — regarding "Shimshon’s" Moscato, it happens to be our favorite. We choose it regularly over the Bartenura (though we like that, too) because we’re always happy to support the Liberated Territories :)Third — if you’re a hard-core blue-bottler, and want to serve something sweet but red, try Bartenura’s Malvacia.Fourth — is true Kosher port available?

I’ve had in the past a Carmel port "Partom" in a very very tall narrow bottle (my wife uses the bottle for vinegar now). I’ve never seen it imported to the US, but I got it at the duty free at Ben Gurion.Regarding Dalton - I’ve found their Canaan White and Canaan Red to be very good. (I’m a bit partial since the owner is family).

I’ve no reply to your first 3 comments. As to the fourth, a question, I can readily provide an answer. There is no true Port available kosher, and there is no new- world port available kosher. It has been requested by many that I create a "port". The basic problem that I have is that there is no ready source of kosher high proof brandy, a requisite ingredient of port. I would need to have my wines distilled for the purpose, and I don’t have the energy, at this point, to honcho it through. After all, it requires making arrangements with the distiller, with the OU, and with a trucking company. And once I have brandy in drums, it requires paperwork with the BATF, since brandy is a different class than wine. I have plenty of wine to use for the purpose, wine in bulk which I’d rather not release to the public. So it’s really the time and effort to honcho the project through, then to identify superior grapes for a port project.When I was in Davis, one of my assignments was to make a port out of Rubired grapes, which are really a lower quality blending grape. So I made an early-drinking ruby port, and it was actually quite good- the 5 gallons I made was chugged down by the whole class at various times throughout the year, mostly in off-hours. In any case, were I to do it commercially, I’d use Port varieties, and create a wine at least as good as Ficklin’s vintage-like offering. Problem is, I don’t know the market for such a wine. Does one make 100 cases or 5000? Knowing me, I’d get it wrong.

As to your earlier comment, Craig, the main problem that most of us have with the ubiquitous Moscato d’Asti is its ubiquity. The frequency with which it is served perpetuates the common belief that kosher wine has to be sweet. The other issue that those of us who prefer drier wines have is that it is very often used as a table wine to accompany dinner and its tastes are not very well suited to that, as its manufacturers hint on the bottle by describing it as an apperitif or dessert wine. However, as an open-minded individual, I think that the bottom line is that people do and *should* drink what tastes good to them…it is, after all, only a beverage.

Answering Marc:Sure, it’s ubiquitous. It’s a wine type which very few consumers outright hate. It’s not a wine to complement most foods, but the (orthodox) Jewish market has not yet adopted wine as a table beverage. So people who must have wine for a social function, because it’s now requisite, would often rather purchase wine which will be drunk rather than wine which will sit in the glasses, and which will be discarded at the end of the event. Over the course of our attending various functions, I recall much Herzog Chenin which was eventually poured down the drains, not because the wine was bad, but because people would rather drink soft drinks as table beverage. At the very least, nobody who puts on a "do" wants to bring back home case upon case of vin ordinaire.Historically, table wine is not something the orthodox world has valued. A reviis, and of that a malelogmov at minimum, 3 times max around Shabbos, were all that was traditionally drunk throughout the week. One wishes wine which can be slogged down quickly, with a minimum of effort. Kosher table wines were produced to engage the less orthodox market, which rejected kosher wines because of their fundamental ugliness. The only problem is that these non-orthodox only really drank kosher table wines once or twice a year. The year-around sales are still driven by the orthodox world- kosher wine (or grape juice) is used, 3 malelogmov minimum (have you ever seen people pouring undrunk wine back into bottles? I have.) It finds its way to the tables of every social function, whether or not it is actually drunk. Well, they finally found a decent quality wine which they like, which is easy to down a malelogmov or reviis of, which is low enough alcohol to not make their heads swim, which is pleasant enough to sip that it will probably be consumed at a function, and which is cheap enough to afford. Better Moscato di Asti than peach flavored Royal 18. Rashi, under Joseph Zucker, was the first to access the Moscato di Asti market. Later, Rashi was bought out by Royal, which had already invested a great deal of money in the Bartenura brand. So Royal decided to differentiate in terms of packaging, and their efforts were, for some reason, rewarded by the market, amazingly enough. When I first saw the blue bottle, I was more than a little put off, preferring Rashi’s more traditional approach. But the market responded, and that’s all that matters to a marketer like Royal. And maybe some of these drinkers will eventually go on to become consumers of table wines. In which case, Royal will have done the consumers, all other kosher brand owners, and themselves a tremendous service. In the meantime, I still remember when shnapps and soft drinks were the only things typically available at orthodox social functions.

Actually, the absence of good kosher table wines may have been a post-holocaust phenomenon. My great-grandfather was a wine maker and merchant, and I am told that his products, while not necessarily all up to the standards that many of us have come to expect recently, were a far cry from the cream red concords and tokays that have been the prevaling kiddush wine until ~20 years ago.

re craig winchll comment…
rashi moscato d’asti was bought by royal
correction….
rashi vineyards .remains under the ownership of joseph zucker and no sale ever took place …