|
Passover wines leads buyers to Italy |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Written by Bill Daley, McClatchy-Tribune
|
|
Friday, 06 April 2007 |
|
|
|
|
Anyone planning an Italian-themed seder will have plenty of kosher for Passover wine from Italy to choose from. No one has to drink syrupy sweet Concord wine unless they want to.
Search the online shelves of kosherwine.com, the Web arm of Skokie, Ill.'s Hungarian Kosher Foods, and you'll find more than 40 Italian wines, ranging from a sweet, effervescent malvasia to pinot grigio to Chianti and even a kosher montepulciano d'Abruzzo.
Daniel Kirsche, the store's wine manager, said there's much demand for Italian kosher wines.
"We used to see it with France but customers are shying away from French wine," he said. While politics has played a part, Kirsche said price is the major reason for the shift.
"Italian wines seem to be much more reasonably priced," he said.
The big seller among Italian kosher wines at Passover? Moscato, Kirsche said.
"People like it because it is low in alcohol and tastes like pop," he said. "You can serve it with anything."
The irony of this is not lost on Sterling Pratt of Schaefer's in Skokie. Moscato is sweet, yes, but it provides "reliable relief from what your parents served before," he said.
Howard Silverman of Howard's Wine Cellar in Chicago said that moscato appeals to an older generation while still being drinkable for the younger folks.
"It's sort of refreshing at 5 or 6 percent alcohol," he said. "And that little bit of sparkle helps the moscato finish drier. It finishes clean without the heaviness found in traditional wines."
That move away from the traditional has fueled greater interest in kosher wines from Italy and other points around the world, Pratt said.
"I see the downcast look in people's eyes when they say, 'We have to have something sweet for ceremonial purposes,' but they are uplifted when they learn kosher doesn't have to be like that. It can be French, it can be Italian," he said.
Kosher wines have come far from the days when they "were considered wine only in name," or so says the Web site for one of Chicago's largest wine retailers, Sam's Wines & Spirits.
Just consider how Reform Judaism magazine included in its spring issue a section called "RJ Insider's Guide to Kosher Wine," complete with a pullout chart of the top 50 kosher wines in the world as chosen by Daniel Rogov, the Israeli-based wine writer and author of "Rogov's Guide to Israeli Wines."
"Today a good many kosher wines are acknowledged as competing comfortably with the best wines in the world," Rogov writes in the magazine. While Israel is the world's major producer of fine kosher wines, he notes that good-quality kosher wines also are produced in California, France, Italy, Spain, Chile, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand.
"The construction of modern wineries, an ongoing importation and cultivation of good vine stock from California and France, experimentation with new wine varieties and blends, and the enthusiasm and knowledge of young, well-trained winemakers has yielded an abundance of fine kosher wines that can win the hearts of even the most devoted of wine lovers," he wrote.
At Vintages in Arlington Heights, Ill., Robert Owings carries about a half-dozen kosher wines.
"My rule is that I carry only kosher wines that are top-notch, world-class wines," he said. "A 'kosher,' 'kosher for Passover' or mevushal designation should never be an excuse for bad wine.
"There are now enough great kosher winemakers, and enough demand for great wine," Owings said, "that you don't have to look for kosher wine that happens to be good; you can find good wine that happens to be kosher."
___
A PASSOVER IN CHIANTI
Kosher Chianti for Passover was the theme of an informal blind tasting by the Chicago Tribune's Good Eating wine panel. All but one of these Italian reds was mevushal or flash pasteurized, thus allowing the wine to remain kosher even if handled by a non-Jew. Mevushal wines are sometimes faulted for tasting jammy or cooked, but with the Chianti the difference between mevushal and non-mevushal was minimal. But there's an important lesson to be learned here. Since all kosher wines are not mevushal, make sure to read the label carefully if this is important to you or the people you will be serving.
2004 Borgo Reale Vespertino: The unanimous first choice of the tasters, this lively wine was bursting with cherry flavor sharpened by a sassy acidity that gave plenty of zing without turning too tart. The nose was lovely, offering notes of black pepper, oak and incense. The wine is mevushal. Serve with lamb roasted with rosemary, roasted chicken. 3 corks. $14
2003 Toscaleoni: Sassy like the Borgo Reale but with an earthier nose, this Chianti had an almost lemony spritz underlying its cherry tones. Nice acidity. This wine is not mevushal. Serve with broiled salmon, roast beef. 3 corks. $15
2004 Bartenura: A forceful wine whose cherry notes give way very quickly to a sharp, almost medicinal finish. This wine is mevushal. Serve with spaghetti in marinara sauce, braised short ribs. 2 corks. $14
2003 Cantina Gabriele : There is a sulphuric barnyard-like smell that overpowers any fruit aromas in this wine. The flavor is rather fungal and bitter; serve rich or fatty foods with this mevushal wine. 1 cork. $12
Sources: These wines may or may not be in stock at your local store; inquire first. At least one of these wines was found at these stores: Binny's Beverage Depot stores; Sal's Beverage World stores, Hungarian Kosher Foods in Skokie. Prices may vary from store to store. Prices are rounded off. | Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
