Passover is just around the corner, and of all the chores for Passover, buying wine ought to be the most fun.
After all, you don't have to worry about buying too much wine: unlike just about everything else you purchase during the pre-Passover rush, most wine can be stored for months or years — so why worry if you get an extra bottle or two? It won't go to waste. The real anxiety seems to arrive when people start to decide which wines to buy: what wines they and their guests will enjoy. This year's Passover guide provides recommendations to help select wines for a wide variety of tastes. Of course, you might want to read the rest of The Kosher Wine Review for insight into other choices.
But before we get to the recommendations, I will describe my Seder Strategy. There's an art and science to choosing the right wines for the right people for the right time during the seder. I'm going to recommend some light, sweet wines for people who prefer those; a set of dry red wines; and some non-traditional choices for the adventurous.
First, a few notes about Passover traditions. Red wine is preferred for the seder, although white wine is acceptable. Current Orthodox practice calls for a wine glass that holds at least 3.3 ounces, and that at least half of the glass should be drunk for each of the four "cups." It's perfectly acceptable to drink additional wine with the food served during the seder's meal.
The first cup is drunk at the beginning of the seder, and the next cup just before the meal. Almost no food is consumed after until after the second cup. In many households the time between these two cups can be an hour or longer as the family reads the Haggadah and discusses the holiday. This means that two glasses of wine will be consumed on an empty stomach.
Three Strategies for the Four Cups
Strategy One: Buy Wine Your Guests Will Enjoy
The finest wine in the world is wasted if the people at the seder won't drink it. Many Jews in the United States were raised on syrupy, sugary wines; give them a bottle of Vasness Romanee and you might as well pour the wine down the sink instead. So while it's simple enough to find excellent wines and perhaps worry about whether your guests prefer a Syrah over a Merlot, the biggest problem I've found when buying wine for the seder is how to accommodate guests who will only drink sweet wines.
Fortunately, in recent years we've seen some good sweet wines available (check the listings of wine by dryness to find them). In addition, Beaujolais Villages wines are sufficiently light and fruity for many people who prefer sweet wines. I do recommend that you avoid the temptation to just purchase anything at all that's sweet — I think it's always good policy to purchase sweet wines that you can tolerate drinking. After all, if you can educate your guests to appreciate good wine, perhaps next year you may be able to avoid sweet wines altogether.
Strategy Two: Open Early!
Don't forget to open your wine early enough to let it breath! A simple task, but one that's easy to overlook during the bustle of preparing for the seder. Either open it immediately as you return from the synagogue, or perhaps open it before your departure. The usual rule of thumb is that wine should be open 15 minutes for every year of its age; but that's only a rule of thumb, and every wine is different.
Strategy Three: Start Out Light
How dry should the wine be for the first two cups, which you drink before you've had any food? I've debated this with my friends, and opinion is split. I recommend that the wine for the first two cups be medium dry and medium body; others believe that the dryer the wine the better. I do not recommend sweet wine for the first cups as I believe they would be too cloying; a sweet wine for either of the two cups after the meal would be entirely appropriate. I tend to drink only dry wines for the entire meal.
As for the alcohol content, there's actually not much of a difference between most fine wines, especially since we drink only a few ounces of wine at a time. Most fine wines run from 12.5% to 14%, and as such there's little to choose on this basis. I've also included a list of lighter, sweeter wines that are both low in alcohol (some as low as 3.5%) and light on sugar.
For your guests who enjoy sweet wines, I recommend light sweet wines rather than heavy wines. A good dose of heavy sweet wine will put anyone to sleep.
Strategy Four: How Much Wine?
The wine we drink at the Passover seder is for a ritual, not to consume with a meal (although consuming wine with the meal is acceptable). In my experience, Passover wine cups are about 6 to 8 ounces at most; my largest cup holds about 4 ounces, about 100 ml (which works out to 7.5 cups in every bottle of wine). In short, the expect that each bottle of wine will provide between 4 to 8 cups of wine depending on how much the guests drink (the entire cup each time? Or do they simply refill?) and how large their glasses are.
If I'm opening a different bottle of wine for each Cup, I allow about one bottle for every five guests.
Recommendations
(Mostly) Light, Sweet Red Wines
Here's a list of mostly light, sweet red wines.
Best Overall:Ohra Kal. "Kal" means "light," and this is a light, sweet wine from around the hills of Jerusalem. This wine is my top recommendation for a light, sweet wine, with only 3.5% alcohol and a taste of actual wine.
One new wine — if you can find it — is the semi-sweet Cabernet Sauvignon from Layla Vineyards. This is a very good wine, which should be served chilled as if it were a white wine, and is not overpoweringly sweet.
Wine is preferable over grape juice for the seder, but if you can't drink wine or can't stand the flavor, it's perfectly acceptable to drink only grape juice instead (despite the misinformation that you must have a half-wine, half-juice mixture). I recommend Golan Heights Grape Juice if you can find it. Instead of something horrifying and purple, you might enjoy this grape juice from one of Israel's best wineries.
Bartenura Malvasia (no review available). A light red wine, and acceptable.
Zakon Muscatini. Muscats are generally sweet wines, but usually they're high in alcohol. This one is about half the alcohol of the others.
Conditon is very high in alcohol and very heavy, and far too sweet for me — but my wife and guests enjoy it a great deal, and who am I to argue?
If you can find it, try Zimra. It's a non-vintage red sweet wine from one of Israel's best wineries.
One wine that is not sweet, but often finds favor with people who prefer sweet wines, is Beaujolais Villages. Abarbenel's Beaujolais Villages is widely available.
If none of these wines suit you, take a look at the list of non-traditional choices to find some sweet white wines. It's quite easy to find very good light, sweet white wines.
Dry Red Wines
An important question is not just what wines to drink, but what order to drink them in.
I have a simple rule: the first cup of wine should be a lighter-bodied wine. A full-bodied wine, especially one that's very high in alcohol, is not very easy to drink on an empty stomach.
Of course, having said that, I've also been known to violate that rule to have a very special bottle of wine for the first cup — Chateau Giscours (no review available), for example, which is full-bodied and very complex wine indeed.
Some of these wines are old favorites; others are on the list for the first time.
First One or Two Cups
My top pick this year remains Gedeon Cabernet Sauvignon, a medium-bodied red wine from the hills near Jerusalem. It's imported by Abarbanel; while it seems to unavailable in Illinois it's still available elsewhere.
Not only is this a good wine in it's own right, but I've found that many individuals who won't touch a dry wine seem to enjoy this one. The wine is mevushal, which is a consideration at my seder, and is moderately priced.
Tishbi Cabernet Petit Syrah. With any luck the current vintage is as good as the 2002 — which I thought was excellent. A light red wine, and a very inexpensive one to boot, this wine can be quite a bargin.
Another idea for a lighter-bodied wine is a good Shiraz, such as the Teal Lake Special Reserve 2004. If you can't find this one, try a different Shiraz or a Petit Syrah.
Two Abarbanel wines that I recommend very highly are from the hills of Jerusalem. One is Issac's Ram, a Cabernet Sauvignon (no review available); this is my personal favorite but has become hard to find in Illinois. The other is Pardess 2001, a Merlot. Both are excellent and are suitable for just before food (the second cup) or just after food (the third and fourth cups).
For the second cup or for after the meal (or, for that matter, for enjoying with the meal), I would certainly consider a Pinot Noir if you like very dry wines. In recent vintages I've found that I enjoy the inexpensive Pinot Noir wines more than the expensive ones. Barkan Pinot Noir 2004 and Layla Pinot Noir 2006 are both inexpensive wines; I keep bottles of Barkan in my cellar for ordinary ocassions as well.
One new wine — if you can find it — is the semi-sweet Cabernet Sauvignon from Layla Vineyards. Served chilled, the sweetness balances the grape flavor but is not overpowering; this might make an interesting final cup.
To answer a question from one of my readers: These wines range in price from about $12 to about $30 (Pardess) per bottle. The Ohra Kal is only $5 or so per bottle.
Non-Traditional Choices
If we expand beyond red wines, we can look at a few non-traditional choices for a festive seder.
If you prefer something sweet, one very good white is
Herzog Chenin Blanc. Another possiblity is the Golan Moscato 2007, which (unlike some other Moscatos) actually tastes like wine.
If you want to clear your palate after the meal, Abarbanel makes a very dry sparkling wine that's light and very lively, Cremant d'Alsace Brut.
Any good Gewurztraminer ought to be acceptable to someone who likes sweet wines. Another good white wine that might appeal to a sweet tooth (but without being very sweet itself) is Hagafen Napa Valley Johannisberg Riesling 2002, a favorite of mine for over twenty years.
Both the Kraemer Blanc des Blancs and Bartenura Prosecco are inexpensive dry sparkling wines that work surprisingly well. I suggest that the Blanc des Blancs be taken in moderation.
Laurent-Perrier Champagne is certainly not inexpensive, but is very much the best kosher champagne I've tasted. I must ask my local rabbi if I'm allowed to put a strawberry into the fourth cup! (Remember: champagnes are dry wines.)
Weinstock White Zinfandel is recognized as an excellent wine by non-kosher experts — for example, by the Wall Street Journal. It's semi-dry and light red (orange?) in color, so it can be argued that it's really a traditional choice after all. Don't foist it off on your guests as a "sweet" wine, however; if your guests prefer sweet wines, pour them the Herzog Chenin Blanc (or ask them to try the Zinfandel sometime in advance).
Allergic to Grapes?
Some individuals are allergic to grapes and cannot drink wine or grape juice. To participate in the seder and the Four Cups, those individuals should drink non-grape drinks that are "drinks of the country," that is, beverages that are recognized by the general population as celebratory drinks. I suggest Pomegranate Dessert Wine from Rimon, made entirely without grapes, as an excellent choice for people with grape allergies.
Personal Picks
So, do I follow my own advice? I have to admit that I tend to stray from my advice simply because I enjoy certain wines. Here's a list of what I actually purchased for the seder.
And let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy and Kosher Passover!
Passover is just around the corner, and of all the chores for Passover, buying wine ought to be the most fun. After all, you don't have to worry about buying too much wine: unlike just about everything else you purchase during the pre-Passover rush, most wine can be stored for months or years — so why worry if you get an extra bottle or two? It won't go to waste. The real anxiety seems to arrive when people start to decide which wines to buy: what wines they and their guests will enjoy. This year's Passover guide provides recommendations to help select wines for a wide variety of tastes. Of course, you might want to read the rest of The Kosher Wine Review for insight into other choices.
But before we get to the recommendations, I will describe my Seder Strategy. There's an art and science to choosing the right wines for the right people for the right time during the seder. I'm going to recommend some light, sweet wines for people who prefer those; a set of dry red wines; and some non-traditional choices for the adventurous.
First, a few notes about Passover traditions. Red wine is preferred for the seder, although white wine is acceptable. Current Orthodox practice calls for a wine glass that holds at least 3.3 ounces, and that at least half of the glass should be drunk for each of the four "cups." It's perfectly acceptable to drink additional wine with the food served during the seder's meal.
The first cup is drunk at the beginning of the seder, and the next cup just before the meal. Almost no food is consumed after until after the second cup. In many households the time between these two cups can be an hour or longer as the family reads the Haggadah and discusses the holiday. This means that two glasses of wine will be consumed on an empty stomach.
Three Strategies for the Four Cups
Strategy One: Buy Wine Your Guests Will Enjoy
The finest wine in the world is wasted if the people at the seder won't drink it. Many Jews in the United States were raised on syrupy, sugary wines; give them a bottle of Vasness Romanee and you might as well pour the wine down the sink instead. So while it's simple enough to find excellent wines and perhaps worry about whether your guests prefer a Syrah over a Merlot, the biggest problem I've found when buying wine for the seder is how to accommodate guests who will only drink sweet wines.
Fortunately, in recent years we've seen some good sweet wines available (check the listings of wine by dryness to find them). In addition, Beaujolais Villages wines are sufficiently light and fruity for many people who prefer sweet wines. I do recommend that you avoid the temptation to just purchase anything at all that's sweet — I think it's always good policy to purchase sweet wines that you can tolerate drinking. After all, if you can educate your guests to appreciate good wine, perhaps next year you may be able to avoid sweet wines altogether.
Strategy Two: Open Early!
Don't forget to open your wine early enough to let it breath! A simple task, but one that's easy to overlook during the bustle of preparing for the seder. Either open it immediately as you return from the synagogue, or perhaps open it before your departure. The usual rule of thumb is that wine should be open 15 minutes for every year of its age; but that's only a rule of thumb, and every wine is different.
Strategy Three: Start Out Light
How dry should the wine be for the first two cups, which you drink before you've had any food? I've debated this with my friends, and opinion is split. I recommend that the wine for the first two cups be medium dry and medium body; others believe that the dryer the wine the better. I do not recommend sweet wine for the first cups as I believe they would be too cloying; a sweet wine for either of the two cups after the meal would be entirely appropriate. I tend to drink only dry wines for the entire meal.
As for the alcohol content, there's actually not much of a difference between most fine wines, especially since we drink only a few ounces of wine at a time. Most fine wines run from 12.5% to 14%, and as such there's little to choose on this basis. I've also included a list of lighter, sweeter wines that are both low in alcohol (some as low as 3.5%) and light on sugar.
For your guests who enjoy sweet wines, I recommend light sweet wines rather than heavy wines. A good dose of heavy sweet wine will put anyone to sleep.
Strategy Four: How Much Wine?
The wine we drink at the Passover seder is for a ritual, not to consume with a meal (although consuming wine with the meal is acceptable). In my experience, Passover wine cups are about 6 to 8 ounces at most; my largest cup holds about 4 ounces, about 100 ml (which works out to 7.5 cups in every bottle of wine). In short, the expect that each bottle of wine will provide between 4 to 8 cups of wine depending on how much the guests drink (the entire cup each time? Or do they simply refill?) and how large their glasses are.
If I'm opening a different bottle of wine for each Cup, I allow about one bottle for every five guests.
Recommendations
(Mostly) Light, Sweet Red Wines
Here's a list of mostly light, sweet red wines.
If none of these wines suit you, take a look at the list of non-traditional choices to find some sweet white wines. It's quite easy to find very good light, sweet white wines.
Dry Red Wines
An important question is not just what wines to drink, but what order to drink them in.
I have a simple rule: the first cup of wine should be a lighter-bodied wine. A full-bodied wine, especially one that's very high in alcohol, is not very easy to drink on an empty stomach.
Of course, having said that, I've also been known to violate that rule to have a very special bottle of wine for the first cup — Chateau Giscours (no review available), for example, which is full-bodied and very complex wine indeed.
Some of these wines are old favorites; others are on the list for the first time.
First One or Two Cups
Not only is this a good wine in it's own right, but I've found that many individuals who won't touch a dry wine seem to enjoy this one. The wine is mevushal, which is a consideration at my seder, and is moderately priced.
The Next Cups
To answer a question from one of my readers: These wines range in price from about $12 to about $30 (Pardess) per bottle. The Ohra Kal is only $5 or so per bottle.
Non-Traditional Choices
If we expand beyond red wines, we can look at a few non-traditional choices for a festive seder.
Allergic to Grapes?
Some individuals are allergic to grapes and cannot drink wine or grape juice. To participate in the seder and the Four Cups, those individuals should drink non-grape drinks that are "drinks of the country," that is, beverages that are recognized by the general population as celebratory drinks. I suggest Pomegranate Dessert Wine from Rimon, made entirely without grapes, as an excellent choice for people with grape allergies.
Personal Picks
So, do I follow my own advice? I have to admit that I tend to stray from my advice simply because I enjoy certain wines. Here's a list of what I actually purchased for the seder. And let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy and Kosher Passover!