Shopping For Passover Wine And Spirits Requires Careful Preparation

If you are preparing to celebrate Passover yourself in the coming week or visit the home of someone who is observing, wine and spirits may be on your shopping list. But as with everything else on this holiday known for many pretty strict dietary laws, you’ll have to pay extra-careful attention to the labels before bringing a bottle of anything to an observant home.

Choosing a wine

If buying wine for Passover, it’s important that the wine be certified as kosher for Passover. But that can be complicated if you have never shopped for this before and see an array of labeling certifications. For example, you may see many wines that may be kosher but not kosher for Passover. These are actually very distinct classifications.

“In order to be kosher for Passover they must be made in a winery that is free of grains, breads, doughs, and most importantly of non-kosher and non-indigenous yeasts,” said Chef Zach Engel of the Michelin-starred Middle Eastern restaurant, Galit.

These would be considered leavening agents in bread making and thus not allowed to be used in kosher-for-Passover winemaking.

Here are some of Engel’s top choices for Passover wines:

Sparkling: Dalton Pet-Nat. Semillon & Muscat: “It’s yeasty and acidic, a little floral and buttery. The bubbles aren’t overly crisp,” said Engel. This may be a great wine for salted matzo.

Rose: Agur Rose. Mourvedre, Cab Franc and Cab Sauv. “It’s got a good amount of skin contact which gives it great texture. If you’re using it for your four cups of wine it’s perfect because it drinks very chilled but also rounds out a lot when it comes up to temp sitting on your Seder table. Both of the Cabs really start to shine showing off a lot more nuance,” said Engel.

White: Tzora Judean Hills Blanc. Excellent white wine if a guest insists on no reds. “Lots of sweeter apple and melon or pineapple. The subtle sweetness with the acidity also makes for a great wine with dinner if you’re doing poultry or fish instead of red meat for your main course,” said Engel.

Red: Dalton Majestic. Old Vine Carignan. “My favorite wine coming out of Israel right now. Sort of New California wine movement meets Birthplace of Wine. Skillfully made and great option for an easy-drinking throughout your seder and matches with beef or lamb for dinner,” said Engel.

Red: Domaine du Castel Grand Vin. Bordeaux Blend, Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, Petit Verdot. This is a I’m now showing off to my guests at Passover wine. “It’s a high-priced option but I think it’s an incredible value for what this wine brings to the glass. I’d put it up against famed Bordeaux blends of France and Napa. It drinks well young (also ages beautifully) with lots of spice and terroir driven aromas. Drinks elegantly with an array of fruit notes from blackberry to plum. When guests come to Galit and tell us they only drink big reds, this is the wine that proves to them the incredible wines coming from the Middle East right now,” said Engel.

And about those spirits…

If wine isn’t your thing, there’s some Kosher for Passover spirits to stock up on in time for this year’s festivities, but it turns out this is quite the difficult process and not as easy to come by.

Ari Klafter, Head Distiller for Thornton Distilling Company, maker of Dead Drop Spirits, shared in an interview that while all the company’s spirits are normally kosher certified, every winter they shut down regular production to work exclusively on Kosher for Passover Gin, Vodka, Silver Rum and Barrel-Aged Dark Rum.

“Many distilleries like us use grain all year round to produce our whisky and gin, so the change over is really drastic,” said Klafter. “Each year we have to remove all our grain products (essentially “selling off” chametz, clean every single piece of our equipment with boiling water or 212° pressurized steam, and produce our products under the direct supervision of rabbis from the Orthodox Union,” said Klafter, who then explains the process continues by running every ingredient by the rabbis, and seeking out things like yeast and citric acid with explicit Kosher for Passover certification. “Any deviation from this or cross-contamination can jeopardize certification for the entire product line, so I take it extremely seriously,” said Klafter.