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Percentage of all wine sold in France that comes in a box, according to France’s Ministry of Agriculture. Once associated with low-quality wine, boxed wines are more popular than ever, as wine drinkers look for sustainable alternatives to heavy glass bottles. As a plus, the bags inside are recyclable.

Blessing by a rabbi makes a wine kosher.

Answer: False.

It is a common misconception that wine need only be blessed by a rabbi to make it kosher (Yiddish, from Hebrew kāshēr, meaning “proper” or “fit”). To be kosher, a wine must also contain only kosher ingredients. For example, fining agents may not be derived from animal by-products, which rules out egg whites, casein (a dairy derivative), and isinglass (air bladders of fish). The wine can only be handled—from the vine to the wineglass—by Sabbath-observant Jews unless the wine is mevushal (Yiddish for “cooked”), which involves heating the wine until it is pasteurized. During Passover, Jews drink four cups of wine (for the four promises the Lord makes to His people in Exodus 6:6-7) at the Seder meal, which occurs on the first two nights of the holiday—March 27-April 4 in 2021. To be kosher for Passover, wines must also be free of certain additives, such as corn syrup, which producers of concord grape wines (such as Manischewitz) sometimes add.

French Perfection

The term commune is used in France to denote a wine village, as in Burgundy’s commune of Chambolle-Musigny or Bordeaux’s commune of Margaux. But a commune in France isn’t necessarily related to wine. In fact,… Continue reading

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