Kosher Wine

Other than taking up vegan practices, kosher winemakers follow a set of "laws" for food preparation & winemaking. They don't need to be blessed by a Rabbi, but follows certain rules such as:

1. Must only be handled by Jews in the winery
2. Only Kosher foods can be used as additives or agents in winemaking, including non-animal or animal by-products

There is of course a range of Kosher wine products, and sometimes they get the bad rep from the Sacramental or Mevushal wines they produce.

1. Kosher; Produced in accordance with Jewish Dietary Laws (Kashrut).
2. Kosher for Passover; Wine does not come into contact with grain or gluten products. Most Kosher wines are also “Kosher for Passover", and in reality, most wines also pass this
3. Kosher le Mehadrin; Rules of Kashrut have been stringently approved.
4. Sacramental Wines; Often tasting like syrupy sugared water, the importance to the consumer has always tended towards low price and religious certification rather than quality. Don’t confuse Kiddush wines with Kosher table wines, as these are the ones giving Kosher wine a bad rep!
5. Mevushal Wine; Flash pasteurized Kosher wine, allowing non-observant or non-Jewish waiter to serve the wine without making it non-Kosher. Most of the better quality Kosher wines, are NOT Mevushal.

Isreal takes Kosher to a further extent, with additional restrictions such as:

1. Only vines bearing fruit for the fourth year onwards can be used for winemmaking
2. Growing other fruits between vines is prohibited
3. Over one percent of the production is poured away in remembrance of the “ten percent tithe” once paid to the Temple in Jerusalem 

There used to be another rule which is that fields & fieldworkers were allowed to rest every seventh year, but this has now become largely symbolic with flexibility in coping with economic realities