SUMMER PLEASURES Wine Winners hese days, kosher wines are in. Not surprising when you consider that "they are quality wines at terrific value," said Deborah Alexander, executive vice presi- dent of 3-D Marketing Services Inc. in New York. Since 1990, continued Alexan- der, Israeli exports of wine and spirits have increased dramatical- ly, from approximately 54,000 cas- es to an expected 90,000 cases in 1996. Jewish consumers aren't the only ones buying kosher wines. New York's Royal Wine Cor- poration, the world's largest dis- tributor of kosher wines and liqueurs, attributes more than 60 percent of its sales to non-Jews, ac- cording to Alexander. Gourmet restaurants are including these fine wines — which just happen to be kosher — on their wine lists. "Kosher wines have come a Jong way in the last 10 years and i the expanding kosher wine list is i reflected in our increased sales of 1 the product," says Ron Asmar, ( owner of the Vineyards Cafe and ( Catering in Farmington Hills. To- ( day, customers can come in look- i ing for a kosher wine to ; accompany a particular entree and can choose between a domestic, French or Spanish Courtenay or a white Bordeaux. Asmar notes that many people prefer kosher wines because they T Ethel G. Hofman is a syndicated columnist and president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. believe there are fewer chemicals used in kosher wines; the wine- making process is more con- trolled. To non-Jews, the kosher certi- fication is incidental. It's taste and value that count. (In many cas- es, no Hebrew letters appear on the label and the kosher certifi- cation is obvious only by the tiny seal tucked into a corner.) For the kosher wine connois- seur, the move away from sweet, dark sacramental wines to the pro- duction of outstanding varietal wines, like Chardonnay, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, opens up exciting new vistas. "The notion of kosher wine be- ing limited to the thick, very sweet wine used for the seder table is a thing of the past," ex- plains Phillip Tewel, owner of Jewel Catering. "Today, a cater- er can provide a kosher wine for a champagne toast, one to ac- company your first course, an- other to accompany your entree and still another to go with dessert. There are elegant kosher wines, some produced domesti- cally primarily in California and others bottled from grapes in Eu- rope. And there are many basic kosher table wines providing you with choices from light to very full-bodied, delicate to very rich, bone dry to very sweet, as well as some of the fruitier tasting." But what makes a wine kosher? Any grape, from any region or na- tion, may be used for kosher wine. According to Jay Buchsbaum, Roy- al Wine's vice president of mar- Kosher wines reach new heights. ETHEL HOFMAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS keting, traditional methods are fol- lowed in fermentation, blending, maturation and bottling. Howev- er, he said, "before a winery is used, every nook and cranny and all the equipment must be made pristine clean, sterile." In addition, he continued, only a limited amount of natural in- gredients may be used. For ex- ample, unlike many other wineries, kosher wineries cannot use gelatin as a clarifying agent. They cannot use non-wine-based yeasts, or dairy-based acids to bal- ance the wines. Because of these strict rules, as well as the necessary rabbinical supervision, there are few low-end priced kosher wines. All vinifica- ton steps, from harvest to bottling, must be performed by a knowl- edgeable, religious observer in or- der to certify the authenticity of the wine kosher for daily use. Israel, the major producer of kosher wine, has a long, illustri- ous winemaking history, stretch- ing back to pre-biblical times when the wine industry was an impor- tant part of the economy. It wasn't until the 19th centu- ry, though, when Baron Edmond de Rothschild provided the ex- pertise and money, that vines were cultivated and facilities for wine- making were built. In 1957, the Israel Wine Institute was estab- lished in Rehovot and wine pro- duction became a serious profession. In the 1970s, it was discovered that the Golan Heights, with its volcanic soil, good drainage and relatively cool climate, was the ideal location for growing premi- um wine grapes. The West Bank was a close second. (In spite of the uncertainty over the future own-- ership of the Golan, the Israeli Wine Institute reports that plant- ing and development are going on as usual.) Visiting viticultural experts from California, state-of-the-art tech- nology and strict quality control have all paid off. In 1983, seven years after the first grapes were planted in the Golan Heights, Ron Asmar, owner of the Vineyards Cafe and Catering, displays a bottle of kosher wine from a vast store collection.