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Those who say a traditional Passover feast wouldn’t be complete without the perfect wine had the opportunity to sample a number of kosher wines from Israel at a recent wine tasting event.
Cork and Canvas Wine and Art Gallery in Highland Park hosted the free wine tasting for shoppers. The timing for the event was perfect with the Jewish holiday Passover beginning on April 20, the store featured eight Israeli kosher wines for sampling.
Owner Sonia Ter Haar said the shop hosted an Israeli kosher wine tasting in early March and because of its popularity, she decided to hold a second tasting on March 30.
“With Passover coming up, a lot of people are going to be stocking up on wine, since it’s part of the tradition,” Ter Haar said.
Conducting the tasting was Lee Dresner of Royal Wine Corp. who recently traveled to various wineries in Israel to learn about the kosher wine-making process. Dresner served six reds and two whites to the crowd, while informing them about the Israeli regions where the wines originated.
“I want to spread the word that Israel is one of the fastest growing wine making countries in the world,” Dresner said. “Over time, the quality of the wines has improved tremendously and I am happy to share some of the wines with people today.”
Wine is a key element in the seder, a Passover ritual feast held on the first or first and second nights of the holiday. During the seder, each person traditionally drinks four glasses of kosher wine. Depending on how many people are dining, families could go through several bottles.
“Kosher means pure,” Dresner said. “All it means is that nobody but a Sabbath-observing Orthodox Jew handles the ingredients throughout the wine-making process. All kosher wines are kosher specifically for Passover.”
Dan and Robin Tarragano of Palatine were looking to buy a few bottles of wine for a small Passover gathering and said they were impressed with the reds.
“Usually the quality of kosher wines isn’t that good,” Dan Tarragano said. “But I was surprised when I tasted these. The quality surpassed all of my expectations.”
Tasters treated their palates to samples of merlot, petite sirah, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, grand vin and wines from the Israeli wineries Castel, Carmel and Yatir. The flavors surprised some tasters, like Becky McVey of Highland Park, who is used to kosher wines having a sweet taste.
“It’s nice to have something dry for a change,” McVey said. “These wines are full-bodied and bold, I wasn’t expecting that.”
Cork and Canvas sells nine types of kosher wines and bottles range from $28 - $67 each. The shop is located at 1839 Second Street and also offers free wine tastings every Saturday to the public.
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