The Ultimate Jewish Wine: Manischewitz
Is there any more identifiable Jewish wine than the Manishewitz brand?
Founded in 1927 by Leo Star, the winery for the Kedem wine is actually located in Naples, New York. Their most popular product is the sweet concord wine, which is concocted from labrusca grapes and a large dosage of residual sugar.
My family, like most Jewish families, was made up of some serious wine drinkers. Often we’d have a plethora of bottles across the dinner table, with wines form wineries all over the world. There was no discrimination on that table. We had Portuguese wines, Californian wines, French wines, Italian wines, Chilean wines, Australian wines… you name it, we had it.
But there was always that one constant. And that was the Manischewitz wine.
We wouldn’t have it with the meal, mind you. But it was the only wine we would ever say the blessing over, the only wine we would put in the Kiddush cup, and the only single product you were guaranteed to find at any family holiday gathering.
The tradition has been enforced by my mother, who says the sweet taste reminds her of Shabbos dinner at her grandparent’s house. And it’s a memory she has described several times, and a memory I intend to share with my children and grandchildren as well.
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You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.Posted on: Monday, August 2nd, 2010 at 9:00 am
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Tags: jewish wine, kedem wine, manischewitz wine