Send a Text Message to The Kosher Terroir

Old vines. High altitude. Native Spanish grapes. If those words grab you, pour a glass and come with us to Valencia, where winemaker Armando from Viña Memorias walks us through a kosher wine tasting that’s equal parts sensory and deeply practical. We’re chasing a specific style: kosher wines that stay light on their feet without losing structure, and wines that make sense in hot weather because they’re built for it.

We get into why Bobal from older vineyards tends toward larger clusters, greater ripeness, and a more elegant feel, plus how climate and large day-night temperature swings in Utiel-Requena can preserve acidity and help keep alcohol levels in check. On the white side, we explore Macabeo and its many identities across Spain, how blending choices change with the vintage, and why stainless steel “inox” is a deliberate move to protect fruit and freshness. We also talk about release timing and why letting wines rest in the bottle can be the difference between sharp and seamless.

Then we go deeper into technique and tradition: clay tinajas versus oak, micro-oxygenation without wood flavors, lees aging and batonnage for texture, and why some Spanish wine classifications like crianza and reserva often communicate aging time more than quality. We finish with traditional-method sparkling Macabeo and a surprisingly useful tasting ritual that starts with bubble quality before you even chase aromas.

If you care about Spanish kosher wine, terroir, old vines, and the real decisions behind “minimal intervention,” this one is for you. Subscribe, share it with a wine-loving friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Support the show

www.TheKosherTerroir.com
+972-58-731-1567
+1212-999-4444
TheKosherTerroir@gmail.com
Link to Join “The Kosher Terroir” WhatsApp Chat
https://chat.whatsapp.com/EHmgm2u5lQW9VMzhnoM7C9
Thursdays 6:30pm Eastern Time on the NSN Network and the NSN App

Send a Text Message to The Kosher Terroir

We boil wine on purpose and then argue about whether it’s ruined. That tension sits at the heart of mevushal, the “cooked” kosher wine category that some drinkers dismiss, some skeptics call a loophole, and every caterer quietly relies on to make a wedding run. From Jerusalem, I walk you through why Jewish law treats wine differently from almost every other food: a bottle can be perfectly kosher by ingredients and still change status based only on who touches it.

We put the law and the wine on the same table. I trace the Talmudic roots of the handling restriction, then unpack three competing explanations for why cooked wine is exempt. Those “whys” lead straight into the modern fight over what cooked even means, from boiling reduction to Rav Moshe Feinstein’s yad soledet bo threshold around 175°F, and the objections that demand a noticeable change in taste, aroma, or color. Once flash pasteurization enters the picture, one sealed machine can produce three very different halachic outcomes.

Then we go to the cellar and ask what heat actually does. Pasteurization can deliver microbial stability, protein stability, and consistency for shipping and events, which matters for kosher wine at scale. But there’s a bill: aromatic compounds like terpenes can drop, ester profiles can shift, and aging potential may narrow, especially for serious whites and cellar-worthy reds. A final curveball using brandy and distillation shows what cooking can protect going forward and what it can never “fix” after the fact.

If you’ve ever wondered whether mevushal is lesser or simply different, you’ll leave with a clearer framework for choosing the right bottle for the right job. Subscribe, share this with a friend who refuses to drink cooked wine, and leave a review so more people find Kosher Terroir.

Support the show

www.TheKosherTerroir.com
+972-58-731-1567
+1212-999-4444
TheKosherTerroir@gmail.com
Link to Join “The Kosher Terroir” WhatsApp Chat
https://chat.whatsapp.com/EHmgm2u5lQW9VMzhnoM7C9
Thursdays 6:30pm Eastern Time on the NSN Network and the NSN App

Send a Text Message to The Kosher Terroir

You’re about to watch a wine snob inside your head lose the argument, one delicious “heresy” at a time. From Jerusalem, I’m Simon Jacob, and I’m making the case that the most respectful way to love wine is to use the right bottle for the right moment, including the messy, loud, sun-soaked moments where pitchers and ice belong on the table. Yes, we even go straight at the taboo: cola in red wine, and why it’s technically defensible.

We start by drawing a clean line between ageworthy “library bottles” and bright, cheerful wines that are built to be mixed. Then I give you a simple shopping checklist for the best summer wine cocktails: high acidity, fruit-forward flavor, low oak, modest alcohol, soft tannins for reds, and a price that keeps the whole thing honest. If you drink kosher, this is a golden era. Crisp, high-acid kosher rosé and unoaked whites are everywhere, and we talk about why Mavushal wine can be a real advantage when the pitcher is getting passed around at a party.

Then we taste four styles of wine as foundations and build five drinks you can actually host with: an honest spritz where the wine leads, a white peach and thyme sangria that gets better overnight, the Basque classic Kalimotxo, a real-deal frose with the food science that makes it silky, and a low-alcohol wine highball for long afternoons. I tie it together with one formula you can memorize so you can invent endlessly without clinging to recipes.

Make your own house sangria and tell me what you built, then subscribe, share the episode with your summer-host friend, and leave a review so more people find the show.

Support the show

www.TheKosherTerroir.com
+972-58-731-1567
+1212-999-4444
TheKosherTerroir@gmail.com
Link to Join “The Kosher Terroir” WhatsApp Chat
https://chat.whatsapp.com/EHmgm2u5lQW9VMzhnoM7C9
Thursdays 6:30pm Eastern Time on the NSN Network and the NSN App