When I got home from work yesterday, I had a package waiting for me…four bottles of kosher wine for Passover! The timing is perfect because Passover starts tonight, and wine is a big part of the Jewish holiday as not only are four glasses consumed as part of the sedar, but also wine is used to prepare one of my favorite Passover foods—charoset (chopped apples, ground walnuts, cinnamon, honey, and wine).

Historically, kosher wines have a bad reputation, but there has been significant discussion about how it has improved, moving past the days of the Concord-grape based Manischewitz. While I don’t keep kosher year round, and admittedly have passed over kosher wines in the past out of fear of drinking the nasty, sweet stuff of my childhood, finding a decent, fine kosher wine would be perfect for occasions such as the upcoming holiday.

So, what better time to explore the world of kosher wine than during Passover? At least, that’s what I asked myself when purchasing my four bottles of wine from KosherWine.com. The wines I final decided to try are:

• Bartenura Prosecco ($14.56)—An Italian sparkling wine
• 2005 Domaine Saint Benoit Laureline Chateauneuf-du-Pape ($32.72)—A French Southern Rhone Blend of Grenache, Mouvedre, Syrah, and Clairette
  
• 2006 Bazelet haGolan Cabernet Sauvignon ($27)—An Israeli Cabernet Sauvignon
  
• 2006 Baron Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon ($14)—A Central Coast California Cabernet Sauvignon

To add to the fun, the latest Wine Blogging Wednesday has been announced over on The Corkdork, which means on the last day of Passover (Wednesday, April 15^th), a number of wine bloggers, including yours truly, will be posting kosher wine reviews. So, check back to read about how my wine selections turned out.

In the meantime, chag sameach!  Happy Passover!