לעילוי נשמת
יואל אפרים בן אברהם עוזיאל זלצמן ז”ל
Question: Some reputable kosher wines claim to be kosher for Kiddush because they are not mevushal (cooked), but some of them have added sugar. How can it be fit since it is not “raui lamizbeach” (fit for “nesachim—libations”)? Also, is wine with sugar excluded from problems of “stam yeinam” (a non-Jew touching the wine)?
Answer: The Gemara (Bava Batra 97a-b), indeed, says that only wine that is fit (“bedieved suffices”) for nesachim is valid for Kiddush and discusses various cases, but not yayin mevushal. Another Gemara (Avodah Zara 30a) says that a non-Jew’s touching of “yayin mevushal” does not make it forbidden, and this is likely because it is not fit for nesachim. Rashi (Shut 88) rules that yayin mevushal does not count as wine to the extent that its bracha is Shehakol. Tosafot (Bava Batra 97a) understands Rashi’s rationale as being because the cooking makes it deteriorate, but derives from a Yerushalmi that yayin mevushal is wine and is valid even for Pesach’s arba kosot.
The Rambam (Shabbat 29:14) disqualifies yayin mevushal for Kiddush because it is not fit for nesachim. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chayim 272:8) cites both opinions, but prefers the lenient one. The Rama (ad loc.) supports the lenient opinion if one does not have uncooked wine of equal quality. Concerning the bracha, we clearly rule that it is “borei pri hagafen” (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chayim 202:1).
We can understand why you want to be machmir to avoid yayin mevushal for Kiddush. However, most people are not machmir, and it is worthwhile to respect that and understand the likely rationale. For one, nowadays “yayin mevushal” usually means “pasteurized” (lower temperature than what we would normally consider
cooking). Poskim dispute whether pasteurization is considered yayin mevushal.
Regarding stam yeinam, the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 123:3) is somewhat lenient on the degree of cooking (see Yabia Omer VIII, Yoreh Deah 15), and Rav Moshe Feinstein is lenient if it reaches 175 degrees Fahrenheit; Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach is stringent regarding stam yeinam on pasteurized wine (Minchat Shlomo I:25). Stringency regarding stam yeinam indicates leniency regarding Kiddush.
Furthermore, the reason that a lot of kosher wine is yayin mevushal is that it is difficult for the public to ensure that they will not have stam yeinam problems—sometimes with little warning. Therefore, for a shul or a family to have a policy of using yayin mevushal makes enough sense to be at least as important as using it because of its superior taste (see Rama above).
Adding in sugar is equivalent to the classical poskim’s discussion of adding honey. While the Rambam (ibid.) is confident about yayin mevushal being a problem for Kiddush, he is equivocal about wine with added honey. This likely has to do with the addition being done to improve the taste or that is a minority of the wine. Apparently, even Rashi would agree that we would follow the majority and make “borei pri hagafen” (see Rama, Orach Chayim 202:1). So in some ways, if one wants to be machmir but has a choice between yayin mevushal and sweetened wine, the latter could be preferable (Kitzvei Harim 51). This is strengthened by the likelihood that one bought the sweetened wine because he prefers the taste. If sweetened non-yayin mevushal has a problem of stam yeinam (see below), yayin mevushal could have at least one advantage—as discussed above.
Does added sugar remove the problem of stam yeinam? There are some grounds to claim that the stam yeinam leniency of yayin mevushal does not apply to sweetened wine (see Rosh, Avodah Zara 2:13). However, the Rambam (Maachalot Assurot 11:10) equates the two in this regard based on fitness for nesachim. The Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 123:4) rules that sweet additives remove the problem of stam yeinam if it changes the taste. It is very unclear how to figure out whether a wine qualifies for this leniency. In practice, while many kosher wines write on the label that is yayin mevushal—to indicate no stam yeinam—I have never seen a hechsher that wrote that is sweet enough to remove stam yeinam. We would not recommend making assumptions on these grounds, unless it is a drink that has so many additives that it does not come across as a normal wine.
Rabbi Mann is a dayan for Eretz Hemdah and a staff member of Yeshiva University’s Gruss Kollel in Israel. He is a senior member of the Eretz Hemdah responder staff, editor of Hemdat Yamim and the author of “Living the Halachic Process Volumes 1 and 2” and “A Glimpse of Greatness.”