Submitted by M. Siegmeister, Feb 21, 2007 17:50

your description of the process in making a wine mevushal is a little misleading and not totally accurate. In order for a wine to be considered mevushal the temperature required is between 160 - 190 F, depending on the Rabbinic authority relied on. Using the term boiling is misleading and increases any negative connotation that the process might give to a reader. The same is true in relating the process to flash frying fish, a process that requires fairly high heat and leaves a distinctive flavor to the fish, hopefully the one you wanted.

The modern process brings the wine up to temperature for moments and is afterward quickly chilled. There are different times in the wine making process when this is done. In some cases the mevushal process is done before fermentation, sometimes before bottling and sometimes during bottling. The primary effect is to kill bacteria and enzymes that create changes to the wine during the time when it is agedin the bottle. The remains mostly the same several years later.

Another thing is interesting is that some non-kosher wineries use this process to improve their wines. The process, like any cooking process can increase the flavors of the juice and add to the wine.

While the process of making a wine mevushal is blamed for kosher wines not being equal to non kosher wines in many cases, it is a falsehood. Bad mevushal wine started life as bad non mevushal wine.

For any interested reader I hope this helps to balance the picture and provide a greater understanding into a subject that writer made a very weak attempt to cover.

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