This year’s Jewish Culture Fest will feature a new offering: mevushal kosher wine tasting sessions.
Mevushal, Hebrew for “cooked,” is best described as flash-pasteurization and is the highest level of kashrut for wine. Once kosher wine has been cooked and labeled as mevushal, it may be handled by Jews and non-Jews and still retain its kosher status.
Jewish Culture Fest comes to the Jewish Community Center on Sunday, Oct. 15. This year’s presenting sponsor is Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. Tickets for Culture Fest and for the wine tasting events are on sale now at jewishculturefest.org.
The wine tastings are the result of the Fest First committee, which was tasked with making recommendations on activities that would be new to Culture Fest or previous activities that would be good to bring back.
“We saw it as a natural fit with the Culture Fest because music, art, food and drink are all part of the culture, so it seemed like an appropriate extension from the food,” said Fred Bodker, Fest First chair. “We thought this would be a good chance to expose people to new wines and kind of expand their horizons.”
The wine tastings will be led by local sommelier and Jewish community member Aaron Fry. Each 45-minute tasting session will include five different wines with two-ounce pours, along with snacks.
The first session will feature Israeli wines, focusing specifically on the Israeli white wine industry. Throughout the tasting, Fry will go through the Jewish history of wine, beginning with the first mentions of wine in the Torah, going on to the Zionist congresses and the completion of the state of Israel, and ending with today.
“Wine is awesome,” Fry said. “We all love wine, and I think everyone will be really excited to hear about how Israel has become not only built on a foundation of viticulture, but it's also paralleling every other industry that they've been involved with.”
The second session will focus on kosher wines from around the world. It will include wines from France, Italy and California. Fry wants to dispel the notion that all kosher wines are sweet; he will showcase various kosher wines that don’t have a sweet flavor profile.
Fry said he wants the sessions to be both educational and fun.
“I think everyone [in the first session] will come away with a whole new perspective on Israeli wine,” Fry said. “Then, likewise, on the kosher wine side come away realizing that, again, if you choose to put kosher wine on the table, there's a whole world of options [of] kosher wines being made all over the world. And some of them are on par with some of the best wines produced in the world as well.”
Fry said he thinks Israel can get overlooked as a leader in the wine industry and believes it is his job to share that with participants.
Fry spent his career in the restaurant industry up until around 10 years ago. He became a certified sommelier in 2010 to the Court of Master Sommeliers. There are four different levels of certified sommeliers: introductory, certified, advanced and master. He is an advanced sommelier and working toward becoming a master. Fry is currently working as a wine and spirits wholesaler and distributes throughout Missouri.
The wine tasting sessions will be at 2 and 4 p.m. Seating for each session is limited, and tickets are only available to purchase before Culture Fest. The $36 tasting tickets are separate from the Culture Fest entry ticket. If the first two sessions sell out, a third could be added at noon. More information can be found at thejkc.org/wine-tasting/.
These sessions are only available for those 21 and older.
Sponsorship and partner opportunities are available for Jewish Culture Fest. Those interested in supporting the event can contact Cindy Bodker at .
