Kosher Wine: Yayin Nesech, Stam Yeinam, and Maga Akum

From Halachipedia

Mevushal and Mefustar

  1. The Chachamim did not include cooked wine in their Gezeirah, because it's not fit for idol worship.[1] While the Geonim define "cooking" for these purposes as boiling, the Yerushalmi says some of the wine must evaporate. Some say that they're one and the same and boiling is really sufficient, while others require a change of taste and/or minimizing of alcohol content. Therefore, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach[2] and Rav Ben Tzion Abba Shaul[3] argue that pasteurization cannot be considered cooking, because the vapor is mixed right back into the wine; Rav Moshe Feinstein[4] and Rav Ovadia[5] claim boiling is what it hinges on and evaporation is just a sign of it but not necessary. Rav Moshe Feinstein and Rav Ovadia require pasteurization to a temperature exceeding or 175˚ F, respectively, and the Tzelemer Rav z”l insisted on a minimum 190˚ F. On this basis OU permits wines that undergo flash pasteurization to be labeled either as mevushal or mifustar.[6]

Sources

  1. Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah 123:3
  2. Shu"t Minchat Shlomo Kamma Siman 25
  3. Shu"t Ohr LeTzion vol. 2 20:18 (not 20:19, as is often mistakenly cited)
  4. Shu"t Iggerot Moshe Yoreh Deah vol. 3 Siman 31
  5. Yabia Omer vol. 8 Yoreh Deah 15 and vol. 9 Orach Chaim 108:134
  6. MIFUSTAR – IS IT MEVUSHAL? (Daf HaKashrus, by Rav Eli Gersten)