Jules Polonetsky
Chanukah is a sommelier’s playground. The holiday’s menu is dominated by salt, fat and sugar, three pillars of flavor that make wine sing. Here is a guide to pairing your kosher wines with the “big three” of the Chanukah table: the latke, the doughnut and chocolate gelt.
The debate over latke toppings was once sour cream versus apple sauce, but today the range of options seems endless, with chocolate spreads, pumpkin butter, sweet jams, yogurt dips and more. However, for this week’s analysis we will stick to the classics.
If you belong to Team Sour Cream, you are eating a dish that is essentially a study in richness. You have the oil from the fry, the starch of the potato and the heavy, cooling dairy of the cream. To cut through that weight, you need acid. Think of wine as a squeeze of lemon over a piece of fried schnitzel; it cleanses the palate and prepares you for the next bite.
The Pairing: Champagne or Method Traditional Sparkling.
There is no better friend to fried potato than sparkling wine. The bubbles act as tiny scrubbers for your tongue, washing away the oil, while the high acidity slices through the fat of the sour cream.
• Option 1: Drappier Carte d’Or Brut (France). This is not an imitation; this is the real deal. Drappier is a historic French champagne house that produces a fully kosher run of their famous Carte d’Or. It is driven by the Pinot Noir grape, which gives it a rich, golden complexity and a structure that stands up to the heaviest dollop of sour cream.
• Option 2: Yarden Blanc de Blancs (Israel). If you want to look toward Israel, the Yarden Blanc de Blancs is widely considered one of the best kosher sparkling wines on the planet. Made in the Golan Heights entirely from Chardonnay grapes, it is razor-sharp, with electric acidity and notes of fresh lemon zest and toasted brioche. It cuts through the latke oil like a laser.
• Option 3: Binah Blanc de Blanc (Pennsylvania). This very affordable “local” option is made by Kevin Danna by hand, slowly turning each bottle as part of the complex process. The results are crisp and refreshing sparkling wines.
If you are on Team Applesauce, your palate challenge is different. You are dealing with the same oily crunch, but now you’ve introduced sweetness and fruitiness. A bone-dry, high-acid white might feel too harsh against the sugar of the applesauce. You need a white wine with a hint of residual sugar — not a dessert wine, but something “off-dry.”
The Pairing: Riesling.
Riesling is the misunderstood hero of the kosher wine world. People assume it’s always cloyingly sweet, but quality Riesling is a tightrope walk between sweetness and acidity. The fruit notes (stone fruit, pear and apple) harmonize with the applesauce, while the acid handles the potato.
• Option 1: Pacifica Evan’s Collection Riesling (Washington State). Hailing from the Columbia Gorge, this bottle is a fantastic example of New World Riesling. It is aromatic and floral, offering excellent fruit character that high-fives the applesauce without overwhelming the savory potato.
• Option 2: Hagafen Lake County Riesling (California). Produced by the legendary Ernie Weir in Napa, this is a staple of high-end kosher dining. The Lake County sourcing provides a cooler climate, preserving the grape’s zest. It is technically “off-dry” (usually around 3% residual sugar), meaning it tastes lush and juicy with notes of apricot and honeysuckle, but matches the texture of applesauce perfectly.
Pairing wine with jelly doughnuts is tricky. The dough is yeasty and dense and the sugar is aggressive. If you drink a dry red wine with a jelly doughnut, the wine will taste bitter and astringent. The golden rule of dessert pairing is: The wine must be sweeter than the dessert.
The Pairing: Port or Sparkling Red. You have two distinct routes here: the warming, traditional digestif or the fun, fizzy party starter.
• Option 1: Porto Cordovero Fine Ruby Port (Portugal). Produced in the Douro Valley, this is a classic fortified wine. It is heavy, sweet and high in alcohol. The intense dark berry and plum flavors of the Port mimic the raspberry or strawberry filling of the doughnut, while the heat of the alcohol cuts through the heavy, fried dough.
• Option 2: Bartenura Brachetto (Italy). For a lighter, more festive option, look for Brachetto. While Bartenura is famous for its blue-bottle Moscato, their Brachetto is a sparkling red wine that is the secret weapon of Chanukah. It is low alcohol, sweet, and tastes explicitly like strawberries and rose petals. It matches the color of the jelly filling and the playful energy of the holiday.
Finally, the guests have left and you are peeling the gold foil off a coin of generic milk chocolate. Milk chocolate is difficult to pair because the dairy solids coat the mouth. You want a wine that embraces the creaminess rather than fighting it — something soft, plush and fruit-forward.
The Pairing: Merlot.
A soft Merlot is a safe bet here. You want a wine with low tannins (that mouth-drying sensation), as tannins clash against sugar.
• Option 1: Segal’s Marom Galil Merlot (Israel). This Israeli wine is approachable, soft and full of ripe fruit flavors. It comes from the Upper Galilee and offers notes of plum and wild berries. It has a rounded mouthfeel that sits nicely alongside the melting chocolate.
• Option 2: Herzog Lineage Merlot (California). From the Herzog family’s California vineyards, this wine is designed to be a crowd-pleaser. It leans into the “jammy” side of Merlot, with notes of black cherry and cocoa powder. The naturally softer structure of this wine complements the dairy in the gelt, effectively turning your cheap chocolate coin into a chocolate-covered cherry truffle.
L’Chaim!
Jules Polonetsky is a wine and spirits education trust level 3 certified wine expert who edits a wine education website at kosher-wine.org. He is a former consumers affairs commissioner for New York City.