The scent of grape juice fills the air in Villa Alegre, a quiet, isolated village nestled in Chile's Maule Valley. Situated between two mountain ranges, one along the Pacific coast, the other along the Chilean-Argentinean border, the town is home to the Fundo San Manuel vineyards, where the grapes grow, and the Carta Vieja winery, where they are made into wine.

The locals were bent on producing the best wine, yet had to temper their zeal so that they did not physically participate, rendering the product not kosher.

In close-knit Villa Alegre, everyone knows everyone else's tidings, even though there is no local newspaper. Information travels quickly by word of mouth from the grocery store and the bar, the town's communication centers.

Word went out in early 1997 that "the Jews are coming." And so none of the locals was surprised when an entourage of OK Labs mashgichim — men with beards and earlocks, dressed in black coats and hats — arrived to supervise the production of Alfasi, the first kosher line of wines from Chile. In fact, the Chileans rolled out the welcome mat for the visitors.

Rewind to 1995, when Shimshon Welner, a wine consultant from Israel, attended VinExpo, a renowned biennial international wine fair in Bordeaux, France. This entrepreneurial kibbutznik, who settled in the Golan Heights in 1968 after the Six-Day War, had been instrumental in establishing Israel's award-winning Golan Heights Winery in 1983. Having observed the rising popularity and reputation of Chilean wines, he was visiting the booths at the Chilean Pavilion just as the VinExpo management announced that Chile had won the most gold medals among the exhibiting countries. Welner needed no further convincing that the time was ripe for producing kosher Chilean wines.

In naming the Chilean family of wines, David Herzog sought a Spanish connection. He came up with Alfasi, for Rabbeinu Yitzchak Alfasi, the 11th-century Talmudic scholar.

Making the decision was easy, but turning the idea into reality was very challenging. At the fair, Welner spoke with most of the Chilean gold medal winners, asking if they would make kosher wine for him. Several flatly refused upon hearing the accompanying restriction: Orthodox Jews had to control every aspect of the production, with no one else permitted to operate the machinery or touch the wine. The others asked him to visit them in Chile, which he did in February and March 1996, during the harvest. (In those months the weather in the Southern Hemisphere equals that of the August-September grape harvest time in the Northern Hemisphere.)

Again he encountered resistance to the kashrus requirements. "Most of them did not want to consider the project after I told them the restrictions they would have to obey," he says. Others "could not comprehend that they are not allowed to touch their own wines." Finally a serious candidate emerged: Carta Vieja.

The winery's state-of-the-art French processing equipment and the professionalism of its staff impressed Welner. Most important, he says, "They are reliable and keep their word. We shook hands, with no written agreement, and we agreed to produce kosher wine with the '97 harvest." Welner sought an internationally recognized kosher supervision agency to certify the wine. The OK's reputation for integrity and high kashrus standards made it a natural address. The OK selected Rabbi Yosef Feigelstock as its head mashgiach at Carta Vieja. Canadian-born Rabbi Feigelstock had in the past monitored kosher wine production in Brazil and Argentina. He also has supervised matzoh bakeries and other kosher productions, and is highly regarded in the field of kosher certification. Rabbi Feigelstock is the posek (halachic authority) for all eighteen Chabad communities in Argentina, and for Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, and parts of Brazil.

Rabbi Yosef Feigelstock (left) and Shimshon Welner at Carta Vieja Winery.

Shimshon Welner now needed a customer for the wine. Enter the United States, the next country in this international endeavor. Welner had worked with Kedem-Royal Wine Corporation for thirteen years, and he broached his idea of kosher Chilean wine to David Herzog, President and C.E.O. of the company. Intrigued, Herzog went to Villa Alegre to visit the winery and meet with Rabbi Feigelstock. Impressed with the project, Herzog agreed to market the wines.

In naming the Chilean family of wines, Herzog sought a Spanish connection. He finally came up with Alfasi, for Rabbeinu Yitzchak Alfasi, the 11th-century scholar whose invaluable commentary on the Talmud is a basis for the rulings of the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law). The decision was made to produce two red wines: a Merlot and a Cabernet Sauvignon.

By the 1997 harvest, Alfasi wines were on their way. Rabbi Feigelstock set about hiring Sabbath-observant workers to handle all equipment in the winery and to do the hands-on work from the time the grapes reached the winery until the bottles were filled.

Part of the bottling line at Carta Vieja.

How did the villagers react to the sight of bearded Orthodox Jews, people very different from them in appearance and mode of dress? "They were very friendly," says Rabbi Feigelstock, "always greeting us on the street with bom dia (good day)."

The process of acceptance was eased by the fact that after eleven years in Argentina, Rabbi Feigelstock speaks Spanish fluently. Indeed, all the mashgichim chosen for the assignment speak Spanish.

On his first day in town, Rabbi Feigelstock went to the grocery store to buy fruits and vegetables. The locals stepped aside so that he could be served. "Why," he asked, "do you take care of me first, when others are waiting?" The storeowner replied that a new face is always welcomed and shown respect; it's a custom in the community.

The people in the house that the Jewish workers rented were in awe of the morning prayer services. The sight of the men in tefillin, talisos, and yarmulkes was different, to say the least. Likewise, the interruption of work for minchah raised eyebrows. Yet the townspeople soon grew accustomed to the men's black coats, hats, and yarmulkes. The first task for Rabbi Feigelstock's team was kashering the winery, which involved cleaning all the tanks and equipment. (For a detailed description of how a winery is kosherized, see "From the Kosher Grapevine," The Jewish Homemaker, Dec. 1996.)

Visitors inspect a vineyard where Cabernet Sauvignon grapes are grown.

The early days of March, when the grapes were harvested and crushed, are cool and sunny in Villa Alegre. Still, the men endured arduous working conditions, unloading truckloads of grapes and placing them in a stemmer, the machine that removes the stems. The trucks arrived at the winery from the nearby vineyards, eight trucks a day for a week and a half, each truck carrying over 100 tons of grapes. Marshaling his knowledge of wines, Welner coordinated the harvest and the unloading of the grapes to prevent premature fermentation, which can occur if grapes lie too long in the trucks.

From the stemmer the grapes were moved to the fermentation tanks, where they remained for fifteen days. Next they were transferred to a pneumatic press. The press extracts the juice, which is the essence of the wine. Clarifying and filtering followed. Then the Merlot was stabilized and bottled; the Cabernet Sauvignon was treated with French oak for two months before bottling. In accordance with Jewish law, all these tasks were performed by Rabbi Feigelstock's workers.

Throughout the processing, the Chilean vintner was on hand to assist with all the technical decisions concerning how to produce the best wine. However, the wine was handled only by Orthodox Jews.

The Chilean vintner was on hand to assist with all the technical decisions concerning how to produce the best wine. However, the wine was handled only by Orthodox Jews.

Dealing with kosher production was a challenge for the mashgichim and a revelation for the Chileans. Rabbi Feigelstock and Shimshon Welner were impressed with the professionalism, loyalty, and conscientiousness of the local workers, who understand that the winery's success is their personal success. But this was a mixed blessing, observes Rabbi Feigelstock. The locals were bent on producing the best wine, yet had to temper their zeal so that they did not physically participate and render the product not kosher.

The strictures that accompany kosher production caused occasional confrontations during the first vintage. But the owners kept their word to give Rabbi Feigelstock final say in handling the wine, and any crises were resolved satisfactorily. As the third vintage approaches, understanding and teamwork have improved considerably.

The result of everyone's hard work and cooperation is two very delightful wine varieties in both regular and reserve categories. The wines are very smooth in the mouth, dry and soft, ruby red, with a spicy aroma and the flavor of berries.

One of the vineyards at Carta Vieja.

The Cabernet Sauvignon is a bit fuller-bodied than the Merlot, the reserve somewhat richer and oakier than the regular. Best with red meat, these wines match nicely with dark turkey meat or duck, and possibly with salmon (especially the Merlot). The Cabernet is a surprising companion for a chocolate dessert.

By Jewish law, once a wine is bottled, it becomes not kosher if the pouring is not done by a Sabbath observer. This stricture does not apply to yayin mevushal — cooked wine — wine that has been pasteurized at a sufficiently high temperature. Although Carta Vieja is a technologically advanced winery, at present it lacks the equipment to accomplish flash pasteurization. Therefore, the Alfasi line is not mevushal.

Also, while Chilean wineries are known for excellent whites, to date the OK has not succeeded in kashering the processing equipment for white wines. However, the future looks promising. Stay tuned. A tremendous amount of control and cooperation, along with hard labor, has gone into the production. Still, points out Rabbi Feigelstock, "In making this good wine, we depend very much on a special blessing from Hashem. This is because at the time of fermentation, the temperature of the wine is very critical. The OK has a staff working twenty-four hours a day in shifts, controlling the temperature of the wine. But when it comes to Shabbos, we close the tanks and pray to G-d that it's going to come out well."

The non-Jews at the winery are astonished that the mashgichim close down for Shabbos. They wouldn't risk suspending operations during fermentation. But they are impressed by the Jews' dedication to their faith and by the quality of the wine. Rabbi Feigelstock says that they have told him, "The best part is that your wine is so good."

"So far, we've been successful for two years," Rabbi Feigelstock agrees. "And we're sure it's just the beginning."

Judith Broner Sellner, a New York freelance writer, specializes in Jewish lifestyle subjects. Her articles about kosher wine and vintners have appeared in publications throughout North America.