# Shekhina Apple Wine (NV)

- **Producer:** Chertok Wines
- **Colour:** orange
- **Type:** still
- **Grapes:** Muscat Valvin, Noiret
- **Region:** Vermont, United States
- **Style:** Natural
- **Alcohol:** 11.2%
- **Average price:** €26
- **Vegan:** Yes
- **Contains sulphites:** Yes
- **When to drink:** Now or Later
- **Serving temperature:** 10–12 °C
- **Aromas & flavours:** rose, blossom, peach, apricot, apple

## About this wine

Founded by Max Rose in 2017, Chertok Wines produces low-intervention table wines at Belmont Orchard in Shoreham, Vermont. Shekhina takes its name from the Talmudic and Kabbalistic concept representing the divine presence. This skin-contact co-ferment blends hybrid grapes sourced from the Finger Lakes in New York with farmstead apples grown on 50-year-old trees in Vermont's Champlain Valley.

## Interesting facts

- The wine's name Shekhina is a Talmudic concept representing the feminine, dwelling aspect of the divine.
- Chertok Wines manages its estate orchard using hand scythes to minimize diesel usage and soil compaction.
- It is a 50/50 co-ferment combining hybrid white and red grapes with heritage Vermont apples.

## Food pairing

The lively acidity from New England heritage apples cuts through rich fats in pork and poultry, while the subtle skin-macerated tannins and aromatic intensity stand up to aged cheeses and earthier grain dishes.

## Wine making process

Whole-cluster Muscat Valvin and Noiret grapes are foot-trodden and skin-macerated for three to four weeks in open-top fermenters. Fresh farmstead Empire and Macoun apple millings are added for an additional one to two weeks of maceration. The wine undergoes spontaneous fermentation with native yeasts and ages for six months on gross lees in Flextank eggs without fining or filtration.