By Joseph Strausss
Two days before the start of the festival of Passover, Max Kirschner scanned the kosher wine section at an uptown Toronto liquor store.
As he mulled over which six bottles to purchase for his two seders, he had plenty of options. Wines from Israel, Italy, Chile, Argentina and New Zealand lined the shelves. The South African sauvignon blancs were directly below the French bordeaux.
But there was something missing, though — any products from the United States.
That’s because all U.S.-produced wines and spirits have been pulled from the shelves across the province of Ontario in response to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Other Canadian provinces have enacted similar bans.
Which means that for the second year in a row, Jewish customers don’t have access to some traditional, kosher-for-passover options such as Manischewitz.
The change has left some Jewish Canadians scrambling for alternative, sweet kosher red wines, or even having bottles shipped across the country.
On Monday afternoon, however, Kirschner seemed unbothered by the change.
“I graduated from Manischewitz,” he said. “Twenty, 25 years ago, Manischewitz and Carmel were the only two choices. Now, there’s lots of choices.”
Though tucked away in a corner on the second floor, the kosher section was particularly robust at this liquor store location, in Toronto’s predominantly Jewish Ledbury Park neighborhood.
An employee, who’d been speaking on the phone about wines to pair with charoset, guided a steady stream of customers through the global selection of kosher wines.
Mike — who declined to share his last name to avoid potential backlash at his workplace for supporting Israel — said Manischewitz has never been on the table at his family’s Moroccan Jewish seders.
But he said he saw a silver lining for those who partook in the Manischewitz tradition.
“Now people can buy Israeli,” he said.
A number of customers said they would be supporting Israel by buying bottles from its wineries.
According to Josh Greenstein, executive vice president of the Israeli Wine Producers Association, the American booze ban in provinces like Ontario has “created a meaningful opening” for Israeli wineries in Canada.
That demand has been “absorbed primarily by domestic Canadian wines,” but Greenstein said there are “pockets of increased interest in imported alternatives, including Israeli wines — particularly within the kosher market and among consumers already familiar with the category.”
While the long-term impact will depend on future trade dynamics and consumer behaviors, he said, “Israeli wine is well-positioned to gain incremental share, and we are actively working with partners to support that growth.”
Some Jewish Torontonians are not making a trip to the liquor store at all.
For Sylvia Babins, Manischewitz is a crucial ingredient in her charoset recipe, so she ordered a shipment from a liquor store across the country, in Calgary, Alberta, where American wines are still on shelves.
Babins said she ordered nine bottles of the kosher wine — six for her, three for her sister — at a cost of $11 per bottle and about $50 in shipping.
“I’m sure I can go find a sweet, red kosher wine [at a Toronto liquor store], but I make charoset every year for the family and I always use Manischewitz,” Babins said. “I need it.”
In a Jewish Toronto Facebook group that she’s part of, Babins said other members reported making the two-hour drive to Buffalo, New York. But between paying for gasoline and import duties, Babins said the costs would’ve exceeded her shipping payment anyway.
Plus, she said, she didn’t have to give her business to an American store.
“Yeah, I’d rather support Canada,” she said.
There was clearly some demand for the sweet Manischewitz taste at the Ledbury Park liquor store on Monday. An employee pointed out a spot on the bottom-left shelf where they’d kept the bottles of Carmel Palwin, a sweet, yellow-labeled Israeli wine that tastes similar to Manischewitz (though it isn’t made with Concord grapes).
In fact, they had run out.
A Toronto native, Joseph Strauss is a freelance journalist based in New York City. He wrote this article for the JTA global Jewish media source.
While Philly cheesesteaks invade Charm City, Boardwalk Fries opens in Middle River. Randi Rom shares a roundup of local restaurant news and notes.
Dara Bunjon talks with Dr. Lucy M. Long, author and director of the Center for Food and Culture, about her latest book, "Sweet, Tart, and Golden: Apples in the Midwestern Imagination," and other projects.
Spending on "hasbara" should be “like investing in jets, bombs and missile interceptors,” argues Israel’s foreign minister.
Stuffed vegetables invite creativity, but there are some "rules" when it comes to cooking. Vered Guttman shares six veggie-stuffing tips.