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There is a way, though, to protect wine from getting "spoiled" through contact with Gentiles. Ancient rabbis were convinced (hard to tell why) that boiled wine was unfit for being offered as a sacrifice. Which means that if you heat up some wine to a high enough temperature, then it can be consumed by Jews without the need to worry that it was, say, poured by a Gentile waiter who may have secretly consecrated it to his heathen godhead. Thus, flash pasteurization may protect wine from spoilage by both microbes and idolaters.
Making sure that wine wasn't previously used in alien religious rituals is important because Jews also use wine in their own religious rituals. ''Kiddush'', a special blessing recited at the beginning of a holiday meal, is said over wine, which is then drunk. Traditionally, red sweet wine is used for this purpose, although exceptions are possible. For example, in places and times where the blood libel is a concern, white wine may be used to avoid associations with blood. If wine is hard to get in a given area, then some other alcoholic beverage may be used instead; Polish Jews sometimes said their ''kiddush'' over vodka. And what about teetotal Jews? They he can recite the blessing over non-fermented grape juice, with the caveat that all rules regarding wine apply to such juice as well.
== Special Occasions ==
