QUESTION: I was combining bottles of wine. I poured a few ounces from an almost empty bottle of non-mevushal wine into an almost full bottle of mevushal wine. Is this wine still considered mevushal?

ANSWER: The Rema (YD 123:5) discusses this situation. He writes that if non-mevushal wine was mixed into mevushal wine, some view the mevushal wine as if it were water. In this case, the rule is that if the amount of mevushal wine is six times greater than the non-mevushal, the non-mevushal portion is batel (nullified) and the wine may be considered mevushal. Others say that so long as the mevushal wine is the majority, the mixture is viewed as mevushal. However, the Shach (123:10) cites the Ohr Zarua who writes that these leniencies are only intended for situations of great financial loss. Lichatchila, one must view the wine as non-mevushal. The Maharshach (3:85) as well writes that we can only rely on this leniency bidi’eved (after the fact), and even then only if the mevushal wine were six times the amount of the non-mevushal.

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The Gerald & Karin Feldhamer OU Kosher Halacha Yomis is dedicated to the memory of Rav Yisroel Belsky, zt"l, who served as halachic consultant for OU Kosher for more than 28 years; many of the responses in Halacha Yomis are based on the rulings of Rabbi Belsky. Subscribe to the Halacha Yomis daily email here.