Chambourcin is a relatively new hybrid grape variety that grows widely in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. A French-American hybrid, Chambourcin is a disease-resistant, vigorous grape that produces medium-bodied wines with flavors of dark fruit, spice, earth, and often a range of herbal notes.

Chambourcin is an unusual teinturier grape (teinturier is a French word that means “dye” or “to stain”), a red wine grape with dark red skins and red flesh that itself provides a deep red juice. Most red wine grapes have dark skins but clear flesh and clear juice. The red color of most red wines comes from contact with the grape’s skin during winemaking. That’s why limiting skin contact and grape juice leads to a rose wine, and removing the skins immediately is how white pinot is produced.

One of the notable producers of Chambourcin in the Mid-Atlantic region is Binah Winery, a kosher winery located in Pennsylvania. Binah Winery was founded in 2019 by Kevin Danah, a passionate advocate for Chambourcin, who believes that the grape has the potential to produce world-class wines. The winery’s name means “understanding, perception or intuition” in Hebrew. Danah explains that his winery’s name is “a nod to the mystical aspects of Judaism, for which he has a fondness.”

On a more physical note, the soil and climate of Pennsylvania make it a cool-climate region similar to parts of northern France, Germany, and Eastern Europe. This combination of well-drained soils, warm days, and cool nights seems to be ideal for growing Chambourcin grapes. In fact, Danah told me that “Bordeaux reds such as Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot do very well in good vintages grown in Southern Pennsylvania into Northern Maryland, and Chardonnay can be of very high quality throughout the region as well.”

Binah Winery’s Chambourcin is a medium-bodied wine with flavors of dark cherry, plum, spice, and some herbal character. It has a smooth, velvety texture and a long finish. The 2020 Reserve was barrel-aged for eight months with a mix of 50% Hungarian, 25% French, and 25% American oak, adding complexity and structure. Winemaker Danah has described the variety as a cold-climate pinot-noir-style wine.

I also recently tasted one of Binah’s affordable white wines, the Stella dry white. Stella is mostly (approximately 80%) Seyval Blanc grown in a small vineyard in Sparks, MD. The 2020 blend included Chardonel and Vignoles from Pennsylvania, and the 2021 included Vidal Blanc and Chardonnay, demonstrating Danah’s goal of showing what these less well-known varieties can deliver on the palate.

Binah Winery, located in the Lehigh Valley area, has won wine awards in Pennsylvania competitions, the Finger Lakes International Wine & Spirits, the Los Angeles International Wine Competition, and Jewish Link Wine Guide, which also awarded Kevin Danna the 2023 Innovator Award. Although kosher wine insiders have taken note, Binah isn’t yet well known in the broader wine community, and its bottles are currently a bargain for the quality.