Check the label to make sure before you make the blessing TB Nedarim 53

With TB Nedarim 53 we finish the sixth chapter of our massekhet. It continues to define exactly what people meant at the time of Talmud when they used agricultural terms in the vows. The Gemara emphasizes that these meanings change depending where the person lived. A good example is oil. “It is taught in a baraita: With regard to one who vows that oil is forbidden to him, if he is in Eretz Yisrael he is permitted to eat sesame oil and is prohibited from eating olive oil, as in Eretz Yisrael the unspecified term oil refers to olive oil. And if he took the vow in Babylonia, sesame oil is forbidden to him, as oil in Babylonia was generally made from sesame seeds, and it is permitted for him to eat olive oil, which was rarely used there. If he takes the vow in a locale where people use both this type of oil and that type, he is prohibited from eating both this type and that.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Wine is one term that hasn’t changed from time immemorial. When somebody talks about wine or makes a vow forbidding himself from drinking wine, we all know that person is talking exclusively about grape wine. Thus the Mishna teaches:  “One who vows that wine is forbidden to him is permitted to partake of apple wine, i.e., cider, as the unspecified term wine refers only to grape wine.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Over grape wine we recite a special blessing. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְ־יָ אֱ־לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן Baruch atah A-donay, Elo-heinu Melech Ha’Olam borei pri hagafen.Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of Time-and-Space, Who creates the fruit of the vine 

We know that other fruits like blueberry, peach, banana, pineapple, Apple, elderberry, red currant, and lychee are used to make wine. Over these drinks we recite the blessing בָּרוּךְ אַתָה יְ־יָ אֱ־לֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶהַכֹל נִהְיָה בִדְבָרוֹ:  Baruch Atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech haOlam, she-ha-kol ni-hi-yah bid-var-o. Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of Time-and-Space, by Whose word all things came to be.

 One of our Shabbat guests gave us peach grape juice as a gift. Was it kosher to make kiddush and havdala over? It contain both peach and grapes flavors. I had to check the bottle of these fruit wines to see which blessing one should make. Sometimes the kosher certification will indicate that this wine may be used for Kiddush and the 4 cups of wine at the Passover Seder. Indeed it was kosher to make kiddush over. That made me wonder why. Although I didn’t see any discussion about my guest’s gift, I saw that the traditional sources discuss whether raisin wine is kosher for Kiddush and havdala.

“Is there any problem with reciting kiddush on flavored raisin juice or wine? Although this product sounds like a modern creation – the brainchild of some research and development lab – the question was apparently common two hundred years ago. I found the issue discussed by the Tzemach Tzedek, the third rebbe of Lubavitch, in his responsa (Shu’t Orach Chayim #27). After explaining that raisin wine may be used for kiddush, he notes that the standard product available where he lived was seasoned with honey and other spices. He is concerned that this particular flavored product does not qualify as wine, since the flavor may come from the seasonings and not from the grapes. Thus, although raisin wine and yein tzemukim (raison wine-gg) may be used for Kiddush, this is true only as long as its flavor is made by grapes and not some other additive. Even a product labeled "natural grape flavor" may not meet this requirement halachically since "natural grape flavor" does not mean that the flavor comes from grapes, but that the flavor comes from a natural source. If the contribution of the grapes is insufficient, an added boost from a non-grape source does not make this into a beverage on which one can recite hagafen. Obviously, situations vary and it is not an absolute rule that one cannot use flavored raisin wine for kiddush. However, should kosher, flavored raisin-wine become available, one would be required to ascertain whether the flavor comes from the grapes in the product (in which case the brocha is hagafen and it may be used for kiddush) or from other sources, in which case the brocha is shehakol.” https://www.yeshiva.co/midrash/36898