An Urban Winery
Old Tradition
New Paradigm
In 2003, Covenant founders Jeff Morgan and the late Leslie Rudd wondered if they could make a great Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon that also happened to be kosher. Upon release of that first vintage, the pundits concurred that Covenant was, indeed, an outstanding example of what Napa Valley can achieve in terms of wine quality. Today, Covenant’s 7,000-square foot urban winery is now situated in Berkeley, CA, also home to other urban wineries and breweries. Covenant’s sister winery, Covenant Israel, was founded in 2013 and is located in Israel’s Galilee region.
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What is Kosher Wine?
Essentially, all wine is kosher. Because kosher wine is also a beverage used to sanctify the Sabbath and other holidays, tradition mandates that it can only be handled in the cellar by Sabbath-observant Jews. That said, our Covenant wines are made very simply, with natural, indigenous yeasts and no fining. Many of our wines are also unfiltered and produced from organic or biodynamic vineyards. We don’t “boil” our wines either. In fact, we make our wines exactly as we would make them if they weren’t kosher. We just don’t work on Saturday or other Jewish holidays.
Learn MoreFrom Napa to Sonoma to Lodi and even northern Israel, Covenant is fortunate to work with exceptional vineyards and growers.
Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from several exceptional vineyards in Napa Valley. Pinot Noir is sourced from Francis Mahoney’s hilltop Carneros vineyard. We also have long-standing relationships with growers in Sonoma’s Bennett Valley, Sonoma Mountain, Dry Creek Valley and Sonoma Valley and Lake County. In Lodi, we work with the Mettler family’s vineyards. In Israel, our best Syrah is grown on Israel’s only biodynamic vineyard—Tzivon—in the Upper Galilee.
Richard Mounts Vineyard
Dry Creek Valley
Zinfandel, Petite Sirah,
Grenache
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Allan Nelson Vineyard
Dry Creek Valley
Sauvignon Blanc,
Merlot
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Moaveni Vineyard
Bennett Valley
Syrah
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Scopus Vineyard
Sonoma Mountain
Chardonnay
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Rudd Vineyard
Mt. Veeder
Cabernet Sauvignon,
Merlot, Malbec
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Rudd Oakville Estate
Oakville
Cabernet Sauvignon
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Mahoney Vineyard
Carneros
Pinot Noir
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The Covenant Crew
At our winery in Berkeley, Covenant’s crew is a bit like an extended family. In fact, some of us are actually related! The production and marketing teams operate in close proximity and often share lunches together outside the winery under the California sun. We’ve grown together as a business and as friends. We hope that our wines promote the same kind of comradery that we experience here in the winery at dinner tables throughout the world.
- Jeff Morgan
- Vintner/Co-Owner
- Jodie Morgan
- Vintner/Co-Owner
- Geoff Rochwarger
- Co-Owner
- Leslie Rudd
- Co-Founder (1941-2018)
- Sagie Kleinlerer
- Managing Director
- Jonathan Hajdu
- Winemaker
- Zoë Morgan
- Israel Sales and Promotion
- Tamar Sandel
- Hospitality and Marketing Manager
Experience Our Urban Winery
We produce our wine in a 7,000 square-foot urban winery in the
“Berkeley Drinks District” of Berkeley, California.