Shailah of the Week by Rabbi Zvi Nussbaum
Rabbinic Coordinator, Kosher Hotline Administrator for the Orthodox Union
Can I cook with wine during the Nine Days?
Beginning Rosh Chodesh Av until after Tisha B’Av (the Nine Days) the custom of Ashkenazim is not to eat meat or drink wine, in remembrance of the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. Therefore, one cannot cook with wine during the Nine Days.
What about cooking with red wine vinegar?
Rama (OC 551:9) writes that using wine vinegar is acceptable during the Nine Days. He explains that wine vinegar does not promote simcha (joy), and was not included in the wine restriction. Wine “vinegar” refers to wine that has fermented to the point where one would not drink it (MB 551:57).
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