Pogum Wine
A Flaw in Its Quality
There is a halacha that the wine for a kos shel bracha may not be “pogum” [lit., flawed], i.e., one may not use wine from which someone else previously drank (שו''ע סי' קפ''ב ס''א ) even a very small amount (מ''ב סקי''ז ) unless it is fixed effectively, as will be explained.
The reason for this is because pogum wine is distasteful [מיאוס ]. This is somewhat similar to the concept of a mum for a korban; the posuk says about this “הקריבהו נא לפחתיך” (מהר''ם חלאוה פסחים דף ק''ה ע''ב, לבוש סי' קפ''ב סק''ג ). Alternatively, it is like a nick [פגימה], which makes the Mizbeiach posul (מג''א שם סק''י ).
Only Posul L’chatchila
Pogum wine is only posul for Kiddush, Birkas Hamazon, and the like l’chatchila. B’dieved, or if one has no option of using other wine or fixing up the pogum wine, one may still make Kiddush (מ''ב סי' רע''א סקמ''ג ) or Birkas HaMazon with pogum wine (שו''ע סי' קפ''ב ס''ז ומ''ב סקל''ב ).
Poured pogum wine back into bottle. B’dieved if one poured pogum wine into the bottle before it was fixed and the amount of wine in the bottle is greater than the pogum wine, the pogum wine is botul and the wine is fine. Some say this is only true if one poured a bit at a time, as we can say each small amount became botul as it came in [קמא קמא בטיל ] (ט''ז ), but many poskim hold the wine is fine even if one poured all the pogum wine in at once (מג''א סק''ט, שעה''צ, שו''ע הגר''ז הל''ה ).
How a Wine Becomes Pogum
Drank from the barrel. If one drank directly from a large barrel, the wine in the barrel does not become pogum since it is not normal to drink from a large barrel (שו''ע סי' קפ''ב ס''ג ). However, some are machmir (מג''א ), and one should l’chatchila satisfy this opinion (מ''ב סקכ''א ). But if one drank directly from a small barrel or jug, all the wine in the barrel or jug becomes pogum (שו''ע שם ) and remains pogum even if some is poured into a different vessel (מ''ב סק''כ ).
Drank from the bottle. Drinking wine directly from the bottle [it sometimes happens on Purim that a drunk person drinks from the bottle and then the wine is needed for Birkas HaMazon] is like drinking from a small barrel or jug (above, 17), i.e., the wine is pogum even if it is poured into a cup.
Drinking with a straw. Some poskim hold wine becomes pogum when one drinks it with a straw (מקור חיים לבעל חוות יאיר קיצור הל' ס''ג ). However, others hold it does not become pogum strictly speaking. Nevertheless, it is proper to fix it if possible (שערי תשובה בשם שו''ת שבות יעקב ח''ג סי' י''ד ).
How to Fix Pogum Wine
Pogum wine can be fixed easily, e.g., by pouring a bit of wine or water into it, as will be explained. The reason such a small remedy helps is because the flaw in the wine is just a minor issue, not a real psul. Thus, when one adds to it, it is like making up for what is lacking and perfecting the flaw, restoring the wine to its original status (מ''ב סקכ''ט ).
Specific Halachos About Fixing Pogum Wine
Pouring from vessel that holds a revi’is. Some hold pogum wine can only be fixed by pouring from something that has a revi’is of wine, e.g., only pouring from a bottle that has at least a revi’is of wine, even if only a little bit is actually poured, into a cup of pogum wine (מהר''ם מ''ץ הובא בב''ח, כף החיים סק''ל ). However, the poskim do not cite this chumra, so strictly speaking, we are not careful about it.
Does a small amount help? Some poskim hold pouring just a small amount of water or wine into the pogum wine does not help unless the good wine is the majority (מהר''ם מרוטנברורג ). However, most poskim hold it suffices to pour even a small amount to get rid of the pogum status of the wine; this is the psak in halacha (שו''ע ס''ו ).
Ways to fix Pogum Wine
The poskim mention multiple ways to fix a kos of pogum wine. Many people are careful about this for Kiddush, but it is just as important to be careful about it for the kos of Birkas HaMazon. We will go through some ways that are effective according to halacha as well as ways that work even according to the machmir opinions mentioned above.
A bit of wine. Strictly speaking, adding a bit of non-pogum wine into the pogum wine is enough to fix the wine (שו''ע ס''ו ). It can even be added from a bottle that does not have a revi’is of wine (above, 21). Similarly, one may use a bit of wine that spilled onto the plate under the kos. To satisfy the machmir opinion, one should make sure to add wine from a bottle with a revi’is of wine in it, even though he is only adding a small amount of wine (ibid.).
A bit of water. Similarly, if the wine is strong, one may strictly speaking add a bit [not a lot (שעה''צ סקכ''ז )] of non-pogum water to fix the pogum wine (שו''ע שם ). Our wines are not so strong and we do not dilute wine with water. Thus, some are concerned that pogum wine cannot be fixed with water (הג' חת''ס בשו''ע על המג''א סק''י ). Many are not concerned about this and allow wine to be fixed with water even today.
Other drinks. If one has no wine or water, he can fix pogum wine with other drinks as long as the flavor of the wine is not ruined by adding the other drinks (מג''א, מ''ב סק''ל).
Pouring into a smaller, revi’is sized cup. If one has no wine, water, or other drink to fix the pogum wine and there is a revi’is of pogum wine, there is another method: he can transfer the pogum wine into a smaller cup that holds a revi’is (כוס ישועות ליקו''ה פ''ג אות כ''ב); doing this fixes the pogum wine somewhat (מ''ב סקל''ב ).
Ideal remedy. If one wants to satisfy the machmir opinions as well, he should do as follows: after he says a bracha on the kos and drinks from it, he should pour a bit of wine from the bottle into the kos [strictly speaking this is enough (above, 24)] if there is a revi’is in the bottle (21); then, he should pour all the wine from the cup back into the bottle (22) a bit at a time (16) with more wine in the bottle than in the kos (ibid.). Then, he can give some out to everyone present by pouring from the bottle into their cups, or he can pour the wine from the bottle into the kos he made a bracha on and pass the kos to his family members to drink from it (below, 30) (זמירות דברי יואל סקל''ז ).
