The two wine prohibitions and how far each reaches: the Mehaber's benefit prohibition and the leniency the Rama opens, the wines a touch does not reach, the threshold of המשכה, the by-products of the vat, treading and the force of a non-Jew (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 123 — 26 seifim)
סתם יינם של עממים עובדי כוכבים אסור בהנאה וה״ה למגעם ביין שלנו
The ordinary wine of non-Jews is forbidden for benefit, and the same holds for their touching our wine. That is the opening sentence of the siman, and the twenty-five seifim that follow unfold its limits.
Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 123:1LEVEL 01
Hebrew text of the 26 seifim with a flowing English translation. The two wine prohibitions, the wines a touch does not reach, temed and lees, the threshold of המשכה and treading — explained step by step with concrete examples.
📖 StudyLEVEL 02
In-depth pilpul: the gueder of סתם יינם and the two grounds of the decree, the chakira on cooked wine and on covered wine, the nature of המשכה — a flow or a separation — and the ladder מגע · כח · דריכה, with the ש״ך and the ט״ז.
📖 StudyLEVEL 03
Three master tables (the benefit prohibition, which liquid counts as wine, the threshold of המשכה), golden rules, a mnemonic on the word יין, classic traps and a line-by-line recap of the 26 seifim.
📖 StudyLEVEL 04
Practical halacha according to the ש״ך, the ט״ז and the פתחי תשובה, then the poskim. Note: the Alter Rebbe wrote no Shulchan Aruch on Yoreh De'ah — a psak level, not “Daat HaRav”.
📖 Studyיין נסך in the strict sense is wine actually poured out as a libation before an idol: forbidden to drink and to benefit from, and that prohibition does not come from the Sages. סתם יינם, the real subject of this siman, is the ordinary wine of a non-Jew and our own wine that a non-Jew has touched; that one is a decree of the Sages. Seif 1 states it in a single line: « סתם יינם של עממים עובדי כוכבים אסור בהנאה וה״ה למגעם ביין שלנו » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ג:א). The Shach adds the second ground of the decree, the גזרת בנותיהן (ש״ך יו״ד קכ״ג ס״ק א). For your own situation, consult your Rav.
The Rama reports that in his day libation to idols was no longer common, and concludes that « י״א דמגע עובד כוכבים ביין שלנו אינו אסור בהנאה רק בשתייה » (רמ״א יו״ד קכ״ג:א). The leniency therefore bears on benefit alone — never on drinking — and it is calibrated to loss: collecting a debt by taking a non-Jew's wine is permitted, since it is like rescuing one's own from their hand, and the same holds for one who transgressed and bought or sold. But buying or selling לכתחלה in order to profit remains forbidden, and the Rama concludes « ויש מקילין גם בזה וטוב להחמיר ». For your own situation, consult your Rav.
Those that have ceased to be wine, or that can no longer be seen. Our cooked wine: « יין מבושל שלנו שנגע בו העובד כוכבים מותר », and it is called cooked « משהרתיח על גבי האש » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ג:ג) — the Shach requires that its measure be reduced by the boiling. Wine given honey and pepper whose taste has changed (seif 4). A dish containing wine, even before it boiled, as long as the wine is not ניכר בעין in it (seif 5). Vinegar that bubbles when thrown on the ground (seif 6), and congealed wine (seif 5). Unripe grape juice, however, and diluted wine that keeps its taste, remain affected (seif 8). For your own situation, consult your Rav.
At the threshold of המשכה, which is not a flow but a separation. Seif 17 states it: « מאימתי נקרא יין ליאסר במגע עובד כוכבי׳ משהתחיל לימשך » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ג:י״ז) — from the moment the clear wine, cleared of the skins, runs down the slope of the vat to its floor. A cup drawn with the intention of separating, or a basket set into the vat, likewise makes a המשכה (seif 18); taking the skins along with the wine does not. And in a sealed and full vat, where המשכה does not apply, only the basket set before it has the status of wine (seif 20). For your own situation, consult your Rav.
Seif 21 forbids it: « אין דורכין עם העובד כוכבים בגת… שמא יגע בידים וינסך ואפילו היה כפות » (שו״ע יו״ד קכ״ג:כ״א). The Rama limits the rule to a vat or tub from which the wine is customarily drawn, and permits a trough from which one does not draw: « אבל בעריבה שאין דרך למשוך משם מותר לדרוך עמו ». But the Taz reports many sages who forbade in practice taking from a non-Jew grapes trodden in any vessel at all (ט״ז יו״ד קכ״ג ס״ק ט״ז). And even without a touch: a non-Jew who trod under the eye of a Jew renders the wine forbidden to drink (seif 22). For your own situation, consult your Rav.