Back in the 1960s all I knew about wine was that my mother often fancied a small glass of Port wine after dinner, and the New York TV channels had lots of advertisements for Mogen David, Manischewitz and Gallo Brothers wines. A Wikipedia article shows that Mogen David wine was processed at their Chicago facility, and in 1953 they processed almost 5 million gallons of wine, all of it fortified, all of it kosher. (Up from 75,000 gallons in 1946.)Their sources pre-1950 were grape growers in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan. No mention of other sources supporting the huge increase in production.

Some years later, on our first visit to the Napa Valley, I asked at one winery (Beringer's?) about Port wine. The guide gently told me it was for older drinkers whose taste buds were no longer sensitive enough to appreciate the subtle and complex flavors of better wines.

Tom Madden, who never could appreciate those sweet kosher wines