On a night when there are four questions, there's another that's long dogged me - how did we end up with Manischewitz on Passover?
Central to the Passover seder are four cups of wine, drunk at intervals during the home service. Jewish law says that that kosher wine be produced and handled only by Jews, and you could imagine what a bitch that was for early immigrants in North America. Native grapes were poorly suited while imported vines succumbed to the elements, and imported wine from Europe was too expensive. A popular solution was was non-alcoholic raisin wine , which came out of small shops and basement wineries. By the end of the 19th century, the top six vendors in New York alone sold 40,000 gallons of this Passover wine. But there was a better vint coming.
Ephraim Wales Bull developed the Concord grape in New England, and from the time it went on sale in 1854, it rapidly spread throughout the country. Thomas Welch decided to pasteurize its juice as well as jelly it. When fermented, the Concord grape into a fortified, syrupy, highly alcoholic wine. Kosher wineries started appearing and even flourished even during Prohibition - thanks to the Volstead Act's exemption for sacramental beverages.
Thanks in part to the popularity of Concord grape juice, American palates warmed to the distinctive flavor of the grape as it grew popular in mainstream markets along with other "ethnic foods". By 1952, kosher wine like Manischewitz was among the most popular wines in the Midwest. Adding Sammy Davis Jr. as a pitchman helped sell the wine to the African-American community, which still continues to account for a large percentage of its sales.
Though sales have decreased over the last few decades, a new kosher wine industry has developed. Catering to both wine snobs and hipsters cred, there's also a boom in exports to Asia, which is the world's fastest-growing wine markets. So raise your glass to the long standing tradition and the flavor of the seder!
Central to the Passover seder are four cups of wine, drunk at intervals during the home service. Jewish law says that that kosher wine be produced and handled only by Jews, and you could imagine what a bitch that was for early immigrants in North America. Native grapes were poorly suited while imported vines succumbed to the elements, and imported wine from Europe was too expensive. A popular solution was was non-alcoholic raisin wine , which came out of small shops and basement wineries. By the end of the 19th century, the top six vendors in New York alone sold 40,000 gallons of this Passover wine. But there was a better vint coming.
Ephraim Wales Bull developed the Concord grape in New England, and from the time it went on sale in 1854, it rapidly spread throughout the country. Thomas Welch decided to pasteurize its juice as well as jelly it. When fermented, the Concord grape into a fortified, syrupy, highly alcoholic wine. Kosher wineries started appearing and even flourished even during Prohibition - thanks to the Volstead Act's exemption for sacramental beverages.
Thanks in part to the popularity of Concord grape juice, American palates warmed to the distinctive flavor of the grape as it grew popular in mainstream markets along with other "ethnic foods". By 1952, kosher wine like Manischewitz was among the most popular wines in the Midwest. Adding Sammy Davis Jr. as a pitchman helped sell the wine to the African-American community, which still continues to account for a large percentage of its sales.
Though sales have decreased over the last few decades, a new kosher wine industry has developed. Catering to both wine snobs and hipsters cred, there's also a boom in exports to Asia, which is the world's fastest-growing wine markets. So raise your glass to the long standing tradition and the flavor of the seder!
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