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Sorry I don't have all the sources in front of me. The basic rule of blessings is that wine/grape juice, fruits from the seven species, and the five grain products get a special after blessing known as "Me'ein Shalosh". If one had a combination of these three categories, they wouldn't make three separate blessings, rather they would combine them all into one.

A common scenario is at a Kiddush, someone will have a sip of wine/grape juice. They will then have the requisite amount of grain (mezonos), so that they'll fulfill the requirement to eat where they heard Kiddush. They will then have to make a Me'ein Shalosh, saying Al HaMichya for grain. However, they didn't have the requisite amount of wine/grape juice to make Me'ein Shalosh for wine/grape juice. Could they, or should they, still include the phrase Al HaGefen for having drunk wine/grape juice? Or would they include that only if they had the requisite amount.

I seem to recall this is a dispute among the Poskim, but I don't remember where I read this. I'm curious for the relevant sources, and what the common practice is. My imagination is most people include it anyways.

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  • Potentially relevant Terumas HaDeshen who discusses including things in Me'in Shalosh because of a doubt – robev May 3 '20 at 3:15
  • Robev, I asked my father and he says Pri Hagefen even if he has not had the shuir. But a friend of his doesnt and only includes Al Hamichiya. However they asked the rav of our shul and he said that both are correct. – Russell May 3 '20 at 15:29
  • I'm pretty sure the Rambam has a teshuva about this. – Alex May 3 '20 at 19:20
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If the 'sip' you drank at the kiddush was a shot glass (as I've often seen done in such a setting) where the contents of the cup may be a kezayis at least according to some authorities, in which case the Shulchan Aruch (210:1) says there is a doubt if one is obligated in an after blessing, then the Chayei Adam (50:21) mentions this case:

שתה יין בכזית ואם כן הוא ספק אם יברך ב"א כיון שהוא פחות מרביעית. וכן שתה יין ונסתפק אם בירך ב"א ואין לו יין מותר לו לאכול כזית מדברים שמברכין עליו על המחיה ויכלול בתוכה ג"כ על הגפן אע"ג דלכתחילה היה אסור לשתות דבר שהוא מסופק אם הוא יין וכיוצא בו כדי לכלול בעל המחיה וכיוצא בו מ"מ כיון שכבר אכל או שתה והוא מסופק ואין לו מאותו המין לתקן יכול לכלול מספק - One who drink a kezayis of wine and is thereby uncertain if he can make a bracha achrona since he drank less than a reviis, also one who drinks wine and isn't sure if he made a bracha achrona and has no more wine to drink, then it is permitted to eat a kezayis of other foods requiring an al hamichya to include the wine drunk into the bracha achrona with al hamichya v'al pri hagafen. Even though lechatchila it is forbidden to drink a questionable amount of wine and the like in order to include al hagafen in the al hamichya, still it was already done then you can repair the issue by including al hagafen in al hamichya.

The Mishna Berura (208:82) seems to echo the same 'don't do this lechatchila' in a related case.

However, if your 'sip' is truly less than a kezayis then it would be a different answer. There is no bracha achrona for wine/grape juice when less than a kezayis is drunk, and we cannot add additional insertions to the obligatory al hamichya without a halachically legitimate reason - like to potentially remove ourselves from a questionable bracha achrona. (The Biur Halacha (202:11) writes regarding a case of a questionable bracha achrona אע"ג דהב"י ולבוש כתבו כאן דאין זה תקנה דאין לו להוסיף בנוסח הברכה על הספק ע"ש כ"ז ביש לו תקנה אחרת דפרי ומים הנזכר בשו"ע אבל באין לו תקנה זו יכול לסמוך על הט"ז ס"ס ר"ח שכתב דבשעת הדחק יכול להוסיף בברכה וכן הסכים שם במאמר מרדכי, bringing the Beis Yosef who says you cannot add an additional insertion to the bracha achrona for a safek as well as the Taz who is lenient in a pressing situation.

If there is no question of the bracha achrona if you drank less than even a kezayis of wine/grape juice, then it would seem the Taz, Chayei Adam, etc. wouldn't allow adding an unnecessary insertion.

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    This all holds only if the reason to generally avoid unnecessary insertions is due to their being unnecessary. If the reason is because they are false (I can't say I ate grapes when I didn't) then this doesn't hold. Maybe I don't have to thank God for the half grape I ate, but if I'm thanking Him anyway I can include it since I am indeed thankful. – Double AA♦ May 4 '20 at 15:46
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    A slight variant of @DoubleAA's comment: My basic question is if you're saying Me'ein Shalosh anyways, is it considered unnecessary to add al hagefen for a sip less than a shiur. You're assuming yes, but I'm looking for sources for this conclusion. – robev May 4 '20 at 16:14
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    Something else to consider in the unnecessary addition is the potential for al hamichya to cover wine as well. See revach.net/halacha/tshuvos/… – NJM May 4 '20 at 17:46
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    @robev שו"ת אגרות משה אורח חיים חלק ב סימן קט בדבר אחד שאכל כזית ממיני מזונות ושתה יין חצי שיעור אם יזכיר על הגפן בברכה אחרונה, הנה יכול לברך ואין בזה משום הפסק – wfb May 4 '20 at 18:40
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    @robev here's the rest of the teshuvah: שו"ת אגרות משה אורח חיים חלק ב סימן קט דגדולה מזו סובר הט"ז סימן ר"ח ס"ק י"ט דאף בשתה ספק אם הוא יין או שאר משקה דיוסיף גם על הגפן כשאכל אח"כ מיני מזונות כיון שאין כאן ברכה לבטלה, ובזה פליג הרמ"א משום דאולי אין שייך פה שם גפן כלל כדאיתא במ"ב סק"פ, אבל בפחות מכשיעור ששייך שם גפן לכו"ע יכול להוסיף, וממילא טוב להוסיף. ואם שתה יין כשיעור כזית דהוא שליש רביעית כדאיתא במ"ב סימן ר"י ס"ק י"א שהוא ספק שמא מברכין על כזית כדאיתא שם בש"ע סעיף א' מחוייב להוסיף. – wfb May 4 '20 at 18:42

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