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Someone takes a cup containing just the amount of wine for which he must make a blessing after drinking it.

He then dilutes the wine with water such that the blessing is no longer “borei pri hagofen” but rather “shehakol”. See here, question 29 for the amount of dilution required.

He then drinks the mixture so that he has drunk the amount of wine within the time needed to necessitate an after-blessing.

What blessing does he make? “Al hagefen” or “Borei nefoshos rabos”?

Considerations:

  • He has had the nutritional benefit of the wine but it was not “wine” when he ingested it.

  • He did ingest it in the normal fashion; it was not introduced, for
    example, intravenously.

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  • I believe that food items such as wine can never become tofel especually when water is the additive.
    – Ani Yodea
    Aug 24, 2014 at 11:10
  • The reference I gave in the question says, "A29) In general, Sefardim allow one to dilute wine or grape juice up to 50% before it loses its Hagefen bracha. Ashkenazim allow even more, up to 5 parts water with one part wine or grape juice." In other words dilution of wine with water so that the wine is less than 50% (for Sefardim) or less than 16.7% for Ashkenazim makes the brocho onthe resulting liquid shehakol!
    – Avrohom Yitzchok
    Aug 24, 2014 at 11:33
  • I don't get your premise; once the wine is diluted according to the shiur you mention it is no longer considered wine - halachkly speaking. Thus when you say "drunk amount of wine..." the halacha does not recognize its presence. If it did then it could be used for Kiddush or the 4 cups on Pesach which it can't
    – eramm
    Aug 24, 2014 at 11:35
  • @eramm After dilution it is no longer considered wine - for the blessing before. But you cannot deny that he has drunk the amount of wine within the time needed to require an after-blessing. That's my question!
    – Avrohom Yitzchok
    Aug 24, 2014 at 12:27
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    And that's my answer :-) once it has been diluted the halacha takes it out of the category of wine so you haven't drunk wine rather sweet water and there is no difference between the blessing before or after. Let's say by accident you used diluted wine for Kiddush; according to you would you be yotzai after all you drank the required amount of wine in the right amount of time ? yet we find that the halacha disagrees. The wine is simply no longer there. You may have drunk what you consider wine but the halacha does not consider it wine.
    – eramm
    Aug 24, 2014 at 12:38

1 Answer 1

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I checked with my rav who quoted Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach. He holds that after 50% dilution any more means that it is not wine at all and that is why the bracha rishona is Shehakol and the bracha acharona is boreh nefashos no matter how much wine would have been in the mixture if you extracted it.

After shacharis he spoke of the halachos of solid food (such as cereals) and kugels as to when they become shehakol from having been ground up. The SA and Mishna Brurah state that once the bracha becomes shehakol (such as corn chips or many cereals) then the bracha acharona changes also. He added that the halacha with rice and wheat (mezonos) is different as far as the bracha rishona changing is concered. However, that is not involved in the question. I just mentioned it to point out that the bracha acharona follows the status of the bracha rishona for more than just the wine mentioned in the question.

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  • Do we know where Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach said it?
    – Avrohom Yitzchok
    Aug 25, 2014 at 12:27
  • @AvrohomYitzchok I just asked my rav after minyon this morning as we were leaving. He did not give the specific place that Rav S. Z. said it.
    – sabbahillel
    Aug 25, 2014 at 21:52

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