Norman Schapiro, 70, Ran City's Only Kosher Winery

Norman Schapiro, who died Saturday at 70, was the third generation in New York's first, and now apparently last, kosher winery.

In a block-long series of cellars beneath Rivington Street, where the company maintained a shop and tasting room, the Schapiro Kosher Wine Co. produced up to 100,000 cases of wine annually for each simcha and yom tov, or celebration and holy day. Vintage quality was never quite the issue at a winery whose slogan was "You can almost cut it with a knife." More important was the kosher certification provided by the rabbis who oversaw the devout Jews who produced it from field to barrel to bottle.

A native of Brooklyn, Schapiro was the grandson of Sam Schapiro, who emigrated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the late 1800s. In 1899, Sam Schapiro began producing his own kosher wine as a sideline for a restaurant on Attorney Street. A few years later, the restaurant was closed and wine-making became the full-time family business, a few blocks away. On days just before the high holy days, lines would form out to Rivington Street.

Norman Schapiro inherited the business from his father, Jacob, who died in 1962. It was Jacob Schapiro who built the business into national distribution, starting in the early 1930s, when he produced sacramental wine under a special exemption from Prohibition. Family lore has it that he sold stronger stuff out the back door.

Grapes were crushed at the Rivington Street cellars through 1967, when supplies of concord grapes from Hudson County became scarce. The winery then relied on Finger Lakes grape juice, which it fermented in giant oak and redwood casks. Later, it moved production to Monticello, Va., and Atlanta.

Norman Schapiro added a whimsical marketing touch to the company's offerings and tried to broaden its appeal to non-Jews. One poster depicted a gaucho swigging a bottle of Schapiro's kosher sangria and offering the toast "L'Chaim: El Schapiro's!" Another featured a nun under the slogan "I've converted." A third read: "This deal is too good to Pass Over."

While selling his wines on the basis of shtick and tradition, Schapiro diversified into new flavors — almond cream and plum cream, and dessert wines like Sauternes. He also began importing drier kosher wines.

At one time, the company stood second only to Manischewitz Co. of Brooklyn in producing sacramental wine, but in recent years production flagged along with Schapiro's health. His wife, Linda Schapiro, said yesterday that the fate of the business is undecided in the wake of his death.

"My customers are heartbroken," Mrs. Schapiro said. "There are certain people that can't drink anything else at the holidays."

He leaves behind three sons and five grandchildren.