[10] Following World War II the company purchased a 50,000 square foot (4,600 m2) building at 3737 South Sacramento Ave[11] in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood which was converted into one of the largest wineries in the Midwestern United States.

The entire winery was allocated to a single product, Mogen David, a kosher wine originally marketed for the Passover Seder that turned out to be popular year-round with the general public.

[14][15] Max Cohen, company President and founder, noted in 1952 that 98 percent of Mogen David's customers were not Jewish.

[25] The company broke away from its conventional Mogen David line with the introduction of the MD 20/20 brand[note 1] of flavored fortified wines that were well received by younger consumers, especially college students.

The MD 20/20 line included unusual flavors such as pink grapefruit, wild berry, and Hawaiian blue.

When Coke-New York was approached by an investment banking firm to let them know that Mogen David was for sale, they saw an opportunity to become a major competitor in a new industry (Mogen David was the sixth largest winery and the largest Concord grape wine producer in the country) and to pick up a national sales and distribution network.

[14][27] J. Myron "Mike" Bay was an officer in both companies: President of Mogen David as well as a VP of Coke-New York.

[36] When merger discussions resumed in 1980,[37] The Coca-Cola Company had already entered the alcoholic beverage market; their Wine Spectrum subsidiary consisting of wineries in California and New York.

[38] Coke-New York divested itself of its three wineries, which were bought in 1981 by The Wine Group, a limited partnership headed by Arthur A. Ciocca,[39] to avoid a buyout involving a third party.