As a U.S. intelligence officer in occupied Berlin in the aftermath of World War II, the German-Jewish immigrant put Western fears to rest when he concluded that the Soviet Union did not intend to launch a military invasion of West Germany.
Later, after he’d grown disenchanted with espionage, Sichel took over his family’s wine business. Realizing that most Americans in the late 1950s had little knowledge of wine, he determined that they’d be drawn to something simple. He chose Blue Nun, a slightly sweet German white his family had been making since the 1920s, and the brand became ubiquitous. At its peak in 1984, it sold 30 million bottles... more
