Information AboutCalifornia Wine |
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EARLY YEARS In 1769, Franciscan missionary Father Junipero Serra planted the first California vineyard at Mission San Diego. Father Serra continued to establish eight more missions and vineyards until his death in 1784 and has been called the "Father of California Wine". The variety he planted, presumably descended from earlier Mexican plantings, became known as the Mission grape and dominated California wine production until about 1880. California's first documented imported European wine vines were planted in Los Angeles in 1833 by Jean-Louis Vignes. In the 1850s and '60s, Agoston Harazsthy, a Hungarian soldier, merchant and promoter, made several trips to import cuttings from 165 of the greatest European vineyards to California. Some of this endeavor was at his personal expense and some through grants from the state. Overall, he introduced about 300 different grape varieties, although some were lost prior to testing, due to difficulties in preserving and handling. Considered the Founder of the California Wine Industry, Harazsthy contributed his enthusiasm and optimism for the future of wine, along with considerable personal effort and risk. He founded Buena Vista Winery and promoted vine planting over much of Northern California. He dug extensive caves for cellaring, promoted hillside planting, fostered the idea of non-irrigated vineyards and suggested Redwood for casks when oak supplies ran low. In 1863, species of native American grapes were taken to Botanical Gardens in England. These cuttings carried a species of root louse called Phylloxera which attacks and feeds on the vine roots and leaves. ''Phylloxera'' is indigenous to North America and native vine varieties had developed resistance. European vines had no such evolutionary protection. By 1865, ''phylloxera'' had spread to vines in Provence. Over the next 20 years, it inhabited and decimated nearly all the vineyards of Europe. Many methods were attempted to eradicate ''phylloxera'' but all proved temporary and none economical. Finally Thomas Munson , a horticulturist in Texas, suggested grafting the European vinifera vines onto American riparia rootsocks. So, there began a long, laborious process of grafting every wine vine in Europe over to American rootstocks. It was only in this manner that the European wine industry could be retrieved from extinction. During the period when the Europeans were contending with ''phylloxera'', the American wine industry was ironically flourishing. By 1900, America had a fully developed and proud commercial wine producing business. Many California wines received medals in European competitions. Barrels of California wine were being regularly exported to Australia, Canada, Central America, England, Germany, Mexico and the Orient. PROHIBITION The destruction of the American wine industry would come not from ''phylloxeria'' but from National Prohibition (1920-1933). Thirty-three states had gone dry at the outbreak of World War I. Wartime Prohibition was enacted in 1919, followed by the Volstead National Prohibition Act and the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, forbidding the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors." Through a loophole allowing each home to "make 200 gallons of non-intoxicating cider and fruit juice per year," thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens became home winemakers and bootleggers. Prices for fresh grapes shot up, because of the increased demand and a railroad shortage of refrigerated freight cars in which to ship them. Growers began replanting fine wine variety vineyards to juice grape varieties that shipped well. The massive plantings produced a constant surplus of low-quality grapes that persisted until 1971. By the time of National Repeal, effective December 5, 1933, the industry was in ruins. Although some wineries managed to survive by obtaining permits to make wines used for medicinal, sacramental and non-beverage additive purposes, production dropped 94% from 1919 to 1925. REPEAL Even after chose to establish monopoly liquor stores with limited selections. Today 10% of the nation's area and 6% of the population remain dry. Anticipating Repeal, speculators and others soon flooded the legal market with quickly and poorly made wine. Dilettantes published books and articles warning Americans about rigid rules that must be followed to serve the proper wine with the proper food from the proper glass at the proper temperature. Faced with low quality products with which to risk committing social blunders and while remaining uncertain about the social acceptance of any alcohol, most Americans stayed away. The only group of wines that sold well were the fortified dessert wines. Taxed at the lower rate of wine as opposed to distilled spirits, but with 20% alcohol, this group made the cheapest intoxicant available. Before 1920, table wines accounted for 3 of every 4 gallons shipped. After 1933, fortified wines were 3 of every 4 gallons shipped. It wasn't until 1968 that table wines sales finally overtook fortified wines, regaining the status of most popular wine category. Before 1920, there were more than 2,500 commercial wineries in the United States. Less than 100 survived as winemaking operations to 1933. By 1960, that number had grown to only 271. California had 713 bonded wineries before Prohibition; it took more than half a century, until 1986, before that many were again operating. Prohibition left a legacy of distorting the role of alcohol in American life and ruining a fledgling world-class wine industry, which took decades of work to overcome. Research at the University of California at Davis and Fresno State University greatly assisted the new breed of vintners who arrived in California in the 1960s and who were committed to producing wine of the highest international standards. WINE REVOLUTION Some California wine makers began to produce quality wines but still had difficulty marketing them. Frank Schoonmaker, a prominent journalist and wine writer of the 1950s and '60s introduced the idea of labeling wines using varietal (''Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling'') rather than generic names borrowed from famous European regions("Burgundy", "Chablis", "Rhine", etc.). Robert Mondavi was one of the first to label the majority of his wines by varietal names and was tireless in promoting the practice. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the quality of some vintners' wines was outstanding but few took notice. On May 24, 1976, a blind tasting was held in Paris with a panel made up exclusively of French wine experts. After comparing California Chardonnays with the very best French Chardonnays, three of the top four were Californian. Every one of the nine judges ranked Chateau Montelena the highest, Chalone Vineyard came in third and Spring Mountain Vineyard fourth. When reds were evaluated, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars was ranked number one, above Château Mouton-Rothschild , Château Montrose , Château Haut-Brion , and Château Leoville Las Cases , all highly prestigious and very expensive French Wine s. Five years after the Paris Wine Tasting Of 1976 , ''New York Times'' wine critic Terry Robards noted that "American wines are often challenging French wines in tasting competitions these days, and the results often suggest that certain carefully chosen California wine are superior to the best that France can offer." On the tenth anniversary of the Paris competition, the red wines earlier evaluated were re-tested in two separate blind tastings (the French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting Of 1986 and the Wine Spectator Wine Tasting Of 1986 ). In both cases, the California wines increased their rankings, apparently having aged better than their Brodeaux competitors. In ''Oz Clarke's New encyclopedia of Wine'', Mr. Clarke writes that California "was the catalyst and then the locomotive for change that finally prised open the ancient European wineland's rigid grip on the hiearchy of quality wine and led the way in proving that there are hundreds if not thousands of places around the world where good to great wine can be made." He observes that "until the exploits of California's modern pioneers of the 1960's and '70's, no-one had ever before challenged the right of Europe's, and in particular, France's vineyards, to be regarded as the only source of great wine in the world." Backed by continuing research, California vintners continue to innovate in attempts to further enhance the quality and competitiveness of their products. The story of California wine continues to evolve. SEE ALSO Wine competitions featuring wines from California These wine competitions are highly significant because (1) all tasting was done blind and (2) the results were listed in rank order from highest to lowest. There were no multiple winners except in the case of multiple categories (for example one red wine winner and one white wine winner).
Associated with Paris Wine Tasting Of 1976
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