This past holiday weekend had me enjoying some time away with my
co-workers at Leal Vineyards.
This past holiday weekend had me enjoying some time away with my co-workers at Leal Vineyards.
Our bi-annual retreat had us heading up to the mountains near Tahoe where we whiled away time sipping great wine, eating great food, smoking cigars, playing poker – and for me, accomplishing two goals: to get back on the ski slopes after 15 years and to start reading a new book that was given to me as a gift.
In between my many “yard sales” (ski-speak for crashing so hard you litter the mountain with poles, skis and clothing debris) I recuperated by the fireplace with my other goal.
The book is titled “History in a Glass: Sixty Years of Wine Writing from Gourmet.” Edited by current Gourmet editor-in-chief Ruth Reichel, the book chronicles some of the articles that were written about wine between 1941, when the magazine was founded, until today.
As Reichel states in her introduction, “Gourmet was born into nearly a wineless world. … although America had not yet joined the war, crossing the ocean had become far too dangerous for any cargo as frivolous as wine.
“Before long, supplies of older French and German wines – at the time, virtually the only wines being imported – began to dry up … shipping lanes really had nothing to import anyway: The vineyards of Europe had turned into battlegrounds and producing wine was no longer a priority.”
American wineries, even in the 1940s, were still reeling from the effects of prohibition. During prohibition, many domestic vineyards were torn out and it took many years to replace them.
The essays that Reichel chose to include in her book show the determination of these writers to introduce the wonders of wine to the general public.
As time progresses through the essays, you can see the excitement build as wine becomes part of our culture and part of our passion.
I particularly liked some of the early essays by revered writer Frank Schoonmaker.
In one titled Vin Ordinaire in America, Schoonmaker shares his perspective on the state of common ordinary table wine, how many efforts were made over decades to convert America into nation of wine drinkers through the use of accessible, cheap wine and how he delineates vin ordinaire and the finer table wine of the day.
“Vin ordinaire is the wine you drink 360 days of the year; fine table wine is the turkey at Thanksgiving and plum pudding on Christmas Day. When you pay $1.50 or $2 for a cabernet from Napa, you have the right to the equivalent of a filet steak – a vintage wine from a top district, properly aged both before and after bottling, made with great care out of the unusual, shy-bearing grape varieties which yield outstanding wine not only in this country but in France.
“When you buy vin ordinaire, you are altogether in a different league… you should judge what you buy as you judge coffee, milk or beer.
“As with coffee and beer, you have the right to something that is sound and palatable, with no off taste or off color; your wine will have little or no bouquet, but what aroma it has should be agreeable; you can serve it in tumblers or mugs or cocktail glasses, at a temperature you like and with any dish, including pickles.
“It is, as I have said, a beverage, not a ceremony.” He mentions the cost of this wine should be around 60-70 cents per bottle.
He goes further to suggest that this wine “should come from California, not from New York, Ohio or Michigan, because there are no ways those states grow grapes cheaply enough to permit the sale of well-made wine.
“Try if possible to get a wine from one of the north coast counties – Sonoma, Napa, Santa Clara, San Benito, Alameda or Santa Cruz.
“Far too much of the wine produced in the central valleys is made out of what is called ‘three way grapes.’
“This innocent sounding term means a grape that can be used for making raisins, table grapes if the market for raisins is down, or if worse comes to worst, a grape used to make wine … such wine can be flat, neutral and about as appetizing as colored water.”
Mr. Schoonmaker’s article came out in October of 1947 – close to 60 years ago.
I found it interesting to see the attitudes, parallels, changes and evolution of the wine industry since many of these articles were written.
Next week, we will examine more thoroughly what was the perception some of these writers had about Santa Clara and San Benito counties in the years that followed.
Cheers!
