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WELCOMING THE 20TH CENTURY!!
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Well, it's hard to remember a time when Wine was not a part of my life….but I did have the advantage of growing up with a big Italian family and my grandfather was a pretty decent winemaker…Being of a certain age I can attest to the fact that most people in the U.S. were not sophisticated when it came to wine, unless of course for the wealthy who traveled abroad or immigrants of French or Southern European descent! Cocktails were all the rage from the time of Prohibition, remember bathtub gin?? until more recently…
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| THE BEAUTY OF ART NOUVEAU |
As the Spanish were setting up missions, a wave of French, German, Italian and Hungarian immigrants began to flow into California. These new arrivals came from countries where wine was an integral part of everyday life, and planting grapes or perhaps even a small vineyard provided a direct link to their European heritage.
Through these settlers, Bordeaux varietals were introduced to California. The first Cabernet Sauvignon may have been bottled as early as 1837 using grapes grown in the heart of Los Angeles. Southern California continued to be the place where most of California’s wine was produced, and San Francisco was where most of it was sold. Nevertheless, many winegrowing advances were being made further north.
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| CHEERS! |
When gold was discovered in Sutter’s Mill in 1848, the state changed forever, becoming the destination for many more thousands of immigrants. They came to pan for gold, work in mines and otherwise carve out a living for themselves and their families. They too planted vines for wine.
In 1857 the flamboyant Count Agoston Harazsthy of Hungary, a leading importer of grapevine cuttings, founded Buena Vista Winery in the town of Sonoma. Two years later the wine industry was large enough to be recognized by the state legislature, which passed an act that exempted new grapevines from taxation until they were four years old. Harazsthy was among those who realized that California would never reach its potential if the Mission grape remained the standard. Better grapes were needed, he argued, to produce better wines.
In 1861, Charles Krug founded the first winery in the Napa Valley near St. Helena. He was joined in 1862 by Jacob Schram, whose winery is now the home of Schramsberg. Many other wineries were established that still exist today, including Beringer, which was established in 1876, Niebaum in 1879 and Chateau Montelena in 1882.
Some adventurous winegrowers started planting on the hills and mountainsides of California, and although it was difficult to plant and harvest, the cool climate and poor soils yielded grapes that were dark in color and intensely flavored. The wineries of this era were small and unspecialized. Most California winemakers continued to make wines using high-yielding varieties like Colombard and Mataro and often named their wines after the great winemaking regions of Europe, calling their wines Chablis and Burgundy, for example. There was some increase in experimentation with the great French varietals, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, but not much.
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| SHE'S READY TO DANCE ON THE TABLE |
The vines that brought California all it's glory were way off into the future but the Gold Rush started the ball rolling and the wines growing…some of our founding fathers of what today is called Napa Valley would bring this economic powerhouse of winemaking to make America the 4th largest in the world, a $125 billion dollar industry!!
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| THE ROARING TWENTIES…... |
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| THE 30'S …TRES CHIC!! |
Actually, one of the most chic wines that Americans did drink was Champagne….This was a period when everything fabulous was of course FRENCH, n'est pas! We were a nation of Francophiles, from Haute Couture to Haute Cuisine…French was taught in schools and anybody worth their Francs was going to visit "The City of Light", Paris!! Most of the sparkling wine of the day was from France, with some less expensive Italian & Spanish offerings……Champagne was considered sophisticated, festive and of course intoxicating!! Which could you in a little bit of trouble…Ha Ha..
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| THE EPITOME OF "SWINGIN" TIMES…. |
When I think about the different wine crazes over the years I cringe….Who could forget The 60's invasion of the Portuguese Roses, although I must say the 'new' California rose has made me a convert! Let's see there was Mateus, Lancers, &….Don't forget Ruinite over ice. And then in the 70's there was Blue Nun…it had the nose of a floral sachet…..OMG not to mention Bali Hai and a number of disgusting sweet "wines"but I guess they gave people a buzz, and wasn't that the reason to drink wine in those days?? There was very little discernment then and it seemed that the word"palate" didn't exist!
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| BUBBLY & MARILYN..PERFECT COMBO |
But Americans started to become more worldly and traveled and moved beyond the likes of White Zinfandel and the ubiquitous "white wine spritzer" remember …..What was that????? Cheap wine with soda…The horror…..! I for one am thrilled with the American renaissance when it comes to wine…better late than never! Although I've been a wine snob for decades it's nice to know that the rest of the country is catching up….
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| THE ALWAYS FABULOUS TAITTINGER |
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| ONE OF NAPA'S FINEST CABERNETS, CAYMUS |
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| MY FAVORITE SPOT …BETWEEN THE VINES |
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| THE FABULOUS WINES OF SANTA BARBARA COUNTY |
Wishing everyone a wonderful summer and hoping you are always in search of the next best Vino, especially those of you who live in California! We are truly blessed to have an abundance of amazing wines at our finger tips…..Will be back soon with more news about my venture,
DESTINATION VINE
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| THE WINE CONTESSA & LA BELLA FAMIGLIA |
SALUTE…...
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