Envoy at 07:28, 20 September 2007

2007-09-20T07:28:27Z

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'''California wine''' has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest [[wine]]. While wine is made in all fifty [[U.S. state]]s, it is [[California]] where the great majority (up to 90% by some estimates) is produced. California would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world if it were an independent nation.<ref>[http://www.californiawineevents.com/index.php?option=com_caliwine California Wine Month 2007: General Info.] Retrieved 11 July 2007.</ref>
[[Image:Californian_wine_regions_map.gif|200px|right|thumb|Wine-producing regions in California.]]

==Early years==
In 1769, [[Order of Friars Minor|Franciscan]] missionary Father [[Junípero Serra]] planted the first California [[vineyard]] at [[Mission San Diego de Alcalá]]. Father Serra continued to establish eight more [[Spanish missions in California|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 [[Mexico|Mexican]] plantings, became known as the [[Mission grape]] and dominated California wine production until about 1880. <ref>LaMar, Jim., Professional Friends of Wine,[http://www.winepros.org/wine101/history.htm ''"Wine 101: History"'']. Retrieved on April 6, 2007</ref>

California's first documented imported European wine vines were planted in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]] in 1833 by Jean-Louis Vignes. In the [[1850s]] and [[1860s]], [[Agoston Haraszthy]], 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. Considered one of the founders of the California wine industry, Haraszthy 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 [[Coast Redwood|Redwood]] for casks when oak supplies ran low.

In 1861 Charles Krug established [[Napa Valley (wine)|Napa Valley's]] first commercial winery in [[St. Helena, California|St. Helena]].
[[Image:Californian-Burgundy.jpg|right|frame|Californian Burgundy, 1906 poster from the London wine merchants showing a bottle on Glacier Point, Yosemite]]

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.

In 1879 [[Gustave Niebaum|Captain Gustave Niebaum]] established [[Inglenook Winery]] in [[Rutherford, California]] a small village (in [[Napa County, California]]). It was the first [[Bordeaux]] style winery in the USA. Captain Niebaum's wines became world renowned. His Inglenook wines won gold medals at the [[World's Fair]] of [[Paris]] in 1889.

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 [[Prohibition in the United States]]. 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 [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|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 [[Repeal of Prohibition]], several states stayed dry: [[Kansas]] until [[1948]], [[Oklahoma]] until [[1957]], and [[Mississippi]] until [[1966]]. [[Alcoholic beverage control state|Seventeen states]] chose to establish monopoly liquor stores with limited selections. Today 10% of the US area and 6% of the population remain dry.[http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/1140551076.html]

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 wine]]s. 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 wine]]s 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==
[[Image:Stag's leap bottle.jpg|thumb|right|''A bottle of Stag's Leap Cask 23 Cabernet Sauvigon'']]
[[André Tchelistcheff]] is generally credited with ushering in the modern era of winemaking in California. [[Beaulieu Vineyard]]s (BV) founder and owner Georges de Latour hired Tchelisticheff in 1938. He introduced several new techniques and procedures, such as aging wine in small [[French Oak]] barrels, cold fermentation, vineyard frost prevention, and [[malolactic fermentation]].

Brother Timothy; a member of [[Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools]] was also very instrumental in the creation of the modern wine industry. After an earlier career as a teacher, he transferred to the order's Mont La Salle located on Mount Veeder in the [[Mayacamas Mountains]] west of [[Napa, California|Napa]] in 1935 to become the wine chemist for the order's expanding wine operations. The Christian Brothers had grown grapes and made [[sacramental wine]] in [[Benicia, California]] during Prohibition, but decided to branch out into commercial production of wine and [[brandy]] following the repeal of Prohibition. The science teacher was a fast learner and soon established Christian Brothers as one of the leading brands in the state's budding wine industry; Brother Timothy's smiling face in advertisements and promotional materials became one of the most familiar images for wine consumers across the country.

In 1965, Napa Valley icon [[Robert Mondavi]] broke away from his family's Charles Krug estate to found his own in [[Oakville, California]]. It was the first new large-scale winery to be established in the valley since before prohibition. Following the establishment of the Mondavi estate, the number of wineries in the valley continued to grow, as did the region's reputation.

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 [[1960s]] 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 [[Judgment of Paris (wine)|blind tasting was held in Paris]] with a panel made up exclusively of French wine experts. After comparing six California Chardonnays with four French Chardonnays, three of the top four were Californian. All 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. This competition focused a great deal of attention on wines from the Napa Valley.

The red wines evaluated in 1976 were retasted in two separate blind tastings (the [[French Culinary Institute Wine Tasting of 1986]] and the [[Wine Spectator Wine Tasting of 1986]]) and also in the [[The Judgment of Paris 30th Anniversary|The Wine Rematch of the Century]]. In all retastings, a California red was chosen first, while the French wines lost positions in the rankings.

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 hierarchy 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."

Fred Franzia and his [[Bronco Wine Company]] has caused recent waves in the business of California wine marketing. The company's low priced [[Charles Shaw wine]] which is sold exclusively by [[Trader Joe's]] markets along with the company's other labels have attracted new entry level wine consumers to the fold but also has alienated many of the smaller vintners in the state by placing some downward pressure on pricing.

Newer regions, producing award-winning wines, have entered the California wine industry, including [[Temecula Valley wine]] country in the south, the [[Santa Ynez]] valley in the central coast, and in the [[http://www.snowslakevineyard.com//index.cfm/Mayacamas mountains Red Hills Lake County]] in the north.

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==
*[[:Category:California wineries|California wineries]]
*[[American Viticultural Area]]
*[[Sonoma County wineries]]
*[[Napa County wineries]]
*[[Santa Cruz Mountain Wineries]]
*[[Wine competition]]s
*[[California]]

===Other===
* [[Robert Lawrence Balzer]]
* [[California cult wines]]
* [[Globalization of wine]]
* [[Agoston Haraszthy]]
* [[Alexis Lichine]]
* [[Paul Masson]]
* [[Carole Meredith]]
* [[Robert Mondavi]]
* [[Gustave Niebaum]]
* [[Frank Schoonmaker]]
* [[Andre Tchelistcheff]]
* [[Vineyard]]
* [[Wine Institute (California)|Wine Institute]]
* [[Wine fraud]]

==External links==
* [http://www.slate.com/id/2142365/ The Judgment of Paris]
* [http://www.zelas.co.uk/maps/californian_wine_map.htm Californian Wine Regions Map]

==Works Cited==
*Clarke, Oz., ''Oz Clarke's New encyclopedia of Wine''. NY: Harcourt Brace, 1999
<references />
*2007. "[[http://www.snowslakevineyard.com//index.cfm/SnowsLakeVineyard.com.]]" Main Page

{{American wine}}

[[Category:California culture]]
[[Category:Wine regions of the United States]]

California wine - Revision history

Envoy at 07:28, 20 September 2007