An Argument for an American Wine Industry Hall of Fame - Part 2

By John M. Olney
July 22, 2011

Part Two of a Three Part Series

The Concept of a “Hall of Fame” and the Overlooked Greats

Regarding the Nominees. A Hall of Fame (HOF) needs to be designed to :

1. Recognize those individuals and entities who, after examination of conclusive evidence, have contributed to one or more of these measurement factors:

- A significant skill above that of the average person in that trade/profession

- Design and development of a processing methodology that becomes routinely adopted by the
industry

- Equipment product that significantly improves the overall quality of the end result of the subject industry

2. Recognize multiple recipients’ who as a team contributed to the industry one or more of the aforementioned measurement factors. An example would be a winery owner who supplied all capital backing necessary for his/her winery to produce a quality wine although those owners were not necessarily involved in the daily operation of the wine production. The initial years of founder Jesse Jackson of Konicti Winery and his winemaker Jed Steele producing the award winning Chardonnay that launched K-J on its fantastic growth. Jackson has been inducted into the CVHOF but the man, Steele, who actually was responsible for its production has not been inducted. Another example is only half o the team that most in the trade credit with the development of the sun degree days table has been inducted when both should have gone in at the same time..

Regarding the Electoral College of a HOF. The HOF has to have a comprehensive understanding of the background and experience levels of those associated to the subject industry of the HOF who would be voting upon the nominees. One must avoid establishing a voting body consisting of a great number of individuals whose age, historical knowledge of the wine industry and experience level preclude them from comparing “old timers” to their contemporizes so they vote for the “known entity” thereby bypassing some of the most important contributors to the American Wine Industry or a smaller segment of it like say the State of California.

1. A HOF needs to be based on a solid foundation recognizing those throughout the history of the subject industry of that HOF.

2. The HOF must include all of the various aspects of that industry. In the case of wine, it must include recognition of individuals and groups from the planting and management of the vineyard, to the winemaker & winery owner, public relations & marketing divisions, wine writer/critic & historian, to the distributor & retailer, all of which make it an industry.

3. The HOF needs to have the ways and means to verify the “credentials” of the names submitted for possible nomination for election to, and induction, in such HOF

4. It is essential that the organizational body of a HOF design and prepare unbiased, accurate and complete biography sheets on each candidate for the voting body to review and consider in their individual selection process.

This latter point is where I believe the creators of the CVHOF make their most crucial misjudgment. They believe that they must use short statement abstracts of no more than about three sentences because they believe that the electoral college members would not take the time to read a full biographic background on each of the 30 plus nominees the CAHOF normally proposes on its ballot each year. This abstract or biographical write-up is what I consider the most crucial criteria in order to have a valid HOF of the most worthy inductees and not just a bunch of inductees decided by “popular vote.”

When the HOF organizations selects individuals to be part of the electoral college, that prospective voter needed to be aware that he will be reading biographical statements that may require his/her time in order to understand the true value of that nominees contributions relative to that of another candidate. If the candidate of the electoral college does not feel he/she can commit to such time then they should be forthright and upfront and decline to become part of the voting body.

http://www.ciaprochef.com/winestudies/events/vhf_inductees.html   The CVHOF has been in existence now for four (4) years and has inducted 33 individuals. You can review its history at the web site shown above. Many of these individuals are important contributors to the California Wine Industry but they are certainly not more important than many other individuals, who in my opinion, made much greater significant contribution to the industry and should already be inducted into the CVHOF.

I do not understand how such giants as the following - some of whom have been nominated at least once and some more - are not inducted.

I know of at least one other writer who appears to think along similar lines to me and it is Dan Berger, who published in February 25, 2011, in his article, ““Not in the Vintners Hall of Fame — but they should be,” for the Napa Register the following paragraphs in quotation and italics. Dan Berger’s mentioning of Petri reminded me of the list of large wine operations shown below.

Big Five U.S.A. Winemakers as of the 1952-53 timeframe (listed by capacity in gallons)
1 - Roma - 30 million

2 - California Wine Association (CWA) - 29.65 million

3 - Italian Swiss Colony (ISC) - 26 million

4 - Wine Growers’ Guild - 22 million

5 - Petri - 20 million

“Louis Petri. One of the most important people in the history of the wine industry, Petri, president of powerful Allied Grape Growers, was the dominant force in American wine following World War II — a marketing force, innovator, and the man who changed the way wine was shipped to market.” By Dan Berger

Let me give you an example of the magnitude of his accomplishments with just the comments listing below

Petri’s purchase of ISC moved him to the largest producer in the USA. Nobody from any of these five companies (Except as a member of a subsidiary winery) has yet been elected to the CVHOF, yet Gallo Brothers are in! Robert Mondavi is in! How can that be a true HOF?

Let me add a little to the Petri legend. Petri was so forward thinking that he modified a tanker ship renaming it the “Petri.” He was shipping by sea his wine to the East Coast cheaper than anyone else at the time using all the other transportation methods.

Allied Grape Growers was the sister company of United Vintners, the marketing firm, also headed by Petri, that eventually absorbed the great Napa-based Inglenook Estate created by Gustave Niebaum and then taken to new fame under his great grand nephew, John Daniel. His firm also maneuvered the Napa Valley-based Beaulieu Vineyard estate created under Georges de Latour and its famed winemaker Andrè Tchelistcheff, into the Allied/Vintners domain. All four of these gentlemen are inducted in the CVHOF but Louis Petri is not? What Petri accomplished during his lifetime in the American Wine Industry is, in this writer’s opinion, well deserving of being inducted into the CVHOF.

Berger goes on to mention other greats in the earlier history of the California Wine Industry.

“Eugene Hilgard, the 19th-centurybotanist and visionary who paved the way for grapes to be planted in Livermore Valley and numerous other locations where he theorized great wine could result.” By Dan Berger

 “Byron and Alice Nightingale of Cresta Blanca and later Beringer? The two jointly invented a complex process to make world-class dessert wine. Myron, chief wine maker at Beringer, was one of the most respected wine makers until his death in 1988.” By Dan Berger

I would both agree with and add to Mr. Berger’s list the following candidates.

Percy Morgan
He who essentially designed and then managed the giant California Wine Association (CWA) and lead it to become a completely vertical integrated wine producer. It once owned and/or controlled over 80% of the wine produced in California from 1894 to 1920 At that time CWA was also the largest wine company in the world. It included all seven of the great San Francisco based wine brokers and merchants of the times and the Napa Valley Wine Company. By 1900, the majority of the state's wineries had joined the CWA, including Stag's Leap Cellars, Greystone Cellars at St. Helena, the Italian Swiss Colony, Cucamonga Vineyards, Glen Ellen Vineyards and more. At its peak, 52 wineries were members of the CWA. It was totally vertically integrated because it controlled all aspects of winemaking from the planting of the grapes, to production, bottling, marketing and shipment of its wine. Some of those who were the directors and/or shareholders in the winery operations owned/controlled by the CWA have already been inducted into the CVHOF, but why not Percy Morgan?

Kohler and Frohling
The most likely beginning point for wine production, distribution and marketing of California wine can be attributed to Charles Kohler and John Frohling of San Francisco. They originally operated out of the Los Angles area in the year 1853. By 1856, Kohler & Frohling were exporting bulk wine from their large Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City wine warehouses to European, South American, Asian, and Pacific Rim countries. At the high point of their operation they owned wine production facilities in Los Angeles, Sonoma County, and the Central Valley.

Hamden McIntyre
/He completed conceptual design of several wineries during the 1870s to 1890s that still stand today as monuments of the early Napa Valley Wine Industry. They are:

The great stone structures

Inglenook (Now owned by movie mogul Francis Ford Coppola)

Chateau Montelena (now owned by the Barretts family)

Far Niente (Now of Nichol and Nichol ownership)

Bourn and Wise nicknamed “Greystone” was the largest stone winery in the world. (Became best known under the ownership of Christian Brothers 1945-1996 and now occupied by the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and home of the California Vintners Hall of Fame.)

Ewer and Atkinson (Now the inner-core of Beaulieu Vineyards winery complex)

The giant wood structures

He also was a significant contributor to the Leland Stanford giant winery, Vina, located in Tehema County.

Eschol (Now home of Trefethen winery)

Christian Pugh Adamson, (Now home to Frog’s Leap)

It should also be remembered that although Gustave Niebaum (inducted into the CVHOF) was well read on the subject of vineyard management and winery operations, he did not do the work. It was Hamden McIntyre who was vineyard and winery manager.

The Concept of a “Hall of Fame” and the Overlooked Greats

Regarding the Nominees.  A Hall of Fame (HOF) needs to be designed to

1. Recognize those individuals and entities who, after examination of conclusive evidence, have contributed to one or more of these measurement factors:

- A significant skill above that of the average person in that trade/profession

- Design and development of a processing methodology that becomes routinely adopted by the
industry

- Equipment product that significantly improves the overall quality of the end result of the subject industry

2. Recognize multiple recipients’ who, as a team, contributed to the industry in one or more of the aforementioned measurement factors. An example would be a winery owner who supplied all capital backing necessary for his/her winery to produce a quality wine although those owners were not necessarily involved in the daily operation of the wine production. The initial years of founder Jesse Jackson of Konicti Winery and his winemaker Jed Steele producing the award winning Chardonnay that launched K-J on its fantastic growth. Jackson has been inducted into the CVHOF but the man, Steele, who actually was responsible for its production has not been inducted. Another example is only half o the team that most in the trade credit with the development of the sun degree days table has been inducted when both should have gone in at the same time.

Regarding the Electoral College of a HOF. The HOF has to have a comprehensive understanding of the background and experience levels of those associated to the subject industry of the HOF who would be voting upon the nominees. One must avoid establishing a voting body consisting of a great number of individuals whose age, historical knowledge of the wine industry and experience level preclude them from comparing “old timers” to their contemporizes so they vote for the “known entity” thereby bypassing some of the most important contributors to the American Wine Industry or a smaller segment of it like say the State of California.

1. A HOF needs to be based on a solid foundation recognizing those throughout the history of the subject industry of that HOF.

2. The HOF must include all of the various aspects of that industry. In the case of wine, it must include recognition of individuals and groups from the planting and management of the vineyard, to the winemaker & winery owner, public relations & marketing divisions, wine writer/critic & historian, to the distributor & retailer, all of which make it an industry.

3. The HOF needs to have the ways and means to verify the “credentials” of the names submitted for possible nomination for election to, and induction, in such HOF

4. It is essential that the organizational body of a HOF design and prepare unbiased, accurate and complete biography sheets on each candidate for the voting body to review and consider in their individual selection process.

This latter point is where I believe the creators of the CVHOF make their most crucial misjudgment. They believe that they must use short statement abstracts of no more than about three sentences because they believe that the electoral college members would not take the time to read a full biographic background on each of the 30 plus nominees the CAHOF normally proposes on its ballot each year. This abstract or biographical write-up is what I consider the most crucial criteria in order to have a valid HOF of the most worthy inductees and not just a bunch of inductees decided by “popular vote.”

When the HOF organizations selects individuals to be part of the electoral college, that prospective voter needed to be aware that he will be reading biographical statements that may require his/her time in order to understand the true value of that nominees contributions relative to that of another candidate. If the candidate of the electoral college does not feel he/she can commit to such time then they should be forthright and upfront and decline to become part of the voting body.

(www.ciaprochef.com/winestudies/events/vhf_inductees.htmlT ) The CVHOF has been in existence now for four (4) years and has inducted 33 individuals. You can review its history at the web site shown above. Many of these individuals are important contributors to the California Wine Industry but they are certainly not more important than many other individuals, who in my opinion, made much greater significant contribution to the industry and should already be inducted into the CVHOF.

I do not understand how such giants as the following - some of whom have been nominated at least once and some more - are not inducted.

I know of at least one other writer who appears to think along similar lines to me and it is Dan Berger, who published in February 25, 2011, in his article, ““Not in the Vintners Hall of Fame — but they should be,” for the Napa Register the following paragraphs in quotation and italics. Dan Berger’s mentioning of Petri reminded me of the list of large wine operations shown below.

Big Five U.S.A. Winemakers as of the 1952-53 timeframe (listed by capacity in gallons)

1 - Roma - 30 million
2 - California Wine Association (CWA) - 29.65 million
3 - Italian Swiss Colony (ISC) - 26 million
4 - Wine Growers’ Guild - 22 million
5 - Petri - 20 million

“Louis Petri.  One of the most important people in the history of the wine industry, Petri, president of powerful Allied Grape Growers, was the dominant force in American wine following World War II — a marketing force, innovator, and the man who changed the way wine was shipped to market.” By Dan Berger

Let me give you an example of the magnitude of his accomplishments with just the comments listing below

Petri’s purchase of ISC moved him to the largest producer in the USA. Nobody from any of these five companies (Except as a member of a subsidiary winery) has yet been elected to the CVHOF, yet Gallo Brothers are in! Robert Mondavi is in! How can that be a true HOF?

Let me add a little to the Petri legend. Petri was so forward thinking that he modified a tanker ship renaming it the “Petri.” He was shipping by sea his wine to the East Coast cheaper than anyone else at the time using all the other transportation methods.

Allied Grape Growers was the sister company of United Vintners, the marketing firm, also headed by Petri, that eventually absorbed the great Napa-based Inglenook Estate created by Gustave Niebaum and then taken to new fame under his great grand nephew, John Daniel. His firm also maneuvered the Napa Valley-based Beaulieu Vineyard estate created under Georges de Latour and its famed winemaker Andrè Tchelistcheff, into the Allied/Vintners domain. All four of these gentlemen are inducted in the CVHOF but Louis Petri is not? What Petri accomplished during his lifetime in the American Wine Industry is, in this writer’s opinion, well deserving of being inducted into the CVHOF.

Berger goes on to mention other greats in the earlier history of the California Wine Industry.

“Eugene Hilgard, the 19th-century botanist and visionary who paved the way for grapes to be planted in Livermore Valley and numerous other locations where he theorized great wine could result.” By Dan Berger

“Byron and Alice Nightingale of Cresta Blanca and later Beringer? The two jointly invented a complex process to make world-class dessert wine. Myron, chief wine maker at Beringer, was one of the most respected wine makers until his death in 1988.” By Dan Berger

I would both agree with and add to Mr. Berger’s list the following candidates.

Percy Morgan
He essentially designed and then managed the giant California Wine Association (CWA) and lead it to become a completely vertical integrated wine producer. It once owned and/or controlled over 80% of the wine produced in California from 1894 to 1920 At that time CWA was also the largest wine company in the world. It included all seven of the great San Francisco based wine brokers and merchants of the times and the Napa Valley Wine Company. By 1900, the majority of the state's wineries had joined the CWA, including Stag's Leap Cellars, Greystone Cellars at St. Helena, the Italian Swiss Colony, Cucamonga Vineyards, Glen Ellen Vineyards and more. At its peak, 52 wineries were members of the CWA. It was totally vertically integrated because it controlled all aspects of winemaking from the planting of the grapes, to production, bottling, marketing and shipment of its wine. Some of those who were the directors and/or shareholders in the winery operations owned/controlled by the CWA have already been inducted into the CVHOF, but why not Percy Morgan?

Kohler & Frohling
The most likely beginning point for wine production, distribution and marketing of California wine can be attributed to Charles Kohler and John Frohling of San Francisco. They originally operated out of the Los Angles area in the year 1853. By 1856, Kohler & Frohling were exporting bulk wine from their large Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City wine warehouses to European, South American, Asian, and Pacific Rim countries. At the high point of their operation they owned wine production facilities in Los Angeles, Sonoma County, and the Central Valley.

Hamden McIntyre
He completed conceptual design of several wineries during the 1870s to 1890s that still stand today as monuments of the early Napa Valley Wine Industry. They are:

The great stone structures

Inglenook (Now owned by movie mogul Francis Ford Coppola)

Chateau Montelena (now owned by the Barretts family)

Far Niente (Now of Nichol and Nichol ownership)

Bourn & Wise nicknamed “Greystone” was the largest stone winery in the world. (Became best known under the ownership of Christian Brothers 1945-1996 and now occupied by the Culinary Institute of America (CIA

Ewer and Atkinson  (Now the inner-core of Beaulieu Vineyards winery complex)

The giant wood structures

Eschol (Now home of Trefethen winery)

Christian Pugh Adamson, (Now home to Frog’s Leap)

He also was a significant contributor to the Leland Stanford giant winery, Vina, located in Tehema County.

It should also be remembered that although Gustave Niebaum (inducted into the CVHOF) was well read on the subject of vineyard management and winery operations, he did not do the work. It was Hamden McIntyre who was vineyard and winery manager.) and home of the California Vintners Hall of Fame.)

MARKETING THE NEVADA COUNTY WINE INDUSTRY

By John M. Olney, July 19, 2011
Copyright, all rights reserved by Wine Country Marketing and Promotions,
1370 Trancas St., #409, Napa, CA 94558 Phone: 707-299-9548
Web site: http://www.twccwcmp.blogspot.com/ E-mail: winecountrypromo@aol.com

THE GOAL: Attracting New Vineyard Growers, Vintners & Consumers to Nevada County

Growth/Expansion
The Nevada County Wine Industry underwent tremendous growth and expansion during the last 12 months covering the period July 2010 through June 2011 Clearly all of the changes and expansions listed below speak of an enthusiasm, individually and/or collectively, to build a solid wine industry in the county. These moves also seem to represent that the Nevada County Wine Industry is on an economically sound footing particularly when considering the current depressed economic conditions.

Here is what happened during the past 12 months:New wineries were added to the already existing 17 wineries to bring the current total to 19.

Expansion - Both began bonded operation in late 2010

Besemer Vineyards - Grass Valley area - Tom & Kristi Besemer. He is also President of the Sierra Wine & Grape Growers Association - http://www.besemercellars.com/ /

Gray Pine Winery - Penn Valley, - R Guy Lauterbach, no web site developed yet

Bonded and Calif. ABC licensed are listed below but they do not advertise in any publications nor are they a member in any of the local county wine industry associations

Villanelle Wine - Nevada City area -" founded in 1996, by G. M. Johnson" - http://www.villanellewine.com/ - no email address provided on web site

Oaksprings Vineyard and Winery - Penn Valley - www.oakspringsvineyardsandwinery.com/California_Wines.html

Leslie G. Fleming - Penn Valley - have not found a web site yet thus no email available

Charles Travers Winery - near Lake of the Pine intersection Hwy 49 - Nick C. Robunson - have not found a web site yet thus no email available

Actual and commitments to expansion of the number of acres of new vineyard planting:

Expansion acreage:

Clavey Vineyards adding seven (7) acres bringing it to a total of about 14.5 acres.

Sierra Starr adding three and a half acres bringing it to a total of about 15 plus acres

Committed expansion:
Szabo Vineyards adding 12 acres bringing it to a total of about 52 acres

Expanding/relocating Winery production facility:

Sierra Starr’s and its new winery and barrel storage facility currently under construction taking its production Facilities from about 1,000 to over 4,000 sqft,.

Clavey Vineyards production facilities moving from Meyers to Power Line

Tasting room additions/relocations:
Winery License

Clavey Vineyards opened its off-site tasting room in downtown Nevada City

Grass Valley Wine Company relocated its multiple member of participating wineries (Bent Metal, Pilot Peak and Solune) from its inaugural location to a new, remodeled site across the street.

Sierra Knolls constructed off-site second tasting room located along Hwy 49 near Lake of the Pines in thesouthern part of the county.

Szabo Vineyards opened its off-site tasting room in downtown Nevada City

Retail License

151 Union Square, a retail wine licensed event center features the wines of four local wineries - Coufos, Double Oak, Montoliva and Naggiar

B.Y.O.B. Wine Sellers opened a unique tasting room and sales outlet just outside of Nevada City with the environmentally focused concept of refillable wine bottles.

With these additional tasting rooms, now the wines of 15 of the 19 plus wineries located in Nevada County can be experienced within the two communities of Grass Valley and Nevada City located only about 3.5 miles apart. Before June 2010 there were only eight wineries spread among the two towns.

Sierra Vintners - Re-Branding of organization representing 15 of the wine producers of the county who have joined forces

Attracting New Vineyard and/or Winery Owners

When I interviewed Mr. Alex Szabo, President of the Sierra Vintners association representing 15 of the Nevada County wineries, I asked him about what he sees as the future growth of the wine industry in the coming years. He responded that it might be possible to see as many as 10 new wineries come into product in the next about 8-10 years.

The new tasting room constructed by Sierra Knolls Vineyard and Winery along Hwy 49 in the southern part of Nevada County community of Lake of the Pines will become the wine country gateway site for all the wine outlets in the county because it will significantly raise the awareness of the traveling public that Nevada County has wineries. This will be particularly true should the owners continue to plan for and then implement planting of a vineyard on the land surrounding the tasting room property.

Coupling this new Hwy 49 roadside wine tasting room with the fact that the two downtowns of Grass Valley (11 wineries) and Nevada City (4 wineries) now have the wines of 15 of the county’s wineries readily available to the wine consumer who does not need to travel 20-40 minutes along winding and narrow two lane backroads between wineries to taste the wines of Nevada County.

Now add the fact that travelers on their way to camping sites, swimming & fishing spots and gambling casinos of the Sierra Foothills, Tahoe and Reno who will come to these downtown cities for interim lodging, dining and shopping will suddenly discover themselves running into six (6) storefronts in Grass Valley serving the wines of 11 wineries while four (4) storefronts in Nevada City represent four more wineries of the county.

Many travelers would not have realized that Nevada County had this many wineries if it were not for those who will gain their first exposure to Nevada County wines at the Hwy 49 location of “Bear River Wine Tasting” facility of Sierra Knolls and then pursued the tasting rooms located in town. Truckee River Winery could also become such an initial marketing arm for all the Nevada County Wine Industry. In order for these entities to realize such positions, they will need to lobby for very visible signage marking them as the “Northern Nevada County Wine Industry Gateway” [Truckee River] and “Southern Nevada County Wine Industry Gateway” [Bear River Wine Tasting-Sierra Knolls Vineyard and Winery]

There are a few market analysis and programs that I believe would substantially assist the Nevada County Wine Industry to realize its dreams of sustained but controlled growth.

Statistical Data Collection and Analysis
I want to suggest that those involved in the Nevada County Wine Industry participate in a questionnaire survey designed to assess where these entities are deriving their tasting room clientele. To encourage the consumer to complete the survey, the wineries might consider waiving the tasting fee for those who participate. The questionnaire needs to be simple so it does not scare off the participant but thorough enough to provide an accurate measurement of the way consumers discover the Nevada County Wine Country . The survey needs to be sure that it covers the many ways the consumer could have learned about the wineries of Nevada County. It should probably run continuously for the next three to five years so that the Nevada County Wine Industry can access their strong and weak points in marketing and acquiring consumers.

A Nevada County Wine Industry Master Plan for Future Growth
The Nevada County Wine Industry needs a document that lays out all the important factors about the vines-to-wines industry from which potential investors in that industry can reasonably gage the chances for them to be successful as a new operation in the county. After 15 months of document research and data collection, and contact and interviews with private and governmental entities, I can conclusively say that no such comprehensive document and/or plan exists, or at least was exposed to me for review.

Such a document should show and/or include at minimum:

- location of all the existing wine grape vineyards (whether part of a collocated winery operation or not) with elevation range, associated list of varietals being grown, and wineries and separate off site tasting rooms (if applicable).

- geographical land areas of highest to lowest probability of successful wine grape production where county land zoning codes will allow for such use and in association with list of “best” or “most suitable” grape varietal for planting

- statistical information on annual vineyard grape harvest tonnage and wine production by gallons & cases separated by varietal

- And other import economic investment indicators

This publication should not be formatted as a boring ”government” tool but rather as a marketing instrument that presents the story in a business-like prospectus format.

“Take It On The Road!” Marketing Events
I would suggest that the Nevada County wineries who have a large enough number of wine case production to do so, provide a sufficient amount of wine each that could be used in a ‘traveling road show’ approach to marketing the NC wineries and growers to attract new consumers and new growers/vintners. Such events should have “trade only” as well as “Open to the public” tasting hours.

Since the Nevada County Wine Industry does not, to my knowledge, have a master/comprehensive growth plan to show those in the trade and the consumers, I would of course, have my booklet, "Olney's Guide to the Wineries of Nevada County" (in draft) at each show and would do autograph sessions. Although this may sound self serving, my booklet nevertheless will be the most comprehensive summary in print of the past and present history of the Industry and thus it can be used to show the attendees what they can expect to find - not to mention increase sales of my booklet. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.



The initial road show might consist of seven stops visiting Sacramento, Roseville, Rocklin/Loomis, Grass Valley/Nevada City, Truckee, Tahoe and Reno. I’m still thinking about whether a tasting charge should be made or not. If a charge was made it should be fairly low. I would also hold a separate “for free” tasting period - say two hours before letting the general public in the door - conducted for “trade only,“ registered attendees. For this latter portion of the marketing events all wineries would hopefully provide tasting samples for the trade folks.

I would suggest that Corti Brothers ( http://www.cortibros.biz/ ) be invited to host the first such tasting and book autographing event for the Sacramento area. Darrell Corti helped establish Bob Trinchero/Sutter Home in the Zinfandel wine business, and is probably the most respected wine retailer in California at this time. He was recently inducted into the California Vintners Hall of Fame. We would want to find the “best and most popular” retailers of wines in the other communities to host such a special tasting and book autographing event.

I also believe that witnessing and participating in these events might help to entice Besemer, Gray Pine, Clavey and Truckee River as well as possibly some of those winery operations mentioned above who I recently learned about, and make them realize that membership in the Sierra Vintners would indeed benefit their individual business interests and therefore they might reconsider their position and join.

I also think that this road show should include representation from the Sierra Wine and Grape Growers Association to speak about their successfull operations and the benefits they realize as only growers selling their crops to vintners instead of producing their own wine label.

-------------------------------------------

ABOUT THE "OLNEY'S GUIDE TO...." The Nevada County Guide will be the first in a series of booklets that will eventually encompass all the gold counties of the Northern Sierra's

Additionally, Mr. Olney has been developing a book which will include the history of the rise of wine production amoing the early days of mining through the present day in the industry. The draft cover to this book is shown below. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

An Argument for an American Wine Industry Hall of Fame

By John M. Olney
July 4, 2011
Part One of a Three Part Series

The Premise

The thought of a Vintners Hall of Fame for those who own and/or are employed in and about the California Wine Industry is a noble notion but what is really needed is an American Wine Industry Hall of Fame that recognizes those individuals, institutions, private corporations and governmental agency’s who have contributed to the birth of wine in what would become the USA, nurturing it through its adolescent years and then managing it into its current state of maturity where its wines are produced for the appeal of the palate of just about every possible consumer market across the USA; indeed the world!

Background

Although the wine snob cannot stand to hear about, see, smell or taste “sweet wines” or acknowledge that there are wine producers who dare to invent or create “designer” or “fad” wines, nevertheless the market sales numbers tell us that the wine snob is distinctly in the minority view.

In today’s market place, the consumer can pick from bottles of wine that are allegedly “premium” and are “what any wine consumer of any real quality should be drinking” - at least so says the wine snob and critic - that cost hundreds of dollars; indeed even ranging into the thousands per bottle! These wines are produced in quantities of way less than hundreds of thousand cases per year. Compare that to the sales of wines with catchy names and clever eye catching labels that are produced in the millions of cases per year at large winery facilities that sell for less than five dollars per bottle down to three dollars a bottle or less! Wow, what a range of diversity in price but not necessarily in quality, since “quality” is a relative term that depends on the likes and dislikes of the consumer making an evaluation of a wine being tasted. What one person or critic thinks is a quality wine, another turns their nose at it. And, in my way of thinking, there is no problem with this concept!

The most important point here is that the above description of the range of wine styles produced in America is exactly what growing regions of those countries. Such rules & regulations can makes it a wine industry! You have the small, family vineyard of a few acres and winery owner personalizing everything he or she does in the vineyard and in the winery to manufacture the product they believe represents the type and quality of wine to which they wish to associate their name. At the other end of the wine industry scale is the wine producer, whether family-owned or a corporation, which is totally vertically integrated owning thousands of acres of vineyard, its own harvesting equipment, one or more wine production facilities - each looking more like a giant oil refinery operation than what one usually thinks of as a quaint farm like scene - analytic laboratory, bottling building and lines capable of handling millions of bottles - indeed cases, label, carton & box design & printing shop, trucking line distribution system, and marketing & public relations divisions and more. The only significant difference between these two ends of the spectrum is the likes and dislikes of the consumer when drinking the wine produced by these completely different operations both in style and magnitude.

The difference in the above spectrum of wine production is also what America experienced as it hungered for the wines of the “Old Country” when the 13 Colonies were organizing, growing and maturing into a cohesive body that would no longer suffer the rule of a distant foreign government trying to control and absorb the abundant resources found in the North American Continent and specifically what would become the United States of America. While enduring this foreign rule, the colonists found an abundant amount and species of grapes in their “New World” that certainly suggested they could produce a wine product for their tables. Indigenous grape varietals were everywhere. Soon the idea of picking and crushing the local grape, fermenting the juice and aging the resultant wine became almost an obsession for many who relished wine as they knew it from their home countries.

The Palate

The driving force to “premium” wine consumption from our earliest days in the Colonies to what we drink today is that our forefathers and the wine critics of the times were and remain as palates used to the familiar tastes of wines pro-duced from foreign varietals and made in foreign vintner fashion as prescribed by the laws of each foreign country controlling the classifications of wines in the various stifle individuality, ambition to improve varietal development, wine production techniques and thus quality of the wines that can be produced.

The USA does not have such strict government involvement in the business of wine grape planting and production. Growers and vintners can plant what they want on their land and as many vines per acre as they feel will work for them. We do not employ a strict “classification system” such as used by the French where traditional classifications of wineries within regions that were defined centuries ago regardless of the current quality of the wine being produced today nevertheless remain carved in stone.

In the USA, the winery and the wines, stand alone to be judged by each consumer and critic!

As our forefathers learned from their many experiments attempting to make wines from the indigenous grape of the USA that tasted like from their original homeland, the resultant wine just did not have the “right” taste. Thus, they would start importing rootstock from their homelands in attempt to reproduce a fine European wine in and on American soil and climate. Once again these ambitious and industrious wine producers experienced set backs as the foreign varietals did not hold up well in the soils and climates of our eastern states. This forced those interested in “fine” wine production to start experimenting in crossing foreign varietals with indigenous varietals. Meanwhile others took a completely different road in wine production. They looked to other sugar developing fruits and berries, and the ancient source of wine - honey - to produce a wine product. Once again the traditional wine snob pushes his/her nose up in grimace at the thought of having to tolerate the existence of these wine products much less to be stuck having to drink any!

All this background information now brings us back to the concept of an American Wine Industry Hall Of Fame. This title purposely avoids the use of the word “grape” because there are a number of states in the USA where many wineries make their product not from grapes but from other sugar-based crops. If you are of the grape exclusive persuasion you wouldn’t even bother to read further or to experiment with or train your palate to enjoy non-grape generated wines. But, such wines enjoy a very large following that results in serious agriculture derived revenues to those producing states.

A Little Bit of Interpretive History

As we began our expansionist movement from a nation of just 13 former British Colonies and dared to push west and south while justifying such conquests of indigenous people and their lands under the delusion that it was our “manifest destiny” to populate the land from ocean to ocean and the Great Lakes to Gulf of Mexico, we brought with us our appetite for wine. We pushed aside indigenous peoples as we moved into the great Ohio and Missouri Basins and plains. The Louisiana Purchase gave us the largest acquisition of land more than doubling the size of our nation. We annexed the Mexican controlled lands of Texas and started a war with Mexico to gain even more of their lands north of the Gulf of Mexico and stretching to the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile we negotiated a settlement with the British thereby avoiding another war where land in the Pacific Northwest was divided between the two nations with the USA gaining what we now call Oregon and Washington and other lands stretching along the latitude line intersecting with the Great Lakes.

Upon finally reaching the Mexican controlled land of California and winning rights to it along with other important lands of the southwest during the great war with Mexico, we finally had what would prove to be control of the perfect land and climatic conditions upon which we could grow the European varietals we so longed for our palate - Washington, Oregon and California.

Since those adolescent years of our national growth, wine production in the USA has been dominated by the eastern states of New York, and Pennsylvania, the mid west states of Ohio and Michigan, the south with Texas and Virginia and western states of California, Washington and Oregon. Many of the early names who helped to develop the wines as we migrated west came from the east and settled in the west when they realized what an asset it was for wine production. However, that migration did not mean the doom of wine production elsewhere in the USA. Just the opposite occurred as migration pushed all the other wine growing regions to search for ideal varietals clones and cross breading from which wines could compete in an open market place. The best evidence of this is the fact that every state in the union today has wineries with product in the market place. This achievement is exactly why there should be an American Wine Industry Hall of Fame that recognizes the talents that brought us to this point of our maturity in the wine industry of our country.