Look back to the future

Wines & Vines, Jan, 2003 by Al Cribari

The (one and only?) 1933 bound edition is apparently missing, so we'll jump ahead--to January, 1934. This is too bad, because for history buffs--to whom, I hope, this column appeals--the transition years of '33 and '34 (from Prohibition to Repeal in December of '33 and the following year) are most interesting. This Jan. '34 issue is still titled The California Grape Grower, now, of course, Wines & Vines. The first page is an ad for "California's Largest Winery--Roma Wine Company" of Lodi, Calif. Indeed it was large for its time--7 million gallons. Apparently they were bottling only under the Celia brand.

The first two articles are on red wine production. As said before, most of our industry believed that the wine drinking habits of Americans would continue as in pre-Prohibition days. That is, dry wine would be 80% or so of our sales, and of that, 80% would be red wine. We could not have been more wrong. In the first several years after Repeal, dessert wines constituted 80% of our sales, slowly tapering off to about 75% until the '60s, when again dry (i.e. table) wine would begin to assume its rightful percentage.

Nostalgic ad for the First International Beer and Wine Show at the Grand Central Palace in NYC. It was either here or the next year that my dad had brother Ken (10 years old) dress as the picture of our "Sonnie Boy" grape label and "host" visitors to our booth. A photo taken of him at the show was put on a wine label, and thus was born Sonnie Boy Wine. Yep, my dad, who went only to the third grade, did not spell "Sonnie" with a "y." The 10-year-old was kept patient at the show by dint of being next to the White Horse Scotch Whisky booth. They had a live white horse as their show attention-getter. Ken and "Scotty" the horse made quite a combination. Great memories.

"Federal Wine Taxes." It lists 10 cents per gallon for wines not over 14%; 20 cents on 14% to 21%; 40 cents for wines 21% to 24% and above 24% (wonder what that was?), $2.00 per gallon. For champagne and other naturally sparkling wines, 40 cents per gallon and--note this well--brandy used for fortifying, 20 cents per gallon. Until this regulation/law was repealed, about 1936, as I recall, this was a really big headache for my family.

"The California Medicinal Wine Co. Inc. announces that it has changed its firm name" to the Padre Vineyard Company, with their winery located at Cucamonga, James L. Vai, president.

"A New Era in Wine Advertising" by Harry A. Caddow, secretary, Wine Producers Association (now Wine Institute). Harry advocated advertising soon and as extensively as possible, to be aimed mostly at women. It was the women who opposed "ardent spirits" and were most inclined to favor the serving of wine. But the spirits people are well aware of this, and are off to a strong start in national advertising. How true and how right was Harry in his predictions.

Incidentally, I counted eight ads from as many wineries. Of these, none exist today as corporations, and only two or three labels are still bottled (barely). They are Cribari (maybe), Swiss Colony and Almaden. There are many old names, long forgotten, in this issue that stir my memories.

Happily, business was very, very good and we enjoyed a couple years of superb profits. And then the crash came, when a flock of "outsiders" entered the business to make a quick buck out of cheap grapes and cheaper wine (fortified). In looking back, I think we would have been much better off with the "fortifying" tax, as it would have prevented much "plonk" from being produced.

In the January '53 edition of Wines & Vines combined with the Wine Review, we find that editor Irving "Brick" Marcus has instituted a policy of publishing abstracts from technical papers previously published. This is the province of Walter Richert, formerly technical editor and now GM at Mayacamas Vineyards. Walt was at Madrone Vineyards when I knew him.

James Vai, president of Padre Vineyards Co., fears that the current sales boom, "might be a harbinger of bad times to come." Well, thank God he was wrong, as '53 was the beginning of a long-term upward trend of profits and prestige in our industry, as I recall.

And, lo and behold, a surprise. Cousin Ted had authored an article titled "Dessert Wine Prospects for 1953." I vaguely remember him talking to me briefly about this assignment. He wanted to know if he should write anything about "sweet wine," as we were launching the Famiglia Cribari brand, which was only table wines. I can't remember, but I guess I said, "yes," as we were deeply in the dessert wine business despite our best efforts to promote table wines. Anyway, he predicted a "better year in 1953."

"Getting the Public into the Act," by Irving Marcus. Irv reports on the growing habit of having public tastings of wines. Public tastings were barely beginning in '53, but they did begin to roll a few years later, especially when people such as Jerry Mead and Bob Balzer began to host such tastings on a grand scale, and in a very professional (and profitable) manner. I think it did, and does, a great deal of good in introducing people to wine in general and varietals in particular.