Looking backward into the future

Wines & Vines, Nov, 1996 by Al Cribari

It is not hard to understand the principal cause. Experts estimated that about 70,000 cars of grapes will have been shipped in 1928. Most people felt that about 60,000 cars would be the most that could be profitably shipped. At 14 tons per car, that equals about 840,000 tons of grapes (in 1966 we crushed about 1,500,000 tons) and the Lord only knows how much wine - many home-vintners stretched as much as they could. We could guess about 200 gallons per ton minimum or about 168 millions of gallons of wine. Good sales figures but terrible profits for 1928.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES: "Wine Helps Airship Passengers." The Graf Zeppelin, which made the transatlantic crossing in 111 hours (less than five days) naturally had some fine comestibles aboard. It had planned to drop overboard all the supply left aboard when the 12-mile limit had been reached. However, somehow the water supply gave out first, so as an emergency measure the above mentioned refreshments were retained.

"New Icing Plant At Fresno." The SP and PFE spent about two million dollars for a facility that would ice 150 cars at a time.

"Winter Spraying": Not only iron sulphate was needed but also sodium arsenic. This is advocated as a "tonic" to the vine and also as a control for Black Measles.

This period of 1928 apparently was one of the gloomiest of the prohibition era, although I do not remember my family complaining about it. In any case, there was a hum of activity to find out what could be done to avoid a repeat in 1929.

I guess that not much could be done as we not only had the Depression to deal with but also a big over-supply of grapes, mostly Thompsons.

"Grape Prices Strong As Crash Nears End," that in 1946. Some quotes: North Coast whites $135 to $145 per ton; reds, $115 to $125; Central Valley: Thompsons, $80 to $90; Tokays, about $105; Muscats, $105 and reds, $110. Note the relative absence of varieties.

Ceilings were now off wines and spirits and tie-in sales were disappearing fast.

Great ad (in my opinion) for Cook's Champagne, with a photo of Eugene Schoenberger, their champagne maker, formerly of Schoenberger Champagne of Germany.

"What Price Wine in 1947" Well, the answer in W&V is that "beginning in December, wine prices would be revised upward." (One can see the influence of the bureaucratic gobble developed during the wartime gov'mint employees inflation!) I cannot remember exactly, but I think that in December prices began to fall. Under California Fair Trade law, most of the popular-priced dessert wines, were posted at 78[cents] per fifth; the semi-premium at 98[cents]. As I recall, these prices were increased to 87[cents] and $1.17 respectively for December. The prices never did stick, however, and by May or so the popular wines were posted as low as 55[cents] per fifth. Ugh.

Good photos of some long discontinued brands - Roma Estate, Cribari Reserve and Angelo Petri.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES: "The Fair Trade Principal," an article by John W. Anderson, president of the American Fair Trade Council. A hold-over from the depression, Fair Trade (legal price setting) held forth until about the '60s, I guess, when such laws began to be declared illegal.

"Bottle Order Revoked"; the Civilian Production Administration revoked the Order that restricted the size, weight, shape, etc. in which bottles could be blown (made).

"Cresta Blanca Served on Liner," to wit the Queen Elizabeth.

Half-page ad - "Sebastiani Wines - excellent DESSERT and TABLE wines in tank cars and barrels, i.e. no bottles.

Irving Marcus, in the November 1966 edition, bemoans the fact that retailing today is using rebates, prizes and trading stamps (remember those?) to sell product instead of selling the product. I consider his complaint frivolous and without much value! As he himself says, "A professor of economics points out that successful merchandising does not depend on the inherent qualities of a product. Rather it depends on the promotion of an image:," i.e. sell the sizzle, not the steak.

This was aptly demonstrated when I did cooking on TV and wine shows. If I had a chance to get into the kitchen a half hour or so before my show, I put some olive oil, chopped garlic and onions into the pan and heated all to just before smoking. In a few minutes we had a crowd running into the room, following their noses in anticipation of something delicious. Great fun.

"The California Marketing Order for Grape Products" came into being November 15, 1966", thus putting brandies and grape concentrate under its control.

At the request of Ray Kasser, the Eastern bottlers will meet with the Marketing Board to discuss the impact of the new Order.

Hard on the heels of the above, the grape crop was estimated to be 3.3 million tons vs. the Sept. estimate of 3.6 with a crush of only 1.5 million tons. These figures were setting the tone for the coming prosperity of the industry, the demise of the Eastern bottler, the improvement of most wineries' equipment which led to the ability to produce a bunch of fine wines for the new consumers about to enter the market.