Fun wine fact I ran across

[jswordy]

America is now the biggest wine market in the world, with Americans drinking 13% of what’s produced globally, according to Jon Frederikson of Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates, a California-based wine-consulting firm.

 

[JohnT]

We have come a long way from prohabition...

Back in the day, most Americans preferred hard stuff to wine. Heck, just look at any old movie from the 40's or 50's. You always see bogie sipping on a bottle of scotch and not a bottle of merlot.

The reputation of domestic wine was very bad at this point (thanks in part to folks like the Gallos and their thunderbird wine, or wines like night-train where there was no art or craft and only the bottom line behind their winemaking). A large portion of post prohibition domestic wines were very cheap, horrible, and appealed mostly to Low-life winos and tramps. True gutter Fuel. The reputation was so bad that no self respecting person would ever consider drinking domestic wines. If a restaurant ever had a domestic wine list, they would be laughed out of the business.

Also, at this point, Europe was still in the process of recovery from WWII. Many vinyards were destroyed and much of the knowledgeable labor force was killed off. As a result, availablility of European wines in America was very low, and the price of imported wine was at an all time high.

So there was a double whammy on wine. Horrible stuff domesticly and hard to find and expensive stuff abroad. What are American's to do? Well they turned to either beer or the hard stuff.

Most of the credit (and most will agree) for the build up of the American wine industry goes to mostly two men. Robert Mondavi has long been considered as the father of Napa Valley. Most of the reputation gained in the 70's and 80's is mostly through his promotive efforts.

So much more important was a man named Andre Tchelistcheff. Andre was (of all things) a native born Russian that ended up becomming the most celebrated winemaker in Napa. Go ahead an google the name and see for youself what this man is credited with. Simply Amazing!

Some people credit James Barrett for that most famous "judgement in Paris". Far too much credit has been sent this way. It is Andre Tchelistcheff (who trained the winemaker for Chateau Montelena, Mike Grgich) that deserves most of the credit.

These two men, the master salesman (Mondovi) and the master winemaker (Tchelistcheff), are the main reason that things truned around.


Ok, getting off the soapbox now. Sorry to be so wordy. I just have spent a lot of time absorbing Napa history.

Here's to ya Bob and Andre!
johnT.

 

[DirtyDawg10]

Very interesting!

 

[jswordy]

Hmph! Don't you be dissing Thunderbird or Night Train, or my buddies who swill the likes. Remember that most of the Baby Boomers who are wine snobs now got their start in the 70s with a bottle of Boone's Farm! It was a gateway drug!

"What's the word? Thunderbird!"



As far as the movies, I think hard liquor got placed by cold hard cash, the same way product placement has always worked in films. I remember we underage boys hitting up older guys to buy us some Olympia beer, cuz that's what Clint Eastwood drank!

While we're at it, y'all might as well have a laugh...

http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2012/01/10_hilarious_commercials_for_t.php

 

[dangerdave]

I swilled my share of Boone's Farm back in the day! Some Mad Dog 20/20, too!

<gives me cold chills just thinking about it>

 

[GaDawg]

I remember when Thunderbird cost $0.80

"What's the word? Thunderbird!"
"What's the price? Forty twice!”

 

[TahunaJR]

Reminded me of when I worked stocking shelves in the family liquor store back in the early 70s. Add Bali Hai and Lancer's to that list!

An interesting article from 1987...

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...170160092_1_first-wine-taste-of-wine-red-wine

 

[Rocky]

I remember when Thunderbird cost $0.80

"What's the word? Thunderbird!"
"What's the price? Forty twice!”

GaDawg, I can't believe that you are older than I am so the prices where you lived must have been lower. In Pittsburgh (in the 1950's) it was:

What's the word? Thunderbird!
What's the price? Fifty twice minus one makes 99 cents a full quart!
What's the reason? Grapes in season!

 

[GaDawg]

Rocky, that was the USAF in Europe in the 60's

 

[JohnT]

Folks,

I am determined to convert you from the dark side!

I simply can not believe that anybody would ever have a craving for these products.

Thuderbird was so cheaply made that it is actually fortified to raise the APV. The APV was raised simply so that folks could get drunk for less money. Read any of the biographys of the Gallo brothers, and you will agree with me that this was simply made for the sake of making money and not for the sake of quality. It was designed for HoBos. Night Train was made for the same reasons.

The question here is what is most important? Is it the alcohol or the taste. To me, it is the taste. My grandfather always said that there is no shame in drinking provided you only drink what you like and do not waste time or money on things that you do not like.

I too have had Boon's farm and also (once) have tried night train. I will never forget just how bad this stuff was! Just one sip was enough to put me off. It made me want to smash the glass to prevent any further contamination. Chalk up the success of these products to being young, not having a lot of money, or not knowing any better.

I do not see it as being a snob. My line of thought is this... In an evening, you really can only drink a finite amount of wine. With that in mind, what would you spend your time on? Night Train? Thunderbird? or perhaps something very enjoyable. Life is way to short to drink bad wine!

 

[TahunaJR]

Back in the mid 70s at a Midwestern university, I remember the dorm neighbors celebrating with a concoction that they referred to as "Shake & Bake". Each person bought a quart of White Port and added their favorite flavor of Kool-Aid to it. Total price? $1.25. Everyone would carry their bottle around and give it a good shake before taking a big chug. I cringe and laugh whenever I think of it!

 

[Brew and Wine Supply]

A group of us here skipped the Boones and went to Tyrolia a semi sweet white wine at $3.99 for a 1.5. Felt sophisticated at 18.

 

[JohnT]

Hey, That is almost what it costs me to make wine from fresh grapes!..

 

[wpt-me]

I have not seen any mention of SILVER SATIN in this thread?

bill

 

[Dugger]

The only wine available to us as kids, being way out in the country, was at the bootlegger - Prince of Denmark wine at two dollars a quart - nasty hangovers from that stuff!

 

[jswordy]

The question here is what is most important? Is it the alcohol or the taste.

Akyhaul. Next question pleeeze.

I gonna go so far as to say for most snobs it's the akyhaul, too. But that's not proper. Then they gotta make up all kinds of other stuff to justify that they are getting buzzed off their keisters. So they do. Great nose (hadda snootfull), nice finish (dang glass empty again!), yadda yadda... BURP!

 

[dangerdave]

If I did not resemble that remark, Jim, I would be unformly offended! As most of my wines costs me less than a buck a bottle to make, I have no basis from which to take umbrage!

<burp!>

 

[jswordy]

If I did not resemble that remark, Jim, I would be unformly offended! As most of my wines costs me less than a buck a bottle to make, I have no basis from which to take umbrage!

<burp!>

This is all in fun, of course ... urp. After I beatcha in the wine comp, I plan to drink the rest of that carboy up quick!

 

[dangerdave]

Whateva! I don' tink you can fit in dem shoos!

 

[jswordy]

The question here is what is most important? Is it the alcohol or the taste. To me, it is the taste. My grandfather always said that there is no shame in drinking provided you only drink what you like and do not waste time or money on things that you do not like.

JohnT, all silliness aside, I just today have found an article about a study that directly addresses your post points I truncated above. The study is about beer, but they extrapolated the results to cover other beverages....

The taste of beer, without its alcoholic effects, may be enough to trigger the release of the pleasure chemical dopamine in the brain, a study finds.

To see how the taste of beer affects the brain, researchers gave a group of men tiny tastes of beer, and as the men sipped the beer, the researchers scanned the men’s brains. After a taste of beer, the men's brains showed a notable release of dopamine, a brain chemical associated with the pleasurable experience of consuming alcohol and other drugs. The effect was even greater among men who had a family history of alcoholism.

The findings are not surprising, scientists say, but having a way to assess predisposition to alcohol abuse could be useful.

"We believe this is the first experiment in humans to show that the taste of an alcoholic drink alone, without any intoxicating effect from the alcohol, can elicit this dopamine activity in the brain's reward centers," the study's senior author, neuroscientist David Kareken of the Indiana University School of Medicine, said in a statement. The findings were detailed online today (April 15) in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

Dopamine, a brain chemical widely associated with pleasure, has long been linked to the consumption of alcohol and other drugs. Sensory cues — such as tastes, smells or the sight of a bar — can elicit cravings to drink and cause relapses in recovering alcoholics. Dopamine may be critically involved in such cravings, scientists believe.

In the study, researchers gave 49 male volunteers a tiny taste (half an ounce, or 15 milliliters) of their favorite beer over the course of 15 minutes — enough to taste the beer but not enough to cause a change in blood-alcohol level or intoxication. At other times, the volunteers were given a sports drink or water, for comparison.

To study the effect of beer's taste on dopamine receptors, the researchers scanned the volunteers' brains using Positron Emission Tomography, which uses the radiation emitted by a radioactive chemical to produce a 3D image of the brain.

The scans revealed higher increases in dopamine after the men tasted beer compared with tasting the sports drink or water — suggesting that the taste of alcohol is enough to prompt a pleasurable response in the brain. The men also reported higher beer cravings after tasting beer than water or the sports drink.

Furthermore, the men who had a family history of alcoholism showed an even greater spike in dopamine levels after they tasted the beer, so the dopamine response may be a heritable risk factor for alcoholism.

Full story: http://www.livescience.com/28716-beer-taste-triggers-dopamine-release.html