Features
~ Sonoma Valley Sun
Those were the days … in some ways
Posted on October 31, 2008 by Sonoma Valley Sun
There are times when you are stuck in traffic, or waiting in line at a local dining hotspot, when it’s easy to get nostalgic about the good ol’ days of California’s wine country, and the business that inspired it. In some ways, it’s tempting to look back on those days as a sort of belle époque, when pioneers thrived, everyone knew each other and everyone was working towards the common cause of building an industry from the ground up.
Different people have a different sense of when those days were. For me, they started in the mid-1970s when I began my first job as the winemaker for the then newly established Hacienda Winery here in Sonoma. I was fresh out of school from UC Davis, and looking back on it now, it says something about the fledgling state of the industry that I was able to land this position with no real experience and the ink not yet dry on my diploma. Davis had given me a good analytical grounding in the work of winemaking, and it had helped to refine my palate, but the pinnacle of my real-world experience was a little at-home winemaking and not much more.
Like many of us in those early days – and still today, I think – I was smitten with the romantic notion of making wine. It appealed to me on many levels. I loved that it had a connection to the land – that I was getting back to nature in my own way. And I appreciated the fact that it combined nature, science and a sense of artistry. It also pleased me to see making wine as a wholesome rebellion against more conventional career choices, like being a doctor or a lawyer. This said, I was also aware that many people – some of them my friends – snickered behind my back and had doubts about the legitimacy of winemaking as a “real job.”
The industry was far more informal back then. With only about 40 or 50 wineries in Sonoma County, we all knew one another, and it was commonplace to drop in at someone else’s winery for an impromptu visit. The air was also less charged with competition, and information about new winemaking techniques and equipment was happily shared. In the relatively small world of North American winemaking, Napa Valley saw most of the glory (what there was of it), but other areas like Sonoma County and the Central Coast were beginning to emerge as regions of real note and potential. Growers and vintners were also beginning to get serious about promoting the idea of appellations, but this concept – like the appeal of vineyard-designate bottlings – was still many years from meaning much to the general wine-buying public. In fact, the average consumer’s taste in wine was often heavily skewed towards softer whites with some residual sugar, and for the most part, the East Coast was still fairly Euro-centric in its drinking habits.
Perhaps the biggest difference between then and now – and the biggest argument against a “good ol’ days” view of things – is the quality level. To be blunt, everything was much more rudimentary back in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Varietals were often grown in the wrong soils or climates, rootstock and clonal selections were minimal by today’s standards, and viruses ran rampant in many vineyards – leading to sick vines and grapes with poorly articulated flavors. Growers tended to strive for very big crops (since they were usually paid by the pound), and often erred on the side of picking too early to avoid late-season rains. Needless to say, this combination of factors didn’t always lead to the most stellar wines. And yet, the passionate winemakers of the day took advantage of California’s great natural climate to produce some phenomenal early wines – wines that laid the groundwork for today’s industry. At the same time, icons like Robert Mondavi saw a path to this better future, and worked to elevate viticulture and winemaking for all of us.
The truth is, I don’t think of the past, as the “good ‘ol days.” While the business isn’t always as close-knit and collegial as it once was, everything that makes a significant impact on wine quality is better. Across the board, the state of California winemaking is vibrant and healthy, and the bar is as high as it’s ever been. Combine this with the fact that my friends no longer snicker about my career choice, and I’m very content to be living and making wine in the here and now.
Steve MacRostie is a renowned winemaker and the founder of MacRostie Winery and Vineyards.
There are times when you are stuck in traffic, or waiting in line at a local dining hotspot, when it’s easy to get nostalgic about the good ol’ days of California’s wine country, and the business that inspired it. In some ways, it’s tempting to look back on those days as a sort of belle époque, when pioneers thrived, everyone knew each other and everyone was working towards the common cause of building an industry from the ground up.
