Winemaking+in+America-+the+20th+Century+to+the+present


 * Winemaking in America: the 20th Century to the present **

Winemaking is the art of producing wine from grapes that has been in practice for centuries. However, it wasn’t until the discovery of the fermentation process in the mid and late 19th century by a series of scientists that allowed the fermentation of wine to be more refined and commercialized. Through the 20th century, wine in America evolved from an underground, home-made practice to a polished cultural art. Over the course the century, the wine making industry adapted in reflection to the changing social and economical environments.


 * Contents **
 * 1. Prohibition Era **
 * 1.1 Political Aspect **
 * 1.2 Effect on American Wineries **
 * 1.3 Introduction of Home Winemaking **
 * 2. Winemaking of the 1930’s **
 * 2.1 California **
 * 2.2 Eastern America **
 * 3. Post-War Years **
 * 3.1 In the West **
 * 3.2 In the East **
 * 4. The Wine Boom of the 1970’s-1980’s **
 * 5. The 1990’s to Present Day **
 * 6. References **


 * The Prohibition Era **

In 1919, Congress passed the National Prohibition Act as the 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. With the purpose of curbing the abusive drinking habits of the American working class, the act was directed against the production and distribution of “intoxicating liquor”, which is anything containing more than 0.5% alcohol. Because the amendment was not aimed at the consumer, Americans searched for alternative means of sources for alcoholic drinks, while the wine industry faced extinction as marketing opportunities disappeared.
 * The Political Aspect **

On the onset of Prohibition, over 700 wineries held licenses for legally producing wine. There were few legal uses for wine in the market, including for medicinal purposes, flavoring in food, and sacramental use in Christian and Jewish congregations. However, these few business ventures proved insufficient for many wineries, particularly the smaller ones, who were forced to destroy their stock of wine through a process of close supervision. The common and simplest response to the passing of the Prohibition Act was for a winery to go out of business. The building could easily be sold for other uses, but the winery equipment itself, such as the crushers, stemmers, and presses, could not be put toward any worthwhile purpose. Other wineries chose the option of shifting their business from that of wine production to that of fruit juice production, which in turn became a very competitive market. Over the duration of the Prohibition, which lasted until the repeal of the 18th amendment in 1933, there was a recorded net loss of 649 wineries.
 * Effect on American Wineries **

With no legal sources from which to purchase alcoholic beverages, Americans toyed with the process of independently producing alcohol containing drinks. Illegal small scale wineries in basements and garages spread across the country. Most home wine makers did not limit their ingredients to fresh grapes alone, fruit juices and concentrates were incorporates as well. It was estimated that an average of 111 million gallons per year of wine was produced in American homes from 1922 to 1929. It was due to Prohibition that Americans became familiarized with the names of wine producing grapes. However, because most American did not have the proper materials, equipment, and knowledge of the winemaking process, the wine produced during this period was considered mediocre at best.
 * Introduction of Home Winemaking **
 * Winemaking of the 1930’s **

As the most prominent wine producing states, California faced a very different world in terms of wine producing. The industry had little regulation; uncontrolled high temperatures in the bottling process caused attacks of vinegar bacteria and lactic acid bacteria, which rendered the wine undrinkable. After years of careless grape planting during Prohibition, wineries had many acres of undistinguishable wine grapes, which lead to the disappearance of white wine varieties for some time. Standards and traditions that existed in the winemaking industry were lost. Some attempted to educate the American consumer through the publications of books, such as Tom Marvel’s “Complete Wine Book” and Philip Wagner’s “American Wines and How to Make Them”. However, most literary works contain poor information, which demonstrated how confused Americans were about winemaking.
 * California **

Under President Roosevelt, Rexford Guy Tugwell developed the goal of altering wine’s image in society to that of a drink of moderation and civility. Tugwell once stated, “I foresee the day when the average American home will be able to enjoy good beer and good wine produced in the neighborhood at moderate prices” with the hopes facilitating America’s rise to one of the major wine producing countries globally. Though short lived, due to pro-Prohibitionists, Tugwell’s program focused on the scientific perspective of winemaking, such as the biochemistry of fermentation, the development of yeasts, and the process of blending. For the east in particular, European vines could not survive the soil and climate, while the most prolific native grapes were unfit for winemaking purposes. An idea was borrowed that was used in the late 1800’s; during Europe’s plight against the // Phylloxera // root louse, susceptible European vines were grafted to the rootstock of resistant American vines. Likewise, American wine growers in the east hybridized their native American vines with the European vinifera vine. Though the resulting grapes had unique flavors and aromas, high acidity, low sugar, and ‘slip-skins’ were characteristic of the grapes as well. Slip-skins needed specially designed presses and techniques for handling the extreme ease of separating their skins. Due to soil and climate obstacles, American winemakers strayed from the European focus on terroir, which is the influence of soil, location, climate and other growing conditions have on winemaking grapes. Instead, Americans concentrated on the properties of grapes that directly relate to wine flavors.
 * Eastern America **
 * Post-War Years **

After the war in the 1940’s through the 1950’s, soldiers returned home to America with a greater appreciation for wine from exposure to the European wine culture. Specifically in the west, wineries expanded to meet the newly increased demands. This meant new buildings as well as new equipment. Because of the large production of stainless steel during wartime, lower prices post-war permitted the easy implementation of this upgraded material into winery equipment, including the cooling coils in storage and fermentation tanks. Stainless steel solved the long time problem of metal contamination in wine. This led to more efficient operation and prevented oxygen from entering the process and causing wine spoilage. Mechanical conveyers enabled wineries to support a continuous, rather than batch, process as well as reduced the need for human labor. Bottling lines were also first introduced into the winemaking process during this time to aid in meeting consumer demand for the finished product. This large-scale production resulted in a market dominated by quantity and indifferent to quality.
 * In the West **

To address the ‘slip-skin’ grapes of the eastern states involved in winemaking, the rack-and-cloth press was developed. This press consisted of crushing the grapes with pectin-splitting enzymes for assisted breakdown and a bulking agent, such as rice hulls, wrapped in cloth to prevent slippage in the press. A consequence to this process is fermentation without skins, a globally unique characteristic.
 * In the East **


 * The Wine Boom of the 1970’s -1980’s **

In response to the mass production of wines, small ‘boutique’ wineries began to spread across the country. These wineries consisted of only a few acres but prided themselves in their prime vineyard land and state-of-the-art production facilities. The structure of such wineries allowed the necessary close personal supervision necessary for the resulting high quality individual wines with unique character and style. A drawback of boutique wineries was the financial expense of purchasing these wines.


 * The 1990’s to Present Day **

By the 1990’s, U.S. wine consumption surpassed all distilled spirits combined for the first time. An important factor to this development was the release of medical evidence suggesting moderate wine consumption is healthful. Universities across the nation, such as Cornell University and the University of Michigan, significantly contributed to the implementation of new technological advances in winegrowing. Innovative machinery, such as temperature-controlled fermentors enables variations in wine. For example, low temperatures can be controlled in detail for white wines. With the ability to generate seemingly endless variations of wines, winegrowers began to hold local competitions to practice their ability to hone in on specific flavors and aromas.

Recent statistics show that the U.S. ranks fifth in wine production globally at 500 million gallons per year behind France, Italy, Spain and Argentina respectively. As wine enthusiasts today look to joining the wine industry, start-up costs play a major role. These expenses go to land establishment and preparation, labor, grapevines, trellis materials, pest management materials, and opportunity cost. Despite the major costs, the ability to obtain satellite photos eases the process of picking an ideal location.


 * References **

Chaddsford Winery. Chadds Ford, PA, 2009.
 * Primary Source **

Cass, Bruce. __The Oxford Companion to the Wines of North America__. Oxford University Press, 2000 Pinney, Thomas. __A History of Wine in America: From Prohibition to the Present__. University of California Press, 2005. Robinson, Jancis. __Oxford Companion to Wine__ Ed. 2. Oxford University Press, 1999. Vine, Richard P., Ellen M. Harkness, and Sally J. Linton. __Winemaking: From Grape Growing to Marketplace__. Ed. 2. Springer, 2002. White, Robert.E. __Soils for Fine Wines__. Oxford University Press, 2003.
 * Secondary Sources **