facebook

Category: People Articles – Overview

Legends & Mavericks

The people behind the bottle - both past and present.

The South County Growers, Winemakers, and Inventors Who Shaped The Wine History of Edna Valley, Arroyo Grande Valley Upper And Lower The City of San Luis Obispo And the Southern Central Coast

Libbie established The Wine History Project of San Luis Obispo County in 2015 to study the land, microclimates, grape varieties, growers, and winemakers who have shaped the wine history of the county. She interviewed hundreds of people and worked with the older generations of growers and winemakers to identify the important people and historical events that shaped local wine history. Libbie believes that history must be shared in a variety of ways to reach the public; each exposure should add joy and a sense of adventure to the experience. The Wine History Project shares the unique history of “SLO” county by making documentary films, organizing art events paired with wine, developing exhibits to place in the vineyards, gardens, parks, and historic buildings. You will find written history, descriptions of historic wine tools and equipment and photographs on our website, in our books and publications and in our monthly newsletters.newsletters.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: Theodore Gier Wine Co.: A Pre-Prohibition Wine Industry

Ambitious, and determined from an early age to establish a career in the California wine trade, young Hanoverian Theodore Gier (1860-1931) sailed in 1881 from his native Germany to America. Two years later he was settled in Oakland, across the Bay from San Francisco, to become one of the most successful, and powerful, wine men in pre-Prohibition California. Gier, “of slight frame and of uncommon nervous tension” was a public-spirited and progressive citizen, a recognized business leader whose ownership interests included a bar and saloon, bank founder, real estate developer, resort owner, and city philanthropist. His huge Oakland-based wine and liquor operations, wholesale & retail, counted five locations in Oakland, along with numerous vineyards and wineries in Napa County and the Livermore Valley. In 1910 Gier incorporated as the Theodore Gier Vineyard & Wine Co., with a capitalization of two million dollars. In a few years, the company had annual sales of just over three hundred thousand gallons of wine.

Read More

1985-2017 Central Coast Wine Classic: The Catalogs

KCBX, the local public radio, began its first broadcast on July 25, 1975. At that time a non-profit, non-commercial community radio was a new concept. It was questionable how an area the size of San Luis Obispo County would be able to give support to a public radio station. The station eventually became part of the nationwide network of National Public Radio and built a strong listenership.

Read More

Karen MacNeil – America Wine Critic And Wine Historian

The Wine History Project honors Karen MacNeil as the most influential wine educator and writer in the United States. She not only produced the most comprehensive and accessible “Bible” on viticulture, wine history and wine culture throughout the world, but continues to make wine accessible to everyone through her blogs, wine quizzes, seminars, films, special events and wine tastings. She is always available to educate you with delight and passion.

Read More

The World of Pinot Noir: Archie McLaren And Brian Talley

In 1996, Brian Talley, commemorating the tenth anniversary of Talley Vineyards, hosted the first livestream dual blind wine tasting event in the United States. Stephen Tanzier, the author of the International Wine Cellar, hosted several of New York’s finest restaurant wine directors to taste the wines in front of a large television screen.

Read More

The Central Coast Wine Classic And The Rise of Philanthropy

Archie McLaren is the man remembered for creating and sustaining the Central Coast Wine Classic, the top regional wine event, for over three decades. Over the years, this wine event raised over $3.2 million to support philanthropy for public radio station KCBX, the Healing Arts, Performing Arts and Studio Arts in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: On The Other Side Of The Eastern Napa Valley Hills – Solano Co. Wine Country

The Suscol Hills to the east of Napa Valley constitute a natural boundary between Napa and Solano County. About five miles south of the city of Napa, Jameson Canyon forms a break in the hills and leads into the lower end of Solano County’s Green Valley, so named by early settlers for the abundance of a wild grass that remained green throughout the dry summers.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: California Raisin Land – A Vintage Box Of Postcard Favorites

Directly in the middle of the vast Central Valley is the San Joaquin Valley, a viticultural wonderland for growing and the production of raisins, or dried grapes. Today, on almost 100,000 acres in an area within a 60-mile radius of Fresno, raisin growers produce 100% of the U.S. raisins. Our postcard story is set here in Fresno — a major city and economic hub in the San Joaquin Valley, the largest city in the greater Central Valley, and “The Raisin Capital of the World.” Many of the following accounts of our postcard storytellers are borrowed from the 1891 published jewel, California Homes & Industries. Fresno Illustrated.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: Leland Stanford And His Three Wineries – A “Sideline” Postcard Story

Arriving in California in 1852 from his home state of New York, Leland Stanford (1824–1893) was an attorney, storekeeper, Justice of the Peace, organizer of the Sacramento Library Association, industrialist, and philanthropist.
He established a major University, was a Republican Party politician, 8th Governor of California, one of the “Big Four” who built the transcontinental railroad, and U. S. Senator from 1885 until his death in 1893. He also founded three California wineries.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: Irrigation Canals In The Central Valley – A Bucolic Wine Wine Country Story

Since the 1850s, a myriad of irrigation canals, or ditches to the farmers, have been vital to agrarian pursuits in the many thousands of acres of diverse agricultural richness of California’s Great Central Valley — whether cotton fields, olive orchards, fruit trees, grains & rice, or vineyards.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: Napa Valley’s Knoll-Top Wonder – Sterling Vineyards Winery

As you approach the upper end of Napa Valley, an alabaster-white monastery-like structure comes into view sitting atop a wooded knoll rising from the valley floor two miles south of Calistoga. This is Sterling Vineyards Winery, called the most spectacular winery in America when it was completed in 1973. It was the biggest new winegrowing venture in Napa County, with a six-million-dollar investment in the future of premium table wines.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: Paul Masson Winery – From Historic Hilltop To The Vast Valley Floor

“Pioneer California Winemaker, lavish host, astute businessman, celebrated judge of fine wines, Paul Masson made his name famous by producing champagnes and table wines which held their own anywhere. Gourmet, bon vivant, raconteur, connoisseur, with an ardent eye for a handsome woman, flamboyant at times and eccentric at others, thrifty in the Gallic tradition, he transplanted much of his native Burgundy to his adopted California … a great Californian, a great gentleman and a great wine grower. ” — John Melville.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: Headquarters For Wine Country Postcards, St. Helena, Joe Galesky

Since the young days of Napa Valley wine country, St. Helena has been the bustling hub of Upper Valley. The many wineries of our historical lore began planting vineyards and building beautiful stone wineries around the 1880s. The phenomenon of picture postcards celebrating the wonders of the Valley didn’t come along until the turn of the century in the very early 1900s. In Calistoga, ten miles north of St. Helena, master photographer I. C. Adams
(1874–1960) had arrived in Calistoga as a young boy in 1882. A well-loved figure in Calistoga history, he was not only a successful photographer (1903–1950), but “a celebrated musician, historian, philosopher, poet, and more.” His real-photo postcards of the Geysers, Mt. St. Helena, surrounding vineyards and local wineries are wine country treasures. And in St. Helena, there was Joe Galewsky, photographer, publisher and purveyor of local postcards.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: California Wines At The 1915 San Francisco Exposition: High Honors

On February 20, 1915, after five years of preliminaries and the expenditure of $50,000,000, the gates of the Panama- Pacific International Exposition (P.P.I.E.) were opened for its nearly ten-month celebration of the completion of the Panama Canal and its boost to West Coast trade, and to showcase the City’s wholesome recovery from the 1906 earthquake. This magnificent fair was constructed on a 636-acre, two-and-a-half-mile waterfront site along the northern shore of S.F. Bay, between the Presidio at the Golden Gate and Fort Mason-Van Ness Avenue on the east,
the area now known as the Marina District. Two-hundred and fifty thousand revelers attended opening day. By the end of the fair in early December, nearly 19 million people had visited the P.P.I.E.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: Grapes & Wine In Martinez And The Alhambra Valley: A Postcard Journey

MOST PEOPLE DO NOT automatically connect winegrowing with Contra Costa County in the East Bay region of San Francisco Bay like they might do with Napa or Sonoma counties. But there is fine wine history here, and some lovely postcard views and stories to highlight and preserve it. Grapes and wine loomed large in the landscape beginning in the early 1850s. Interestingly, in 1856 Napa County recorded 33 acres in grape acreage. Contra Costa County had 110 acres; in 1860 seven wineries produced some 2300 gallons of wine. At the time of the 1912 postcard below, the vineyard acreage was 8175 acres, and by 1916, just before Prohibition, wine acreage had grown to 8895 acres. Sadly, the Dry years and urban growth set the total acres in the 1970s at 900 acres, and dropping.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: Sonoma County Valley Of The Moon And Its Rich Winegrowing History

Valley of the Moon. When we who live here see the moon rising over the Mayacmas Mountains, we understand why the Indian tribes thought there were many moons in the Valley. Standing out with surprising bigness, apparently never twice in the same place, the moon appears and disappears behind the different peaks, or it may come from behind a clump of trees or over a large live oak, but seemingly, always from a different direction. The Valley of the Moon is not large. It measures about 10 miles across its
base in the south at Sonoma City, bordering San Pablo Bay. Triangular in shape, the distance to the apex to the north near Santa Rosa is about 15 miles. This valley of rich variety provides our country with some of its very best grapes and extra-fine wines. — Gen. Hap Arnold, Ret., Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces, from his Valley of the Moon ranch, 1948.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: Pioneer Women Winemakers Of California: A Vintage Postcard Visit

During the 19th century of California wine country history, there were a handful of women running wineries, all much respected and all widows whose husbands had been winery owners, e.g. Stuart, Warfield, Hood, Weinberger. We will plan a future visit with these noted ladies and their award-winning wine careers. Our present wine country postcard story was inspired by the fascinating book, Women Winemakers. Personal Odysseys by Lucia & John Gilbert, published in 2020. Lucia is a noted scholar of women’s career pathways in male-dominated fields whose recent research focuses on the progress and prospects of women winemakers in California and internationally. Our vintage tour will feature a selection of these amazing, and esteemed, post-Prohibition wine women.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: San Luis Obispo County A Postcard Peek At Three Centuries Of Grapes & Wine

When California attained statehood in 1850 and established the County of San Luis Obispo, grape growing and wine making already had been actively pursued a short few years after 1772. This is the founding date of Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, the fifth Mission of the twenty-one established in Alta California by the Franciscans between 1769 and 1823. The San Luis Obispo wine industry was born at the Mission. Today, in 2024, the celebration of grapes and wine is firmly entrenched in this premier Central Coast wine country with 35,000 acres planted to vineyards and a total of sixteen different American Viticultural Appellations and Sub-Appellations.

Read More

Benito Dusi Vineyard – Celebrating 100 Years

By 1919, California had become America’s leading winegrowing state with over 1,000 wineries in operation. On January 16th, 1919, with the ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution everything changed. This was the beginning of the Prohibition Era in America – 1920-1933. It was not illegal to drink. Any wine, beer, or spirits in the possession of an American in 1920 could be enjoyed and consumed at home. The 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act stipulated that individual states should enforce Prohibition according to their own laws. Local law enforcement in San Luis Obispo County was vigilant, harsh and terrifying. People were arrested, jailed and paid large fines for making and selling wine.

Read More

Benito Dusi (1933 – 2019) Zinfandel Grower

Above all else, Benito was a beloved member of the Dusi family, the youngest of the three Dusi brothers and a member of the second generation of the famous grape-growing family. This is the only family of growers in San Luis Obispo County that has had five generations raising and harvesting grapes. Only two members of the family have made wine commercially – Benito in the 1950s and his grandniece Janell in the 21st century.

Read More

Dante Silvestro Dusi (1925 – 2015) Zinfandel Grower

Dante was first and foremost a farmer and grape grower. He learned his farming techniques from his father and his quality of grapes changed the history of San Luis Obispo County. Dante and Benito Dusi sold grapes to local winemakers as well as to winemakers throughout California. Dante’s love of the land and his skills as a grower made the Dusi grapes famous for their quality and helped establish the Paso Robles/Templeton area as one of the premier growing regions in California. He is remembered as a man who sealed all deals and contracts with a handshake, a smile, and his reputation.

Read More

Wine Postcard Stories – Postcard Collection of Gail Unzelman: Sonoma County’s Utopian Vineyards: A Postcard Tour

In the late 1800s, Sonoma County made a name for itself as home to a number of Utopian colonies. Located not too far from one another, they were clustered within the great Russian River watershed that flows through the Santa Rosa plain. The 110-mile river is a vital resource in Northern California — from its headwaters in the north near Ukiah in Mendocino County, it meanders in every direction through the heart of Sonoma County’s wine country to make its way to the Sonoma Coast and the Pacific Ocean…

Read More
Loading