Max Goldman (1910-2004)

Summary: Max Goldman purchased and restored the iconic San Luis Obispo County Winery and vineyards of York Mountain Winery from 1970 to 2001. During Max’s career as a winemaker, his research on fermentation and observations profoundly increased the quality standards of wine, improved documentation, viticulture and course curriculum, and production efficiency. His scholarship led to becoming known as a “founding father” of the Wine Institute and of the American Society of Enologists (later known as the American Society of Enology and Viticulture); he was President from 1955-1956.

Max Goldman – the Legend
Max Goldman’s career from 1934 to the purchase of his own York Mountain Winery in 1970, spanned four decades during the most exciting growth and development in the grape and wine industry in California. His career began within weeks of the Repeal of Prohibition Laws. Max became a Legend as he observed and recorded the changes in the wine industry, collaborated with professors at UC Davis and Fresno State to develop techniques and standards of quality in winemaking, designed curriculum for Fresno State College, dramatically improved the fermentation techniques of wine and of champagne, gave lectures, developed exhibits and wrote articles to educate those working in the industry. Max was making wine history as his career advanced from winery to winery in California, culminating in the champagne industry in Pleasanton, New York. Max’s career started in Lodi, California as a chemist and quickly evolved into winemaking. He started making sweet sherry as a winemaker, became known as a champagne maker and ultimately won awards for his own Estate grown Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zinfandel in San Luis Obispo County on York Mountain.

Max believed everyone in the industry needed to work together to promote California wines; he was a founding member of both The Wine Institute in San Francisco and the American Society of Enology and Viticulture. Max was recognized for his leadership abilities in the wine industry, working in every aspect from winemaking to management, marketing, and distribution. At age 60, he purchased the famous York Winery in the Santa Lucia Mountains of San Luis Obispo County from third generation owner Wilfrid York, planted new grape varieties in the vineyards and made award-winning wines with his son Stephen Goldman. Max and his daughter Suzanne created a warm and inviting tasting room for visitors and developed several wine events to support local nonprofits including KCBX Radio, the Mozart and Paderewski Festivals.

Max was a Renaissance Man, a classical pianist, an artist, a collector of antiques and a scientist of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and winemaking. He played in dance bands in the Central Valley as he advanced his career from moving and improving winemaking from winery to winery. He loved people, hosting the annual reunions, including the 75th at York Mountain Winery, of his childhood Eagle Scout Troop, networking with those in the wine industry from California to New York.

In December 1933, Prohibition was repealed, Herbert Hoover was ending his term as President of the United States, unemployment was at an all-time high, and the Great Depression was expanding across the country. Stalin was in power in Russia, Hitler was the Chancellor in Germany, Mussolini was the dictator in Italy, and George V was the King of England. In 1933 Max Goldman graduated from Whittier College with a major in Chemistry and a minor in Physics and Mathematics.

Max married his sweetheart Barbara Grace White on February 23, 1934, in Southern California and started looking for a job as a chemist. He loved to tell the story that he was searching for work as a chemist in Northern California when his car broke down and died in Lodi. He had no money and no transportation but had some luck with an interview at Roma Wine Co., a winery founded in Lodi by Martin Scatena in 1890. It was purchased by East Coast Wine Merchants, Lorenzo and J.B Cella, in 1924. The winery and vineyards were active during Prohibition, shipping grapes to buyers across the country and producing cooking sherry, wine sauce, concentrates for home winemaking and Sacramental Wine. When Prohibition ended, the Cella brothers acquired the Santa Lucia Winery in Fresno and renamed it Roma Wine Company; it became known as the largest winery in the world.

Max started as a chemist and learned to become a winemaker. Roma was famous for dessert wines including Sherry, Port, Ruby Port, Muscatel and Tokay. He became involved in all aspects of the science of winemaking. The primary concern was the quality of the grapes. At least 50% of the grapes crushed were Thompson, a well-known table grape. The red varieties were Alicante Bouchet, Carignane, Mission, and small amounts of Zinfandel. There was no refrigeration, and transportation was slow so the grapes were often stored a full day in the truck, under a hot sun, creating a culture of acetobacter and mold. It took years to upgrade the initial grape quality and timely delivery of grapes to the winery. Max conferred with colleagues in the industry, and they felt a need for education and discussion of the complex problems created by crushers, must lines and presses of iron, pumps of copper and iron, and tanks of copper, concrete and iron. It took years to replace the equipment with stainless steel and wood. Sanitation procedures were just beginning. There were no cleaning agents or effective sterilizing techniques available.

In 1934 Max Goldman became a founding member of the Wine Institute in San Francisco, a trade organization founded by the California Wine Industry to educate and protect its wine producers, to establish standards in the industry to ensure the highest quality and to promote wines made in California. Max was a Life Member of the Wine Institute and served on the Board in later years. He was instrumental in the formation of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) at the Institute. Grape and wine literature were almost nonexistent. Max considered the Wine Institute members and the TAC to be the most valuable exchange of information available at this time in his career.

During his work at Roma Wine Co., record keeping in the wine industry was in its infancy. Records were written in chalk on a black painted board, nailed to a wooden tank. Federal Regulation No. 7 was the lone reference to production, requiring a monthly report on forms 701, 702, and form 15. Activity reports 703 and 275 tracked bottling activity, champagne, and brandy. Federal tax stamps were affixed to each carton or tank car, and state tax stamps were placed on each bottle. Max worked on organizing and developing record keeping systems. His system of record keeping received compliments from the Alcohol Tax Unit (ATU), later known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Max moved to Petri Wine Company in Escalon, California in 1936. He was hired as the Chief Chemist and Winemaker and worked there until 1944. He also joined a dance band that played in Escalon and Modesto, California upon joining Petri Wine Co. Max worked on many challenges in the wine industry, collaborating with the Wine Institute and Professor Hod Berg at UC Davis. In the 1940s, cottony mold became a problem in finished wine throughout the industry. Professor Hod Berg worked to eradicate the mold by advising sterilization of all equipment and developing a ratio of wine to SO².

Max was always focusing on fermentation. By using cold fermentation at 45 degrees Fahrenheit in 30,000 gallon lots, wine quality and stability improved. The production of industrial alcohol from molasses taught Max a great deal about the design of stills as well as the control and removal of congeners in spirits. Congeners are substances produced during fermentation; they are responsible for most of the taste and aroma of distilled alcoholic beverages. Yeast strain production and its propagation for molasses fermentation gave Max valuable experience for his selection and propagation of yeast for wine fermentation and later on in his career, the fermenting of champagne.

Max knew that grape quality determined the ultimate quality of the wines he was making. As a chemist-winemaker, Max had the opportunity to learn and experiment with many process variations in the practice of winemaking. He also worked to attain good production efficiency. The record of good production efficiency was measured in proof gallons per ton.

Petri Wine Co. continued to expand and become one of the largest wineries in the United States. By 1950 Petri Wine Co. surpassed Roma Wine Co. in production. For those radio fans, Petri Wine Co. was the sponsor of the Adventures of Sherlock Homes, starring Basil Rathbone, from 1939 to 1944.

In 1941, Max and Barbara welcomed their first child, Suzanne into the world in Escalon, California.

Max was hired as the General Manager of Sanger Winery Guild in 1944. Max had both winemaking and management skills to help improve the quality and the production of the wines. Max worked on the fortification of dessert wines and had his first infraction with the ATU. Historically fortified wines are among California’s oldest viticulture traditions. The California Padres were famous during the Mission Era for making Angelica from the fortified Mission Grape. To fortify wine, the winemaker must add a neutral grape spirit or brandy at mid-fermentation. This process will dramatically raise the sugar content and kill the yeasts, resulting in high levels of residual sugar in the wine. Max worked on the fortification of some aged Muté. Regulations at the time required 0.5% alcohol in the wine material for the wine to be eligible as a spirit. The ATU levied a heavy penalty when the records did not show the wine material to contain over 0.5% alcohol. This was the first time Max and the Winery had been cited for this type of infraction, and the fine was a hefty one. Max started the negotiations to change the rules which seemed unreasonable from a scientific point of view. After much discussion and negotiation, the fine was reduced to a few hundred dollars and the regulations changed to permit fortification of wine materials with no requirement on percentages of alcohol to be present.

Max continued to experiment with new types of wines. He developed a low-alcohol, high flavored beverage with carbonation by using a low alcohol wine with Concord grape juice. He hired a local bottling company to carbonate it. He presented this new product for tasting at the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the Wine Institute. It received rave reviews, but the product did not succeed. Max was ahead of his time. Wine Coolers and like products became popular many years later.

Max continued to expand his knowledge and expertise by becoming a member of the American Chemical Society in 1946 and a member of the Institute of Food Technologists, an international nonprofit society dedicated to the science of food and food technology. He became licensed as a Professional Engineer in Chemical Engineering in 1948.

Max also worked on the challenge of finding the proper terms for describing a wine. Emil Mrak and Max were appointed by the Wine Institute as co-chairmen of a committee called “Descriptive Words for Wine.” The UC Davis faculty eventually finalized the vocabulary for describing wine.

Max continued as a general manager in his next two jobs, first at Mission Bell Winery (Allied Grape Growers) in Madera, California where he perfected making a white table wine with Palomino grapes using low-temperature fermentation at 45 degrees Fahrenheit and a slight alcohol adjustment with brandy. Barbara and Max’s second child, Stephen, was born in 1948.

In 1950 Max joined with other winemakers to establish the American Society of Enologists (later known as the American Society of Enologists and Viticulturalists). Shortly afterward he assisted in forming the Viticulture and Enology Classes at Fresno State (now CSU-Fresno)

In 1958 Max decided to join Great Western Champagne (Pleasant Valley Wine Company) in Hammondsport, New York. Max received loads of criticism for affiliating with a New York firm, but these gradually faded because of East-West mergers, changing consumer tastes, vineyard and winery economics.

Max was most surprised by the Eastern practice of wineries purchasing grapes without a written contract––a solid agreement being a few words and a handshake. At the time, New York varieties were priced 50% higher than the premiums of California.

Max learned about amelioration––the federal regulation permitting the addition of a sugar water solution up to 35% of the final volume. Max kept this to a minimum, especially for the varieties used in champagne production. At the time, only solid sugar was permitted in the wine after fermentation. Max was able to convince BATF that the use of liquid sugar would be allowed by declaring the amount of water in liquid sugar.

Max was able to improve the fermentation of champagne and therefore the quality. Because of the cold winters in the East, to ensure complete fermentation of champagne, it was conducted at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Max selected various yeast strains to find the one that would perform at 45 degrees Fahrenheit. At the low temperature, fermentation took several weeks instead of days; the quality improved significantly.

Max later installed three 30,000-gallon tanks outside to take advantage of the low winter temperatures. Just before the slush point, the wine was returned inside for filtration. This avoided heavy investment in refrigeration equipment.

On the lighter side, Max is also known for helping airline passengers avoid the sound of exploding champagne corks or crown caps. Max, working with Owens-Illinois Glass Company and Alcoa Aluminum, introduced a special Alcoa cap on a special champagne bottle which could be loosened gently––avoiding the explosive noise.

In 1965 Max returned to Los Angeles and worked for Bohemian Distributing Company: 1965-1973. He consulted on many areas of production and distribution to reduce costs. When Max arrived at Bohemian, there were more than 1,100 different items being packaged on the premises. By reducing the number of bottle shapes and sizes, label sizes and spirit proofs, the number of items came to a more manageable and cost-effective count of less than 500.

The largest cold room in the industry was part of the Bohemian complex, used for the storage of costly and delicate imported wines at 58 degrees Fahrenheit.

Max had promised Barbara that he would retire with her in Southern California. Barbara had been supportive of the many moves and long hours that Max had worked daily in the wine industry. Max and Barbara purchased a beautiful home in Malibu, and Barbara settled in, decorating the house and designing the garden. She presumed the Goldman wine trail had ended in Malibu but soon found out that there was another 220 miles of the trail to travel. Max and Barbara Goldman purchased York Mountain Winery from Wilfrid (Bill) York in 1970. The legend is that Max met Bill at a dinner party in Cayucos California. After dinner, Bill mentioned that he was putting the winery up for sale. Max jokingly mentioned to his wife that maybe he should buy the property. Barbara immediately protested. Then Bill mentioned that Ignacio Paderewski had his award-winning grapes crushed and fermented at York Winery. Max mentioned that he played classical piano and his signature piece was Menuet à l’Antique by Ignacio J. Paderewski. It was fate; the winery changed hands.

Max’s original intention was to convert the iconic Zinfandel Winery into a methode champenoise sparkling wine house, but that was abandoned during the first two years.

The entire family came together to make York Mountain Winery a resounding success, famous through California. Max, Barbara, and their children Suzanne and Steve owned the winery for over 30 years, replanted the vineyards with new varieties, made award-winning wines and developed an award-winning tasting room. Suzanne joined the staff to manage the winery and develop the tasting room and marketing strategies. The large fireplace and the collection of antiques including an ancient motorcycle made the tasting room a cozy place to stay and enjoy the wines. York Mountain Winery was famous for their remarkable staff showcasing the wines at the bar in the tasting room. The Goldman family combined winemaking with philanthropy supporting KCBX, the Mozart Festival, The Paderewski Festival, and numerous other nonprofits. Max continued to mentor fellow winemakers and promote the wines of San Luis Obispo County. Stephen made the wines and Suzanne hosted many wine dinners and events on York Mountain. Max continued to mentor winemakers and San Luis Obispo County to the attention of friends in the wine industry, including historian and wine writer, Leon Adams.

Barbara Goldman, his beloved wife, died in 1979. Max retired and sold York Mountain Winery in 2001. Max died in Templeton, California in 2004.

Timeline
1910: Max Goldman is born on March 30 in Watts, California.

1924: Max joined the Boy Scouts and eventually became an Eagle Scout. This organization was very important to him. He maintained relationships with the fellow Boy Scouts and had a 75th Anniversary Celebration for the group at York Mountain Winery. He also made lifelong friends with fellow scouts including Bill Hanna who became a very famous animator.

1924: Max plays in first piano recital.

1924-1928: Max played high school football. Richard Nixon was on the team.

1928: Graduated from Excelsior High School in Norwalk, California. Max was very sentimental and very good at maintaining relationships. He attended every High School Reunion.

1929: Attended Fullerton Junior College for one-year 1929-1930.

1930: Attended Whittier College, Major–Chemistry; Minor–Physics and Mathematics; played varsity football and ran track.

1933: Graduated Whittier College. Max starts looking for employment.

1933: United States: Herbert Hoover was ending his term as President. Banks had set the highest failure rate. Unemployment was at an all-time high. Depression was in full swing. Prohibition was in full force.

1933: International Scene: Stalin was in power in Russia, Hitler was the Chancellor in Germany, Mussolini was the Il Duce in Italy, George V was the King of England.

1933: December Prohibition is repealed.

1934: Married Barbara Grace White on February 23.

1934: First job: Roma Wine Company in Lodi, California, first as a chemist and then as a winemaker, 1934-1936.

Roma Winery was started by the Cella Brothers in Lodi, California. They moved to Fresno in 1933 after acquiring another vineyard. The brothers sold Roma to Schenley Industries, Inc. in 1942. It was the largest winemaker in 1942 and was responsible for being innovators in the wine industry. There were at least 34 different wines produced by Roma including Sherry, Port, Ruby Port, Muscatel and Tokay. Many of these wines were contained in dripless bottles.

Schenley (the makers of Roma Wines) sponsored a radio show called Suspense from December 2, 1943, to November 20, 1947. Lucille Ball was the spokeswoman for Roma. She starred in a 1944 episode called Dime a Dance. The ads boasted that the wine company was “America’s largest selling wine” and that Roma was “made in California for enjoyment throughout the world).

Max developed a system of record keeping at Roma which received compliments from the Alcohol Tax Unit (later known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire Arms).

The primary concern was grape quality. The total crush was over 50% Thompson grapes. The reds were Alicante Bouschet, Carignane, Mission and small amounts of Zinfandel. Because of lack of refrigeration, grapes were often stored a full day in a truck, drenched in full sun, creating a culture of acetobacter and mold. It took years to upgrade the initial grape quality and timely delivery of grapes to the winery. Complex problems were created by crushers, must lines and presses of iron, pumps of copper and iron, and tanks of copper, concrete, and iron. It took years to replace these metals and concrete with stainless steel and wood, rather than perform the tricky task of metal removal.

Records at the time were written with chalk on a black painted board, nailed to a wooden wine tank.

Sanitation was at an experimental stage in the 1930s. Effective sterilizing and cleaning agents were not yet available.

Grape and wine literature were practically nonexistent. Federal Regulation No. 7 was the lone reference to production, with news-paper size, multi-page monthly report forms 701,702, and form 15. There were activity reports 703, 275, and related reports for bottling activity, champagne, and brandy. Federal tax stamps were affixed to each carton or tank car, and state stamps were affixed to each bottle.

1934: Max was instrumental in the formation of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) at the Wine Institute. Max was a Life Member. Max considered this to be the most valuable exchange of experience and information between members at this time in his career.

1936: Petri Wine Company in Escalon, California––worked as Chief Chemist and Wine Maker 1936–1944.

In the 1940s cottony mold was rampant in finished wine throughout the industry. Eradication was accomplished per instructions from Hod Berg, UC Davis, to sterilize all equipment and keep wines at a minimum 60 parts per million SO². Cold fermentation at 45 degrees Fahrenheit, in 30,000 gallon lots, led to great improvement in wine quality and stability.

Concrete tanks left calcium deposits in troublesome amounts. This resulted in many tank coatings which in turn caused taste problems and even coating failure. Eventually, stainless-steel cost less and was introduced for pipelines and pumps.

As part of the World War II effort, the winery became proficient in the recovery of tartrates (salts or esters of tartaric acid) from wine lees, and tartrate argols (poisonous colorless salts) removed from tank walls and distillery effluent.

Production of industrial alcohol from molasses taught Max a great deal about still design as well as control of and removal of congeners in the spirit product.

Congeners are substances produced during fermentation; they are responsible for most of the taste and aroma of distilled alcoholic beverages. Yeast strain production and its propagation for molasses fermentation gave valuable experience for selection and propagation of yeast for wine and champagne.

Grape quality determined the ultimate wine quality. As a chemist-wine maker, Max had the opportunity for greater wine quality improvement through the many process variations in practice. He also worked to attain good production efficiency. The record of good production efficiency was measured in proof gallons per ton.

For those radio fans, Petri Wines was the sponsor of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes starring Basil Rathbone from 1939 to 1944.
Petri Wines is named for its founder Raphael Petri. He opened his winery, the Petri Wine Company, in 1886. It was located in the San Joaquin Valley in the Central Valley of California. In 1916, Raphael Petri expanded his winery by purchasing another vineyard in Escalon, north of Modesto but not far from the main winery. In 1935, grandson Louis A. Petri joined the family business. In 1944 Louis Petri became President of the company and expanded Petri Wine to become one of the largest wineries in the United States. Petri continued to expand by purchasing the Tulare Wine Company and Mission Bell Winery to become the third largest winery in California. Louis went on to grow the company by forming Allied Grape Growers and creating another company called United Vintners. By the early 1950s United Vintners surpassed Roma Wines in production. Louis continued to make acquisitions and develop their marketing campaign. Under his leadership a World War II tanker was converted into a shipping vessel to deliver California wines to Texas and New York, bypassing the railroads.

1936: Max plays piano in dance band in Escalon and Modesto, California.

1941: Daughter Suzanne born in Escalon, California. After a career in acting, modeling, and dance, Suzanne joined her father at York Mountain Winery in Paso Robles in the late 1970s.

1944: Sanger Winery (Guild) in Sanger, California––General Manager and winemaker from 1944-1949.

Max fortified some aged Muté. Regulations at the time required 0.5 % alcohol in the material to be eligible. As records did not show the material to contain over 0.5% alcohol, the ATU declared a heavy penalty with rectification tax. This was the first time both Max and the winery had ever been cited for this type of infraction. After much negotiation, the fine was reduced to a few hundred dollars. As a result, regulations were changed to permit fortification of wine materials with no requirement to be present.

Max developed a low-alcohol, high-flavored beverage with carbonation using a low alcohol wine with Concord grape juice. Max had a local bottling company carbonate it. He presented it to the Technical Advisory Committee to the Wine Institute (TAC) at a Fresno meeting where it received rave reviews. However, the product did not succeed, Max was ahead of his time. Wine Coolers and like products became popular many years later.

1946: Max became a member of the American Chemical Society, a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry.

1948: Son Stephen Louis born in Sanger, California.

1948: Max became a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), an international, nonprofit scientific society of professionals founded in 1939 in Chicago and dedicated to the science of food and food technology. Regional sections were established as early as 1940 in San Francisco, Bakersfield, and Sacramento. By 1949, IFT had 3,000 members.

1940s: Max proposed to TAC that they tackle the problem of choosing the proper terms for describing a wine. Emil Mrak and Max Goldman were appointed as co-chairmen of a committee called “Descriptive Words for Wine.” UC Davis eventually took on the task from the committee.

1948: Max was licensed as a Professional Engineer in Chemical Engineering.

1949: Mission Bell Winery (Allied Grape Growers) in Madera, California––Max was Winemaker and General Manager 1949-1952.

Krikor Arakelian purchased the property in 1919 from the Italian Swiss Agricultural Colony and christened the winery Mission Bell. The original pioneer grape vineyard was planted in 1870. The vineyard was sold to the Madera Vineyard Company in 1881. Ten years later, a large winery and distillery facility was built on the property with a cooperage facility of 140,000 gallons. Italian Swiss Agricultural Colony bought the winery holdings in 1896 and imported workman and vintners from Italy to improve the growing and processing of grapes into wine.

At Mission Bell, the only non-Thompson white grape besides Muscat for white tables wines was Palomino. Max used it for white table wine, bringing the fruit in at 18 degrees Balling and 0.9 acid. With low-temperature fermentation at 45 degrees Fahrenheit and a slight alcohol adjustment with brandy, it produced a pleasant white wine.

1950: Founding Member of American Society of Enologists. Max was a Life Member. The first meeting was held at the Hotel Wolf in Stockton.

1950s: Max assisted in forming the Viticulture and Enology instruction at Fresno State (now CSU-Fresno). It has become an important institution in both viticulture and enology under the direction of Professor Vincent Petrucci.

1952: Waterford Winery (Chateau Martin)––General Manager and Winemaker 1952-1958

Max had a 56,000-gallon tank of three-year-old sherry in the late 1950s. It was heavy in brandy congeners and needed more treatment and aging. August Sebastiani visited Max and sampled the sherry. August took a sample home to his winery and called Max to purchase all the sherry in the tank. Max learned from that experience that dessert wine, especially sherry, requires many congeners in both the wine and the brandy.

A bit of history––The Chateau Martin Brand of wines was owned by Eastern Wine Corporation of New York. The winery was located in Waterford, California on the Southern Pacific Oakdale Branch. Bulk wine was shipped in Chateau Martin railway cars from Waterford to the Bronx.

In February 1948, prior to Max’s arrival in Waterford, 25 railroad cars of Chateau Martin wines were shipped from Waterford to the Bronx with a long sign proclaiming “LARGEST TRAINLOAD OF WINES IN HISTORY CHATEAU MARTIN WINERY IN CALIFORNIA TO N.Y.C.” The train carried 200,000 gallons of wine featuring 15 cars of Port, 7 cars of Muscatel and 3 cars of Dry Red Wine. Visit coastdaylight.com for photos of this adventure.

1954: Max creates exhibits of viticulture and enology at the annual meeting of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture (ASEV) on the Davis Campus at the annual meeting.

1958: Great Western Champagne (Pleasant Valley Wine Company) in Hammondsport, New York. Max moved the family and became Winemaker 1958-1965. Max received loads of criticism for affiliating with a New York firm, but these gradually faded because of East-West mergers, changing consumer tastes, vineyard and winery economics.

Max was most surprised by the Eastern practice of wineries purchasing grapes without a written contract––a solid agreement being a few words and a handshake. At the time, New York varieties were priced 50% higher than the premiums of California.

Max learned about amelioration––the federal regulation permitting the addition of a sugar water solution up to 35% of the final volume. Max kept this to a minimum, especially for the varieties used in champagne production. At the time, only solid sugar was permitted in wine after fermentation. Max was able to convince BATF that the use of liquid sugar would be allowed by declaring the amount of water in liquid sugar.

Max was able to improve the fermentation of champagne and therefore the quality. Because of the cold winters in the East, to ensure complete fermentation of champagne, it was conducted at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Max selected various yeast strains to find the one that would perform at 45 degrees Fahrenheit. At the low temperature, fermentation took several weeks instead of days; the quality improved significantly.

Max later installed three 30,000-gallon tanks outside to take advantage of the low winter temperatures. Just before the slush point, the wine was returned inside for filtration. This avoided heavy investment in refrigeration equipment.

Max is also known for helping airline passengers avoid the sound of exploding champagne corks or crown caps. Max, working with Owens-Illinois Glass Company and Alcoa Aluminum, introduced a special Alcoa cap on a special champagne bottle which could be loosened gently––avoiding the explosive noise.

1965: Max returned to Los Angeles and worked for Bohemian Distributing Company: 1965-1973. Worked increasing production. He was assigned many tasks and worked with a variety of products on marketing and distribution.

When Max arrived at Bohemian, there were more than 1,100 different items being packaged on the premises. By reducing the number of bottle shapes and sizes, label sizes and spirit proofs, the number of items came to a more manageable and cost-effective count of less than 500.

The largest cold room in the industry was part of the Bohemian complex, used for the storage of costly and delicate imported wines at 58 degrees Fahrenheit.

1965 or 66: Max and Barbara purchased home in Malibu.

1970: Max and Barbara Goldman purchased York Mountain Winery from Wilfrid (Bill) York in 1970. The legend is that Max met Bill at a dinner party in Cayucos, California. After dinner, Bill mentioned that he was putting the winery up for sale. Max jokingly mentioned to his wife that maybe he should buy the property. Barbara immediately protested. Then Bill mentioned that Ignacio Paderewski had his award-winning grapes crushed and fermented at York Winery. Max mentioned that he played classical piano and his signature piece was Menuet à L’Antique by Ignacio J. Paderewski. It was fate; the winery changed hands.

1970 to 2001: Max and son Steve replanted the vineyard, planted new varieties, made award-winning wines, tried making sparkling wine in the methode champagnoise, remodeled the tasting room and hired staff for tasting. Suzanne developed marketing plans, designed brochures and advertising, designed, staffed and bought merchandise for the tasting room, developed community outreach through tastings, philanthropy, support KCBX, the Mozart Festival, and the Paderewski Festival. Suzanne helped found the Zinfandel Festival. She kept the business records.

Max restored the winery and the residence.

Max and his children Suzanne and Steve owned the winery for over 30 years, replanted the vineyards with new varietals, made award-winning wines and developed an award-winning tasting room. The Goldman family combined winemaking with philanthropy supporting KCBX, the Mozart Festival, The Paderewski Festival, and numerous other nonprofits. Barbara baked bread daily for the tasting room.

1979: Barbara Goldman died.

1988: Max was awarded the 1988 American Society for Enology and Viticulture Award for his contributions to the wine industry over the years.

2001: Max sold York Mountain Winery and retired.

2004: Died in Templeton, California on September 11, 2004.

Education:
Excelsior High School in Norwalk, California (1924-1928)
Fullerton Junior College (1929-1930)
Whittier College, Chemistry Major, Physics and Mathematics Minor (1930-1933)

Career:
1934-1936: Roma Wine Company in Lodi, California: chemist and then winemaker

1936-1944: Petri Wine Company in Escalon, California: chief chemist and winemaker

1944-1949: Sanger Winery (Guild) in Sanger, California: general manager

1949-1952: Mission Bell Winery (Allied Grape Growers) in Madera, California: general manager

1952-1958: Waterford Winery (Chateau Martin), general manager

1965-1973: Bohemian Distributing Company in Los Angeles

1958-1965: Great Western Champagne (Pleasant Valley Wine Company) in Hammondsport, New York

1970-2001: York Mountain Winery: Max and Barbara Goldman purchased York Mountain Winery from Wilfrid (Bill) York in 1970. Max and his children Suzanne and Steve owned the winery for over 30 years, replanted the vineyards with new varietals, made award-winning wines, and developed an award-winning tasting room

2001: Max sold York Mountain Winery and retired

Scientific Contributions:
1930s: Developed a system of record keeping at Roma Wine Company esteemed by the Alcohol Tax Unit (later known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms)

1934: Technical Advisory Committee at the Wine Institute, founding member

1948: Institute of Food Technologists, member

1948: Licensed as a Professional Engineer in chemical engineering

1940s: Descriptive Words for Wine committee at the Wine Institute, co-chairman

1946: American Chemical Society, member

1950: American Society of Enologists, one of 17 founding members

1955-1956: American Society of Enologists, president

Awards:
1988: American Society for Enology and Viticulture Award, Merit Award Recipient

Publications:
Rate of Carbon Dioxide Formation at Low Temperatures in Bottle-Fermented Champagne, American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, Jan 1963, 14 (3) 155-160.

Factors Influencing the Rate of Carbon Dioxide Formation in Fermented-in-the-Bottle Champagne, American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, Jan 1963, 14 (1) 36-42.

Relationship of Fusel Oil, Aldehydes, and Esters in Distilling Material, Hi-Proof Brandy and Dessert Wines, American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, Jan 1952, 3 (1) 167-171.

Filtration a Seminar, Max Goldman, Morris W. Turbovsky, Julius Fessler, Harold W. Berg, Karl Dern
American Journal of Enology and Viticulture, Jan 1950, 1 (1) 81-85.

Wines and Vines, featured writer
Wine Institute, Technical Advisory Committee, various internal reports

Leisure Activities:
Football: Played high school football with Richard Nixon. Played varsity football in college.
Music: Played the piano in dance bands. Favorite music, classical, signature piece