By the middle of the nineteenth century, wine was entering what many have termed its golden age. It had been an everyday drink among Mediterranean
Europeans for many centuries and was becoming ever more common across the Alps, where a succession of good vintages helped to spur an increase in the areas given over to vineyards. Profits had never been greater, and some areas, notably the Midi of France, became virtual monocultures supplying the demands of the general public. Side by side were other areas catering to the wealthy, now augmented by newly emergent industrial and professional classes. Burgundy, Champagne, and the Rhine/Mosel each had its markets, but no place could challenge the primacy of Bordeaux.
Most of the wine being produced was, in fact, of ordinary quality, but a few properties, mostly located in the Medoc, had managed to distinguish themselves. This led to numerous attempts at classification, the official codification of which was achieved in 1855 for the Paris Universal Exposition. At the top, it divided the wines of the Medoc into first through fifth growths (crus), and it then added lower rungs of crus exceptionneles, crus bourgeois, and crus artisans. The appearance of such a listing, which no other wine region had, created an even greater demand for the top growths, and Bordeaux’s image reached new heights.
Nevertheless, disaster was lurking in the background. It started with a powdery mildew, termed oid-ium, that in the early 1850s was infesting vineyards virtually everywhere in Europe. The fungus retards vine growth by attacking both leaf and stalk, and it also desiccates grapes by breaking their skins. Consequently when it first appeared, yields declined, as was especially the case from 1852 to 1854. Nevertheless, a treatment in the form of sulfur dusts was quickly found, and by the end of the decade oidium, although not eliminated, was being controlled.
But no sooner had oidium come under control than reports of mysterious vine deaths began to emerge. The first came from the lower Rhone Valley, and by 1870, it had become evident that the problem was on the verge of universality. The plague of vine destruction made its way through France (the last region to be visited was Champagne in 1901) and the rest of Europe, and eventually into most of the winegrowing world. Chile was the only major exception, being spared by a combination of distance, desert, and mountains.
In 1868 the culprit was shown to be a minute aphid, Phylloxera vastratrix, that destroys vine roots. It is native to North America, and may have entered France on vines that were imported for experiments on ways to better control oidium. With the collapse of the wine industry at hand, numerous, often desperate, attempts were made to rid vineyards of the aphids. Some chemical treatments were moderately effective, but the ultimate solution turned out to be one of grafting European vines onto American roots. Experiments had determined that several species of the latter were tolerant of the aphid’s presence and thus
North America, which was the cradle of phylloxera, turned out to be the cradle of the cure.
But the diffusion of phylloxera had drastically altered the wine-growing world. Those regions hit later were able to realize short-term profits. For example, the price of champagne soared, and Italy and Spain filled in the gaps left by the fall of French production in the 1880s and 1890s. In addition, wine growers themselves were on the move. Algeria was a favorite destination for those leaving France, and small numbers also relocated in the Rioja region of Spain, bringing with them new ways of growing vines and making wine with an eye on the larger market. When, at the turn of the century, phylloxera finally hit hard in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, an exodus to Chile, Argentina, and Brazil ensued, leading to the reenergization of these long dormant regions.
Yet a third natural disaster had to be faced, that of downy mildew, which also found its way to Europe on. American vines. In a manner similar to oidium, it reduced crop yields and required dusting, this time with a mixture of copper sulfate and lime, to keep it under control.
The labor and cash requirements of grafting and repeated sprayings drove many farmers in Europe out of the wine business, which was no longer something that one could do in a small way. Rather it required new skills and greater financing in order to be competitive, and these were best obtained by specialization. Virtually everywhere, the making of wine was rapidly changing from a craft into a business and a science.
In the United States, oidium, phylloxera, and downy mildew had also taken their toll. Indeed, it was phylloxera that had been responsible for the repeated failure of vinifera to survive east of the Rocky Mountains, and in the 1850s an outbreak of oidium had put an end to the country’s first wine region of note - the so-called Rhine of. America along the Ohio River near Cincinnati. A far more significant disaster, however, was social and political in nature, namely Prohibition. Its origins go back to the temperance crusades of the nineteenth century designed to purify America of all vices, and most especially those thought to be associated with alcoholic beverages. The purification urge culminated in 1919 in passage of the Eighteenth. Amendment to the U. S. Constitution (popularly known as the Volstead, or Prohibition, Act), and its 13 years of existence brought nearly total ruin to the country’s wine industry. By this time, California had achieved top rank in terms of both quantity and quality, but wineries abounded in many other states. Very few managed to survive Prohibition. Those that did sold sacramental and medicinal wines, as well as grape concentrate for making wine at home, all of which could be done under provisions of the Volstead Act.
Over most of the first half of the twentieth century, the world’s wine industry remained in a depressed state. In addition to the ravages wrought by disease and Prohibition in. America, the industry had to contend with two world wars, the Russian Revolution (which eliminated an important market for French wines, particularly champagne), and economic depression. In retrospect, the golden age truly glittered.
World History
