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22 | OHCC LIVING | JULY 2019 | On June 7, the Wine Tasting Club held its summer party on the Lanai. All 11 Wine Club groups celebrated the theme of "Another Day in Paradise" by listening to (and dancing to) Music Station, enjoying a Mediterranean meal catered by Bobby's, and enjoying a variety of wines (BYOB of course). For more information about the Wine Tasting Club, please visit the club website on the OHCC website under "Recreation," "Clubs," "Wine Tasting." Nearly 100 years ago, the U.S. embarked on what was called a 'Noble Experiment' – the prohibition of alcohol production, importation, transportation, and sale. The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919 and took effect one year later. It lasted from 1920 to 1933, although some individual states had prohibited alcohol well before 1920. For example, Maine had complete prohibition since 1851. Prior to Prohibition, the U.S. wine industry was still something of a fledgling. Wine was produced in many states, and with the damage done to vineyards in Europe by the phylloxera louse, the U.S. exported wine to Europe. California did not dominate wine production to the extent it does today – Ohio and Missouri were large wine producers, along with New York. Today, Ohio is ninth, and Missouri 38th. Would Missouri be Napa if Prohibition had not happened? We will never know. Once Prohibition went into effect, most wineries in the U.S. were put out of business. There were exceptions to the ban: sacramental wine could still be produced, and families could make up to 200 gallons of wine per year for personal use only. Suddenly, the country must have gotten quite religious, because production of sacramental wine soared over the next two years to nearly a million gallons. Permits to grow for sacramental purposes were then slashed by the government. In California, some of the wineries to survive Prohibition making sacramental wine were Beaulieu Vineyards, Pope Valley Winery, Concannon Winery, Beringer Winery, Christian Brothers, Louis M. Martini, San Antonio Winery, and locally, Bernardo Winery. Many farmers replanted their vineyards with prunes, pears, and peaches but held onto a few acres of vineyards. During this time, most phones were party lines, so buyers would use code names to request wine from farmers. Not long after Prohibition went into effect, people began to realize how very wrong it was. Organized crime blossomed as rumrunners and bootleggers got rich supplying booze. In 1930, the Prohibition Commissioner estimated that in 1919, the year before Prohibition became law, the average drinking American spent $17 per year on alcoholic beverages. By 1930, because enforcement diminished the supply, spending had increased to $35 per year (there was no inflation in this period). The result was an illegal alcohol beverage industry that made an average of $3 billion per year in illegal untaxed income. We all know how the government feels about losing tax revenue. By the time the Twenty-First Amendment was mercifully ratified in 1933, and prohibition rescinded, the damage was well and truly done. The U.S. took decades to bounce back from prohibition, at least in a vinicultural sense. The Great Depression and World War II did not help things along, but Americans' taste had fundamentally changed, with beer and spirits taking preference over wine. In the years immediately following, what wine was produced amounted to low-quality swill? Back in the '20s, quality vines were uprooted and replaced with high yielding varieties that most serious winemakers wouldn't look twice at. There were glimmers of hope; André Tchelistcheff took over the reigns as BV's head winemaker where he not only redefined the face of fine California wine, but also went on to consult at other estates and ultimately mentor many of the vintners who would emerge in the postbellum boom of 1960s America and establish California, Oregon, Washington and beyond as wine country of quality. In 1934, the average consumption of wine, per person, in the U.S. was 0.26 gallons per year. Today (2016) the average is 2.94 gallons/ year, and we in the Ocean Hills Wine Tasting Club are doing our part. Also, note that there are still many dry counties in the U.S., three states, Kansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, are dry by default, and counties have to specifically authorize liquor sales. Dry counties comprise about 10 percent of the area of the country, mostly in the South. The "Noble Experiment" hurt the wine industry, and it took a very long time to recover. If you like wine or want to learn more about it, the OHCC Wine Tasting Club could be for you. You can have any level of knowledge about wine to join this club — it is open to everyone! Dues are only $14/year. Wine Tasting Club

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