Sacramental wine and Prohibition

Leaving out beer consumption, overall alcohol consumption rose from

1.85 gallons per person per year before the Prohibition to 1.95 during.

So called sacramental wine was still produced during the Prohibition, mainly by Beringer Bros, but also by Concannon Vineyards, who until

1980 maintained the practice of sending the Pope a barrel of californian Muscat of Frontignan every year. In 1925 the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ determines that sacramental wine consumption rose from 2 million gallons in 1922 to more or less 3 million in 1924, with no plausible reason given for this increase. It appears that Prohibition somehow encouraged a rise in religious fervour... ;-)

Mike

Source: MAurice Bensoussan, Le Viti Americane, Slow Food Editions

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

Also one was allowed to make a certain amount of wine at home for one's own use, although I am not certain about the legal details. Also alcohol was allowed by prescription for medical purposes. Large amounts of grapes were shipped from California across the country for those who made wine at home. These were often table grapes that likely made very poor wine. Also various flavor extracts were sold that people added to illegal alcohol to make poor copies of various spirits and liqueurs. I do not have a single reference for all of this. These are just things I recall from reading many wine boks over the years.

My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net from my email address. Then add snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response.

And "Tonics" were very popular medicines, particularly for the older set who might have remembered wine from pre-prohibition days. Somewhat after prohibition was repealed, a pharmacist friend gave me a swig of "iron tonic". It was good--20% alcohol. Never see "tonics" advertised anymore. Guess the availability of real wine killed their market.

SJF

Bricks made of grape concentrate were shipped with yeast and sugar with a warning not to let it get near water or it might result in fermentation.

And guess what, people somehow did exactly what they were "not" supposed to do... ;-).

I remember when living in Montreal, all the italians would buy california grapes in the fall, to make "wine". This practice dates back to Prohibition, when the selling of grapes was not prohibited...

Mike

Mike Tommasi, Six Fours, France email link

And they made their 200 gallons of legal wine and then made marc from the left over pressings. Hence the Mafia came into prominence with this ready supply of wine and home made brandy.

"Cwdjrx _" in news: snipped-for-privacy@storefull-3173.bay.webtv.net...

Thanks Mike and, er, Cwdjrx for filling in this good historical background.

Here is something that I have not yet seen in any book, but got by word-of-mouth from people whose families were long in the San Francisco area. (There's something to be said for oral history. For example, as an adolescent I was only one intermediary person removed from memories of Spanish Colonial times in California, before the crowds came. Much more vivid than even the Internet. :-)

Similar memories recalled the thriving business done during the alcohol prohibition by "pharmacies" (UK "chemists;" "apothecaries" to others) selling wine. For medicinal use, naturally, but still in a range of styles, varietals, etc. Medicinal needs for wine evidently hit a peak then also. Several of these pharmacies converted to wine shops after Repeal. They were among the best situated businesses to do so, with experience, customer base, and sources.

There was also an old custom in some California wineries -- I still see it mentioned occasionally -- of an "ecclesiatical" or "clergy" discount. This was not necessarily related to ritual, but a broader role, "a little wine for thy stomach's sake," etc. Anyway a certain number of ecclesiastics were truly thankful.

-- Max