Page 2 of Old Wine Bottles
BIG
TREE BRAND
This label was prominent in the early 1900s, a label used for export
from the "California Wine Association." The CWA had, at its
peak, some 64 wineries.
Much wine was stored in San Francisco and was destroyed in the 1906
earthquake. The director of the CWA, Percy T. Morgan, then built what was
the world's largest winery at that time. He called it "Winehaven"
and it was located on the San Francisco Bay in Richmond. There was a pier
to accommodate ocean-going vessels and wines under the "Calwa" label
were sold in bottle and the "Big Tree" brand was used for wines
shipped in barrel.
The neck label of this bottle shows the wine to be "Old Guard," a
precursor, I suppose, to today's "Meritage" nomenclature.
Morgan's Winehaven was emptied in 1937 and became a Naval fueling
depot.
Here's an old price list...
BEAULIEU
VINEYARD CHABLIS
Most California wines were sold with European wine names on the
labels. Despite the fact that to call the wine "Chablis" in
France, the wine must have been made from fruit grown and vinified in that
particular region, Napa Valley vintners such as Georges de Latour's
"Beaulieu Vineyards" sold plenty of locally-grown Chablis!
BV's
"Burgundy" won the Golden Gate International Exposition's grand prize
as best wine. It was made of a little-known grape called Cabernet
Sauvignon.
CARDINAL WINE
Used by the Cardinal Grocery store company, what this label lacks in artistry,
it makes up for in utilitarianism.
All the wine types and alcohol contents are listed and they'd simply mark the
appropriate box to signify the wine type.
Nobody had heard of Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Merlot in
those days.
Though this label has checkable boxes for the "net contents" of a
pint, quart and gallon, this label is attached to a
"half-gallon"-sized bottle. With a finger hole. Must have
been a mighty fine Claret!
BON-ORO PORT
Made by the Italian Swiss Colony winery in Asti, California (Northern
Sonoma), here's a quart-bottle of "Port" from California.
The label depicts an 1849 version of today's "dot-com-er."
GALLO
The Gallo brothers started their little enterprise in 1933, renting an
old warehouse in Modesto and buying redwood tanks and obtaining a crusher.
They had figured Prohibition would end and started studying winemaking while
they were in the Modesto Junior College.
In his book "The Wines of America," Leon Adams recalls visiting the
Gallos:
"I remember stopping there one day in the late
1930s. In a cramped office in front of the cellar I found young Ernest
Gallo. He told me that he and his brothers were only making bulk wine to
get started, but that someday the Gallo name with their family crest (the
rooster, for which 'gallo' is the Italian word) would appear on bottles that
would be sold throughout the United States. His confidence impressed me,
though his chances didn't....
When the Gallo name first appeared on bottles in 1940, the brothers aimed at a
specific goal: to become the Campbell Soup Company of the wine industry..."
The little bottle pictured above with the
Gallo name, is a Muscatel. The bottle, only a few inches in height,
couldn't have contained more than 3 or 4 ounces of fine wine.
The Gallo brothers tried to buy Italian Swiss Colony in 1953. Petri bought
ISC and in 1957 built a tanker ship for $7 million which Adams says allowed them
to sell their wines in the Eastern U.S. for ten cents a bottle less than the
competition. The Gallo brothers built a bottle-making factory, cutting
down their cost of glass and were able to match Petri's price and advertise
their wine as being "bottled in California."
Petri and Italian Swiss Colony are distant memories today, though Gallo, I believe,
is still in business.
During Prohibition,
you needed to either make your own wine, be a priest and have access to the
Sacramental wines or get a doctor's prescription and pay a visit to your local
pharmacy.
This fascinating back-label for Lengfeld's Pharmacy in San Francisco has the
doctor's name, the patient's name and address and the "article" is
described as "wine." In the line for "Directions" it's
written: "Wineglass as needed."
COKE IS IT!
Many wine
industry leaders were apprehensive when a Coca-Cola bottling firm purchased a
winery in California.
Even more curious was when THE Coca-Cola company (not just a
franchisee) bought Sterling Vineyards in Napa.
Would they offer Napa Valley Chardonnay in 12-ounce cans?
Would Napa Valley Merlot come in 6-packs?
Would there be 2 liter, plastic jugs of Napa Cabernet?
While Coke was a master marketer of soft drinks, it seems the tricky world of
wine was more than it could handle.
Yet here's a pre-Prohibition bottle of California Zinfandel, bottled by a Coke
bottler in Portland, Maine.
"A wholesome, invigorating stimulant"
reads the label.
Thanks to Peter Kruse for sending this entry.
LE FLEURON
Here's an old
label from the Joseph Phelps winery. When they were just getting started
they offered some modest wines under this label.
Give them credit: they didn't call their generic wines "Burgundy" and
"Chablis"!
SPRING MOUNTAIN
A fellow
named Mike Robbins started this little enterprise along the St. Helena Highway
near Charles Krug. He sold the building to another fellow who started the
"St. Clement" winery in that beautiful old Victorian.
Robbins moved his facility to a location at the base of Spring Mountain.
The winery made some outstanding wines in the early to mid-1970s.
John Williams moved west from the Finger Lakes region of New York and was the
winemaker for Spring Mountain, starting a little brand called "Frog's
Leap" with a fellow named Larry Turley. Spring Mountain was also the
site of an American TV soap opera called "Falcon Crest" and wine was
made using that name.
Robbins, we were told, lost the winery in a nasty divorce settlement, something
of a soap opera of its own!
BERTERO WINERY
The
Bertero winery was located on the Hecker Pass Highway in Gilroy, across the road
from the Live Oak winery. Angelo Bertero was an "old time,"
grizzled veteran of the California wine industry, making some strong red wines
which were made the "old fashioned way." I recall buying
Cabernet and Zinfandel from this family back in the 1970s....some of the wines,
especially the reds, were pretty good, but the quality of the white wines was a
bit uneven. This was good, old-fashioned, low-tech winemaking and
low-pressure wine-selling.
I recently saw a bottle of their "old label" wine...
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LIVE OAKS-- PETER SCAGLIOTTI
I have fond memories of stopping at Gilroy's Live
Oaks winery, directly across the street from Angelo Bertero's digs.
A real old-timer, Pete Scagliotti, ruled the roost at Live Oaks.
Pete was a bit of a show man, offering up one of the smoother and more polished
wines on the Hecker Pass Highway.
He was a genial, pleasant, good-natured fellow, offering old-time wine at old
time prices. I think we used to have to charge five bucks for a
half-gallon jug, complete with finger hole in the old, old days. Pete
moved into a more modern jug that didn't have the finger hole in later
years. Tastes were usually poured into a small shot glass.
"Peter, what's in your Live Oaks Burgundy?"
"Like I say, boys," he'd start, "this here Burgundy is one-third
Cabernet Sauvignon, one-third Pinot Noir and one-third
Zinfandel."
Whatever it was, it was not a bad little wine.
Our Vino Fino tasting group had a bottle of Live Oaks "Premium"
Burgundy in a blind tasting of Pinot Noirs one year...and it won the tasting!
Peter was amused by the prices other vintners would charge for a bottle of
wine. I suppose when you're getting a couple of dollars a bottle, it was
pretty amazing some brazen characters like "that Robert Mondavi in
Napa" or that "Field fellow in Amador" could have the nerve to
charge four or five dollars!
Pete used to tell me about Carignane and I suspected his wine was not precisely
the "blend" he claimed to be present in the wine. I figured he
was buying some juice from out in the Central Valley and that Carignane was
present in his "Burgundy." He mentioned that an old Fresno State
professor who was an ampelographer claimed that old vine Carignane was often
superior to the increasingly more fashionable Cabernet Sauvignon.
Pete was aided by his cellar man, Mitsi (I suppose he was Mitsuko) Takemoto.
One year we had a dinner with a bunch of wine geeks. I poured Live Oaks
Burgundy into an empty bottle of Château Petrus. I filled the Live Oaks'
screw-cap jug with the very trendy (and good) Silver Oak Cabernet. The
Petrus bottle was admired by many, though one taster asked "Is this really
Petrus?" Others at the table swooned over the Petrus bottle, claiming
it was the "best wine I've ever tasted."
The Live Oaks' jug went around and the tasters had a sip, but hardly anybody
paid any attention to it, despite its lavish oak and deep Cabernet fruit.
The same fellow who questioned the authenticity of the Petrus also asked
"Is this really Live Oaks Burgundy?" I watched in
amusement as people swirled and sipped...seeing just how important the label was
to some folk's enjoyment of a bottle of wine!
Pete Scagliotti may be gone, but he's not forgotten. He was a sweet and
gentle man and a dear friend to me back in the 1970s!!!
Thanks to Don Ravanelli for sending me the Live Oaks labels!
VILLA MOUNT EDEN
Nils Venge was the original winemaker at this little place in Oakville. He
made some wonderful wines from the start...the 1978 was one of the top wines of
the vintage!
The owners sold the place and today a tobacco firm owns the Villa Mount Eden
label. The original facility is now called Plumpjack and is owned by some moneyed
folks named Getty. The consulting winemaker? Nils Venge!
The more things change, the more they stay the same?
LA CREMA VINERA
Back in
the late 1970s a winery was started by a bunch of buddies, one of whom could
make wine. At least, that's what we were told. Rod Berglund was the
winemaker. Today he's in charge of making the wines of Joseph Swan, having
married Swan's daughter.
I recall someone telling us the name of the winery, La Crema Vinera, was
especially melodious to those who spoke Spanish. "The cream of the
vineyard." Some of the wines were pretty good...or, at least they
tasted good and richer, oakier and more buttery than most wines made in that
era.
The brand couldn't survive and was sold. Today it's simply called "La
Crema" and is affiliated with the Kendall-Jackson collection of wines.
MORE WINE
ADS/ART
If you have old and potentially interesting bottles for inclusion in this
gallery, give me a call or stop by. I might choose to photograph them and
add them to these pages.
