The 125th Anniversary of the Paris Tasting – A Call to Celebrate
The Paris Exposition of 1889 was the largest of its time. Between May and October, nearly 30 million visitors strolled its exhibits. Celebrating 100 years since the revolution, the Paris Exposition was designed to showcase the greatness of France alongside its European rivals. The Eiffel Tower, completed just in time for the opening, served as the entrance gate to an exposition designed to highlight the superiority of French culture: her arts, cuisine, and wines.
The finest wineries in France were represented at the fair, a list that included Lafite, Margaux, and Haut-Brion. These French wineries constructed massive monuments within the wine pavilion, like the Chandon exhibit pictured on the right. No expense was spared, for after all, France, as expressed in the report of the 1889 Exposition (Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1889 à Paris 1891:289), has “always been the center of the wine-growing world, and its wines are, for the most, inimitable.” With nearly 14,000 French wines, and another 5,000 from French colonies, entered into the competition, it was inevitable that France should win.
Only France didn’t win. The Grand Prize of 1889 was awarded on October 1 to Charles Wetmore, of Cresta Blanca Winery, in Livermore, California, as far from the storied French culture as can be imagined. The Grand Prize! Grand Prizes were rarely given to individuals; most were reserved for countries, or states, or large enterprises. In 1889, the University of California was awarded a Grand Prize, and Edison Electric Company. But the Grand Prize in Class 73 (Fermented Beverages) was awarded to Charles Wetmore, an individual. And, along with Wetmore, three other Gold Medals were awarded to American wines, and two of these also were from Livermore: Mont Rouge Winery, Livermore, for a Zinfandel, and to S. Osterhaut, Livermore, for a brandy made from the Folle Blanche grape.
The repercussions from this award were enormous, and reverberated through the halls of government. What ensued was a discourse on authenticity and wine that continues to this day. However, on that sunny day in October, as the town of Livermore gathered to celebrate this great victory, Charles Wetmore, Adrien Chauche, and the other winemakers in our valley were unaware of this great debate. Instead, all gathered to celebrate a victory for Livermore, and for California, in the effort to expand the sales of California wines. It was a celebration at which speeches were made, resolutions were passed, and glasses, filled with the wines that won the Gold, were raised in tribute to the pioneering winemakers of the day.
And so, on October 4th & 5th, 2014, the 125th anniversary of this watershed moment, we will pour these Heritage varietals that won the Gold, in our tasting room once more, and raise our glasses to the spirits of our past.
