As a fellow Illinois resident, I am delighted to find out about the amazing history of a winery that my wife and I stumbled upon during a visit to Missouri! I never imagined that the Stone Hill Winery had such a huge influence and such importance on the world of wine. Fascinating! Thank you!
Southwest Missouri & parts of Western Arkansas seem to produce great environments for grapes. The small town of Tontitown, AR is an Italian immigrant community that grows a lot of grapes that at one time was a large producer for Welchs but is now home to numerous wineries. The hilly region around Eureka Springs, AR, North to Branson, MO is also filled with new and exciting wineries. More History that deserves to be remembered!
Funnily enough, the french producers are looking at old discarded varieties as the climate heats up the old discarded cépages (often producing less sugary grapes or less quantity). These are now producing better grapes and are tougher than the current classics. Chatus is an exemple from the Ardèche Région. Long forgotten and now being produced a lot more.
I work in Napa in the wine business and this episode is spot on and very well done. Thank you for encouraging people to try something new and venture out. It is a concern that business is making rare grape varieties go extinct. Well done! Keep up the great work
That sounds like it is now my holy duty to go out and get completely hammered on lesser known grape varieties for the good of the industry and for history itself
Have you heard the comedy routine on Australian wines ? My favorite line is that it has all the subtle aroma of an aborigine armpit. Most native people think Europeans stink.
The Great Wine Blight 2020 is a fine vintage. I would give it a 98. It has a clean crisp opening, with hints of irony in the middle, and a gentle altruistic appeal for a finish
I actually suggested this topic a few years ago when you were just starting. But, I am sure hundreds of others have as well. When I tell this story it is with a more Texas specific slant. It is something we Texans are proud of. Along with a myriad of other topics. Very interesting and well done as always.
Mighty History Guy, there is yet another story to be told from this. During the years when French wine could not be had, the French began turning to liqueurs, and that notorious drink, Absinthe. As an owner of a small distillery here in California, where I make real absinthe, I believe the story of Absinthe is History That Deserves to Be Remembered. ;)
More automotive history , engines frames or the lack there of transmissions, body materials and the evolution of the body styles to what we have now. Also I am proud of your work, your style reminds me of my brother he was a history major, he would tell us of uncommon history after dinner,. He gone now but watching your channel brings back fond memories of those after dinner lessons of history. Thank you.
My Great-Grandfather immigrated from Firenza, met my GreatGrandmother getting off the boat in NYC, they got married and moved to St Josephs, Missouri where he grew wine. This was like seeing a bit of my family tree, or vine.
As a viticulture student, this video makes my heart happy. If i may make a wine suggestion, i recommend a loire valley sur li muscadet, or a nice vouvray.
That made me think of the “grape stomping lady” from probably 15 years ago or more. It was a very early viral video; It was a local news broadcast and 2 women are casually competing against each other in a grape stomping thing for a wine festival. the reporter tries to get a few extra frantic stomps in after the buzzer, trips falls on her face and makes otter sounds while the other is looking on in surprise.
I absolutely love this video because I am someone who sells fine wine and spirits for a living! Most people don't know that the great wine blight is actually what helped launch the popularity across the world of so many other spirits that are now common but at the time of the blight, were much less popular. I should be clear that It is absolutely fact that Scotch and many other spirits had, without question, gained popularity in many regions by the 1800s and even earlier, but it was the great wine blight that really brought non grape based spirits into modern popularity. French Brandys, specifically Cognac and Armagnac, (along with with Rum, depending on where you lived), were some of the most common and popular spirits at the time as was the wine based Vermouth which is and was, a common addition to coktails. The problem was that Cognac, Armagnac, and Vermouth are made from grapes and so production of those products was nearly nonexistent for many years during the time of the great wine blight. This lead bartenders, by necessity, to find other non grape based spirits and liquors to serve to their thirsty customers. This might be surprising to some but if you read David Wonderich's Book Imbibe, you'd know that even by the mid to late 1800s there were some increasingly and surprisingly complicated cocktails being created, especially after ice became readily available for bartenders to use. For example, one of the oldest and currently most popular cocktails of the ”craft cocktail movement”, The Sazerac, was originally made with Cognac, not Rye Whiskey, as is common practice today. During the great wine blight there was still high demand for spirits and spirit based cocktails and so understandably bartenders would use what they had available for the base of their cocktails such as Scotch Whisky, Irish Whiskey, Bourbon Whiskey, Canadian Whiskey, Rye Whiskey, Calvados, Applejack, and several other spirits and liquors that had been around for perhaps a long time but were not nearly as popular as The French Cognacs, Armagnacs, and Vermouths until the greeat wine blight. The great wine blight single handedly influenced the spirit and cocktail world as we know it today by bringing lesser known non grape based spirits and liquors at that time into the forefront of bars and shops across the world as well as helping them grow thier production, quality, and distribution anf forever changed the wine, spirit, and cocktail word. A great example of this is The Sazerac cocktail. Unless you specifically ask for it to be made with Cognac, which the original recipe calls for, it is almost exclusively made by all bars today with Rye whiskey.
There's a book about the history of moonshine titled "Chasing the White Dragon" that you might enjoy. PS, you said "Scotch", but nobody calls it that on the other side if the pond, they just call it Whiskey. I do enjoy a glass of Glenlivet or some such on occasion.....
Been to Stone Hill winery, great place. My father could not walk the tour so we stayed behind, this was great, we met the master wine maker, he went behind the bar and offered us several samples it was a great experience tasting wine and listening to him talk about all the wines, just the 3 of us. This was 20 years ago and still a very fond memory.
Variety is the spice of life. And trying different types and makers of wines is an experience too few dare. It's truly worth the wonderment to expand one's horizons, be bold, try the unfamiliar and broaden the senses.
I had a relative who decided toexperiment wine wine making--grapes, fruit, even rose petals once. He did the work in the basemwnt, which had very steep stairs up to the house. So many of his neighbors and friends had so much trouble getting back up he finally put an old couch down there s they could prepare for the ascent with a nap.
My husband and I visited Herman, Missouri for our 25th anniversary! It’s a beautiful, quaint area of the US that keeps European hours. We visited every vineyard in the area too! The Norton is a very good grape that was almost completely destroyed during prohibition. They were fortunate to find some vines that the feds hadn’t.
I also enjoy Missouri wines from Hermann and the surrounding area. Les Bourgeois Vineyear in Rochport, about 60 miles east, also do creditable wines. I lived in Ohio for nearly 40 years and tried to like wine produced there--but most of it is too sweet for my taste. Missouri's grapes make more platable drinks.
On your suggestion, today I selected a wine/grape variety I had never tried before: Carmenere. At checkout, the proprietor started to tell me the history of how that variety was taken to Chile in order to save it! History is real!
Hermann, Stone Hill, Norton, all bring back a ton of great memories of living in Columbia (MIZZOU) and visiting the Missouri Wine Country. Now that I live in Central Texas it was great to hear about T.V. Munson and his contributions to the Texas Hill Country wineries we enjoy today. Love the History Guy and how I learn something new three times a week; keep up the great work.
I’m from the town next to Herman MO. It’s strange hearing reverence about the Norton from French wine enthusiasts around the world. When I go to Chile, they tell me about the Carmenere in a similar way to your variety comments. Apparently it was thought extinct and brought back from 1 vineyard by accident. I clicked on this video in hopes of hearing about the Norton root stock.
Perhaps after this, you can make a video about the history of blended Scotch, something brought upon by the heavy taxed then placed on malting barley. Most distilleries couldn't afford to pay the punitive tax, and were forced to produce their whisky from grain, a much less appealing option than malted barley. This was then sold off to local grocers, who often blended dozens of different whiskeys together to make them more palatable. This is why we have Johnnie Walker and Dewar's today.
It's believed that the tax on malted barley was meant as an act of industrial sabotage on the part of the English, who were much more fond of gin, a spirit that can be made from neutral grain. Scotch whiskey then became more expensive than gin, almost killing the whisky industry.
I went to a wine tasting to be exposed to all subtleties, and learned that a head injury gave me anomia (damaged sense of smell). Scotch has subtleties and I appreciate the cheaper ones because I like what cournasseurs find too assertive.
constipated in sin city Yes. The science has really democratized the wine industry. The quality versus price is astounding. For $30, we can drink a bottle of wine far greater in quality than the kings of Europe hundreds of years ago. You don’t have to wait 20 years for it to mature in the bottle any longer, they make it ready or nearly ready to drink.
@@constipatedinsincity4424 , at 15 or 16, it was "fortified" wines, like Boones Farm Strawberry Hill, or Ripple. And there was also Thunderbird. " Have you heard/ what's the word/ Thunderbird!". ZZ Top
A very important addition to this story. Hermann Jaeger, a swiss immigrant that settled in Missouri was approached by the French in regards to his hybrid grape varieties that were resistant to phylloxera. He shipped 16 train cars full of vines back to France. These vines, were then bred with French vines and are now known today as the French Hybrids. They include Foch, Chancellor, DeChaunac, Vignoles etc... These were very popular grapes in France before grafting was completely figured out and the French decided to go back to their more traditional varieties, but the French really only started doing that in the 60's. Now, all across Europe, more and more hybrid varieties are being planted. The resistance to not only phylloxera, but diseases in general is a great advantage.
My favorite wine, which is difficult to find in stores, is Traminette. In St. James, Missouri, there's a 95 year old German guy who lives in the middle of a forest, a mile down a gravel road, and makes Traminette in his winery. I don't know if he's still alive, but if he is I recommend people make a trip to Heinrichshaus Winery.
A good story well told. I learned all this some years ago from Les Constable, the winemaker at Brushy Creek Vineyards, Alvord, Texas. Les had crewed aboard nuclear submarines. He retired from the Navy to make wine. His tempranillo is outstanding. Les is the reason the Grayson County Community College has the most extensive catalog of winemaking courses in Texas.
I discovered a variety of wine in Chile, the Carménère wines, which were popular in France before the blight but have escaped the problem in Chile. These are an excellent red wine and a unique story that deserves to be remembered.
I've known about mono-culture in grain crops for at least a decade; it never occurred to me that fruits like grapes might also be hurt by the cult of mono-culturism. Thanks for opening my eyes to this problem!
Good video. I am a sommelier and I work as a wine and spirits buyer for many importers around the world. These days it is generally accepted that the Republic of Georgia is the birthplace of wine. Though my forte is Italian wines, Georgian wines are my passion. Gaumarjos! (cheers in the Georgian language) 🍷😀
Very enlightening episode to me. I grew up in Napa Valley on a small vineyard of vines planted in 1905. All of these, and the recent replacement vines, were field grafted to what we called St. George, a wild grape root stock. I knew there were vineyards in other states, but the scale of the Missouri vineyards was staggering.
We have two little areas here in Australia which escaped the phylloxera blight. One of these places is Chateau Tahbilk in the southern state of Victoria. They have a small patch of shiraz vines from 1860 and the wine is lovely.
Learned of this whole situation from the “Floyd Uncorked” series. Which is a favorite of mine. Glad to find that the History Guy (another favorite that I watch consistently) had an in depth explanation of it. One of the better aspects of the internet.
Greetings from Clay County! Not being a fan of wine (or whine), I had heard of Hermann and the Stone Hill Winery, but never realized they had been around that LONG! Thanks again! 202 thumbs up! SHOW ME ... the history, guy!
These well made videos always remind me of how amazing humanity is. Despite the difference in technology of our era and their era, people were still able to decipher what was at the root (pun fully intended) of this blight and even found an ingenious solution to it. Human ingenuity is an amazing thing.
Great and informative episode on something very few people are aware of, as per usual! Thanks for including us in this story and so glad we could help you all!
Great video. As a sommelier, the ending where you suggest people try something new, really spoke to me. There's more to life than Pinot Grigio! Wines with actual taste and flavour!
My history teacher was just as engrossing as you. It was thanks to him that I managed to remember what I did in that class. just wanted to say thank you you're doing a great job and I enjoy watching your shows.
I love your channel, much better than the history channel on tv. I enjoy your choice of what to present. I enjoy your wife's presentations as well. Like you I love history.
I took a break from this channel when the plague turned my taste toward more escapist fare for a few months. I return to find a far slicker, more sophisticated program, such as this video. Outstanding work here. That bow tie has come a long way. This channel was always good. But now it exceeds broadcast offerings by a distinct margin. Well done!
Oddly, Texas has the oldest and one of the youngest wine industries in the United States. Oldest because the first winery in what is now the US was built near Del Rio at a Spanish mission. Youngest because we’re just now growing an industry. However, due to our young-ness in that regard, we have grape-growers who are willing to experiment with different varieties and currently grow over 30 varieties, including grapes native to Texas:
I have two varieties of wild grape on my property in North Florida. A variety of wild muscadine (AKA scuppernong) and a wild clustering variety we call "fox grapes" down here. Small grapes barely bigger than green peas, mostly seed but with scanty but very sweet flesh. Some years they produce a lot of fruit and some years hardly any and different conditions favor the different varieties. The commercial muscadine varieties are very popular in the area and I have considered setting up a proper grape arbor but they look like a lot of work to keep them producing every year.
With tremendous gratitude to The History Guy, I must avere that 99% of these programs are fascinating, and greatly augment my personal pursuit of a knowledge of history!
I remember reading how Mark Twain makes a stopover on the Azores islands in the Atlantic, on his famous travel journal, and he mentions that wine on the Azores was quite renowned till a recent blight killed all the vines.
Great video The History Guy. I have a video suggestion. Can you please do a video about the construction of the Brooklyn bridge and the issues the workers faced working in the caisons with the Benz. Think people would enjoy that video.
I use to have a study cellar of wine's during and after my college days, having taken a course on wine appreciation from a Gentlemen named Pea Soup Anderson. I'll never forget leaving class that first day and discussing how I doubted I could make it through to graduation. 1.5 bottles per student. Ah the finer things in life.
The burgundy-colored tie was a nice touch. In the 1980s, there was a series called "Vintage: The Story of Wine," hosted by Hugh Johnson, who also wrote the companion book. I have the book, but it's been years since I read it. IIRC, his conclusion on why man made wine was that it got us drunk.
I'd like to see an episode on Gertrude Bell (Featured in the film Queen of the Desert with Nicole Kidman) Gertrude was a fascination woman, far ahead of her time, who lived an extraordinary life, a tragic death and was instrumental in setting up the post WW1 Middle Eastern Kingdoms of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, many issues of which we live with today. Certainly, Gertrude Bell is almost forgotten today but her history ought to be remembered.
My father works for a winery along the great lakes and I've found trying different grapes and other types of wines to be really fun. I'm often surprised by what I end up enjoying, and the people that work there are great at making recommendations. Visiting wineries is the best way to try different things without buying a whole bottle, and they're even open now during COVID (with extra precautions) because agriculture is considered an essential business. Thank you for the interesting video on wine history 😊
This is so interesting because just last week I was thinking about my port from the award winning Mount Pleasant Estates in Augusta, Missouri, and that led me to thinking about how Missouri grapes helped save the French wine industry, though I couldn't remember the details -- and voilà, here they are.
Thanks History Guy, I am trying to do my part keeping a little known variety of grapes still alive called Brighton created in 1873 near Rochester NY. The grape has a red color and when ripe a almost honey taste.
If there were a way to give two thumbs up, I would do it. Great episode! You make an important point about discouraging agricultural monocultures just by trying different wines. As a wine lover who lives in Croatia, I get to drink some great varieties that go mostly unnoticed in the States and can testify to the benefits of trying different stuff and expanding your palette.
Very interesting. The South African wine took a big knock with covid-19 lock down and ban on sale. This will be history that needs to be remembered in a couple of years. I like a dry red with friends or family and was left out in the cold with the unplanned ban on sale, especially the second ban. At least we have some wine now, so cheers.
I really liked your opener, that was unique for the topic and cool. BTW. Lived in your area 42 years and remember the traffic jams on I-64 around Christmas time for the mall
Good evening from Greece History Guy. I really enjoy your videos, I find them very interesting. Also I enjoy your style and the way you say these stories.Keep up the good videos! Note: Consider working for the wine industry, your intro made me wanna open a greek wine .
You're an inspiration to a young (23) historian sir! I can honestly say I want to be like you when I grow up (whenever that may be), an educator in interesting and forgotten history. Thank you!
You inspire me to actually give winemaking a try. I have a wonderful dry white grape called a Mortenson Hardy. It was a sport that arrived with a load of plants here in Texas from Florida. A huge producer, it thrives in our Texas Gulf Coast heavy clay soil, takes over the trellises I have, grow along the grass, climb the fence and strangle the neighbor’s lawn guys. A new variety is worth saving.
And while the vintners were struggling, the Absinthe distillers were having a field day.
That would make a History Guy episode in itself.
I would love to see one on absinthe and past use of wormwood.
As a fellow Illinois resident, I am delighted to find out about the amazing history of a winery that my wife and I stumbled upon during a visit to Missouri! I never imagined that the Stone Hill Winery had such a huge influence and such importance on the world of wine. Fascinating! Thank you!
Southwest Missouri & parts of Western Arkansas seem to produce great environments for grapes. The small town of Tontitown, AR is an Italian immigrant community that grows a lot of grapes that at one time was a large producer for Welchs but is now home to numerous wineries. The hilly region around Eureka Springs, AR, North to Branson, MO is also filled with new and exciting wineries. More History that deserves to be remembered!
Funnily enough, the french producers are looking at old discarded varieties as the climate heats up the old discarded cépages (often producing less sugary grapes or less quantity).
These are now producing better grapes and are tougher than the current classics. Chatus is an exemple from the Ardèche Région. Long forgotten and now being produced a lot more.
F j f vv
Sap begins rising in the morning in proportion to photosynthesis.
😂
I work in Napa in the wine business and this episode is spot on and very well done. Thank you for encouraging people to try something new and venture out. It is a concern that business is making rare grape varieties go extinct. Well done! Keep up the great work
Is it possible to save grape seeds at the seed repository in Svalbard?
@@goodun2974Please someone answer this statesman. Please.
That sounds like it is now my holy duty to go out and get completely hammered on lesser known grape varieties for the good of the industry and for history itself
Cheers!
Have you heard the comedy routine on Australian wines ? My favorite line is that it has all the subtle aroma of an aborigine armpit. Most native people think Europeans stink.
Taking one for the little guy. Bless you #notallheros
The Great Wine Blight 2020 is a fine vintage. I would give it a 98.
It has a clean crisp opening, with hints of irony in the middle,
and a gentle altruistic appeal for a finish
When things open back up doing some wine tasting at the wineries in and around Fredericksburg, TX is a must.
I feel like you've bought a variety of intro's and you're slowly working your way through them. This was a bullseye though, made me smile :D
I use a program called Viddyozde that has hundreds of templates. I wish they always had one that fit as well as it did for this episode.
What is the plural of 'intro'?
@Pronator Tendon Thank's fo'r tha't.
You "feel" or you "think". There is a difference.
Your drunk.
My wife is the wine officionado in our house. We are members of a couple of Texas wineries. I did not know Texas had such a long wine history.
I actually suggested this topic a few years ago when you were just starting. But, I am sure hundreds of others have as well. When I tell this story it is with a more Texas specific slant. It is something we Texans are proud of. Along with a myriad of other topics. Very interesting and well done as always.
Mighty History Guy, there is yet another story to be told from this. During the years when French wine could not be had, the French began turning to liqueurs, and that notorious drink, Absinthe. As an owner of a small distillery here in California, where I make real absinthe, I believe the story of Absinthe is History That Deserves to Be Remembered. ;)
More automotive history , engines frames or the lack there of transmissions, body materials and the evolution of the body styles to what we have now. Also I am proud of your work, your style reminds me of my brother he was a history major, he would tell us of uncommon history after dinner,. He gone now but watching your channel brings back fond memories of those after dinner lessons of history. Thank you.
My Great-Grandfather immigrated from Firenza, met my GreatGrandmother getting off the boat in NYC, they got married and moved to St Josephs, Missouri where he grew wine. This was like seeing a bit of my family tree, or vine.
As a viticulture student, this video makes my heart happy. If i may make a wine suggestion, i recommend a loire valley sur li muscadet, or a nice vouvray.
Nearly every time I see wines or vineyards I always think about I love Lucy. In that wine stomping battle! I still Love Lucy !💯
That made me think of the “grape stomping lady” from probably 15 years ago or more. It was a very early viral video; It was a local news broadcast and 2 women are casually competing against each other in a grape stomping thing for a wine festival. the reporter tries to get a few extra frantic stomps in after the buzzer, trips falls on her face and makes otter sounds while the other is looking on in surprise.
@@danh8302 I remember that sound clearly! From TOSH.O!😀
constipated in sin city I’m laughing just thinking about it.
@@danh8302 I have been all morning Just watched it again It was on the Hallmark channel Just 15 minutes after watching the video! GOD BLESS
I absolutely love this video because I am someone who sells fine wine and spirits for a living! Most people don't know that the great wine blight is actually what helped launch the popularity across the world of so many other spirits that are now common but at the time of the blight, were much less popular. I should be clear that It is absolutely fact that Scotch and many other spirits had, without question, gained popularity in many regions by the 1800s and even earlier, but it was the great wine blight that really brought non grape based spirits into modern popularity. French Brandys, specifically Cognac and Armagnac, (along with with Rum, depending on where you lived), were some of the most common and popular spirits at the time as was the wine based Vermouth which is and was, a common addition to coktails. The problem was that Cognac, Armagnac, and Vermouth are made from grapes and so production of those products was nearly nonexistent for many years during the time of the great wine blight. This lead bartenders, by necessity, to find other non grape based spirits and liquors to serve to their thirsty customers. This might be surprising to some but if you read David Wonderich's Book Imbibe, you'd know that even by the mid to late 1800s there were some increasingly and surprisingly complicated cocktails being created, especially after ice became readily available for bartenders to use. For example, one of the oldest and currently most popular cocktails of the ”craft cocktail movement”, The Sazerac, was originally made with Cognac, not Rye Whiskey, as is common practice today. During the great wine blight there was still high demand for spirits and spirit based cocktails and so understandably bartenders would use what they had available for the base of their cocktails such as Scotch Whisky, Irish Whiskey, Bourbon Whiskey, Canadian Whiskey, Rye Whiskey, Calvados, Applejack, and several other spirits and liquors that had been around for perhaps a long time but were not nearly as popular as The French Cognacs, Armagnacs, and Vermouths until the greeat wine blight. The great wine blight single handedly influenced the spirit and cocktail world as we know it today by bringing lesser known non grape based spirits and liquors at that time into the forefront of bars and shops across the world as well as helping them grow thier production, quality, and distribution anf forever changed the wine, spirit, and cocktail word. A great example of this is The Sazerac cocktail. Unless you specifically ask for it to be made with Cognac, which the original recipe calls for, it is almost exclusively made by all bars today with Rye whiskey.
There's a book about the history of moonshine titled "Chasing the White Dragon" that you might enjoy. PS, you said "Scotch", but nobody calls it that on the other side if the pond, they just call it Whiskey. I do enjoy a glass of Glenlivet or some such on occasion.....
why do i wish i was 16, in history class, and lucky enough to have this guy as the teacher and get to listen to this stuff every day!
Been to Stone Hill winery, great place. My father could not walk the tour so we stayed behind, this was great, we met the master wine maker, he went behind the bar and offered us several samples it was a great experience tasting wine and listening to him talk about all the wines, just the 3 of us. This was 20 years ago and still a very fond memory.
Variety is the spice of life. And trying different types and makers of wines is an experience too few dare. It's truly worth the wonderment to expand one's horizons, be bold, try the unfamiliar and broaden the senses.
I don’t watch this channel often, but when I do, I keep thinking I need to watch it more often. Lol! Something about dudes voice is just comforting.
I make my own wine in a carboy. Super easy and fun! Various fruit wines are easy to do and occasionally taste good!
I had a relative who decided toexperiment wine wine making--grapes, fruit, even rose petals once. He did the work in the basemwnt, which had very steep stairs up to the house. So many of his neighbors and friends had so much trouble getting back up he finally put an old couch down there s they could prepare for the ascent with a nap.
My husband and I visited Herman, Missouri for our 25th anniversary! It’s a beautiful, quaint area of the US that keeps European hours. We visited every vineyard in the area too!
The Norton is a very good grape that was almost completely destroyed during prohibition. They were fortunate to find some vines that the feds hadn’t.
We visit Hermann MO every year. They’re really proud of this story. Also, great place to visit and great wine, especially the Norton
I also enjoy Missouri wines from Hermann and the surrounding area. Les Bourgeois Vineyear in Rochport, about 60 miles east, also do creditable wines. I lived in Ohio for nearly 40 years and tried to like wine produced there--but most of it is too sweet for my taste. Missouri's grapes make more platable drinks.
Sigh. Ok how do I break the association between Norton wine and Ed Norton from the Honeymooners?
@@Tubluer Answer.....by drinking a tall glass of Norton wine!
@@thommysides4616 You know, that just might do it!
The recovery or rediscovery of the Carmenere grape would be a great companion or sequel to this episode.
Amen.....You hear that History Guy???
On your suggestion, today I selected a wine/grape variety I had never tried before: Carmenere. At checkout, the proprietor started to tell me the history of how that variety was taken to Chile in order to save it! History is real!
Thank you I live near Herman Mo and the wine still flows please come visit and enjoy a glass in this historic town
Hermann, Stone Hill, Norton, all bring back a ton of great memories of living in Columbia (MIZZOU) and visiting the Missouri Wine Country. Now that I live in Central Texas it was great to hear about T.V. Munson and his contributions to the Texas Hill Country wineries we enjoy today. Love the History Guy and how I learn something new three times a week; keep up the great work.
Ah yes, I'll take your finest vintage of the History Guy. That intro was very classy haha
Since moving to Missouri I've had some truly awesome Nortons
I’m from the town next to Herman MO. It’s strange hearing reverence about the Norton from French wine enthusiasts around the world.
When I go to Chile, they tell me about the Carmenere in a similar way to your variety comments. Apparently it was thought extinct and brought back from
1 vineyard by accident.
I clicked on this video in hopes of hearing about the Norton root stock.
carmenere is my favorite wine it was confused by the merlot.
I care. I didn't know nothing about the different types of wines. It's that it taste good & it's enjoyable
Perhaps after this, you can make a video about the history of blended Scotch, something brought upon by the heavy taxed then placed on malting barley. Most distilleries couldn't afford to pay the punitive tax, and were forced to produce their whisky from grain, a much less appealing option than malted barley. This was then sold off to local grocers, who often blended dozens of different whiskeys together to make them more palatable. This is why we have Johnnie Walker and Dewar's today.
It's believed that the tax on malted barley was meant as an act of industrial sabotage on the part of the English, who were much more fond of gin, a spirit that can be made from neutral grain. Scotch whiskey then became more expensive than gin, almost killing the whisky industry.
I Love history. Don't drink anymore but enjoy historic alcohol/alcoholic stories. Thankyou
“Wine: it’s how classy people get shit-faced.” Bravo to THG for another excellent lesson.
You know how they say: a bottle of wine a day is classy, a six-pack a day makes you a drunkard.
Love the intros. It has a great History Channel feel to them. Good job.
An Arthur Kent or Mr. Munster vibe?
Great history channel feel? I don’t see any references to aliens or pawn shops lol
The vibe of what History Channel is supposed to be.
I've never been a true wine expert by any means, but did appreciate learning so much from today's video.
What I know of wines comes from watching the pre-Craig Bond movies!
I went to a wine tasting to be exposed to all subtleties, and learned that a head injury gave me anomia (damaged sense of smell). Scotch has subtleties and I appreciate the cheaper ones because I like what cournasseurs find too assertive.
Good morning! Great way to wake up!!!!
I know a family whom are a family of winemakers . They're in possession of an original 400+ year old vine that makes some of the world's best wines.
constipated in sin city Yes. The science has really democratized the wine industry. The quality versus price is astounding. For $30, we can drink a bottle of wine far greater in quality than the kings of Europe hundreds of years ago. You don’t have to wait 20 years for it to mature in the bottle any longer, they make it ready or nearly ready to drink.
@@jamesdellaneve9005 I remember when we were younger, all we cared about was which one would get buzzed the quickest! Oh my misspent youth!
Who*
constipated in sin city Hah! I grew up in anItalian family. We helped Grandpa make wine in his basement. It was jug wine.
@@constipatedinsincity4424 , at 15 or 16, it was "fortified" wines, like Boones Farm Strawberry Hill, or Ripple. And there was also Thunderbird. " Have you heard/ what's the word/ Thunderbird!". ZZ Top
Happily doing my part to keep the wine industry going.
A very important addition to this story. Hermann Jaeger, a swiss immigrant that settled in Missouri was approached by the French in regards to his hybrid grape varieties that were resistant to phylloxera. He shipped 16 train cars full of vines back to France. These vines, were then bred with French vines and are now known today as the French Hybrids. They include Foch, Chancellor, DeChaunac, Vignoles etc... These were very popular grapes in France before grafting was completely figured out and the French decided to go back to their more traditional varieties, but the French really only started doing that in the 60's. Now, all across Europe, more and more hybrid varieties are being planted. The resistance to not only phylloxera, but diseases in general is a great advantage.
My favorite wine, which is difficult to find in stores, is Traminette. In St. James, Missouri, there's a 95 year old German guy who lives in the middle of a forest, a mile down a gravel road, and makes Traminette in his winery. I don't know if he's still alive, but if he is I recommend people make a trip to Heinrichshaus Winery.
Tabilk winery in Nagambie Victoria Australia has a block planted in 1860. That is a Shiraz block. Makes fine red. The block survived the feloxera.
A good story well told.
I learned all this some years ago from Les Constable, the winemaker at Brushy Creek Vineyards, Alvord, Texas. Les had crewed aboard nuclear submarines. He retired from the Navy to make wine. His tempranillo is outstanding. Les is the reason the Grayson County Community College has the most extensive catalog of winemaking courses in Texas.
I discovered a variety of wine in Chile, the Carménère wines, which were popular in France before the blight but have escaped the problem in Chile. These are an excellent red wine and a unique story that deserves to be remembered.
I've known about mono-culture in grain crops for at least a decade; it never occurred to me that fruits like grapes might also be hurt by the cult of mono-culturism. Thanks for opening my eyes to this problem!
Good video. I am a sommelier and I work as a wine and spirits buyer for many importers around the world. These days it is generally accepted that the Republic of Georgia is the birthplace of wine. Though my forte is Italian wines, Georgian wines are my passion. Gaumarjos! (cheers in the Georgian language) 🍷😀
Very enlightening episode to me. I grew up in Napa Valley on a small vineyard of vines planted in 1905. All of these, and the recent replacement vines, were field grafted to what we called St. George, a wild grape root stock. I knew there were vineyards in other states, but the scale of the Missouri vineyards was staggering.
We have two little areas here in Australia which escaped the phylloxera blight. One of these places is Chateau Tahbilk in the southern state of Victoria. They have a small patch of shiraz vines from 1860 and the wine is lovely.
Learned of this whole situation from the “Floyd Uncorked” series. Which is a favorite of mine. Glad to find that the History Guy (another favorite that I watch consistently) had an in depth explanation of it. One of the better aspects of the internet.
I have friends in Herman, MO and you would enjoy old farm houses brought together to form a b&b village.
Greetings from Clay County!
Not being a fan of wine (or whine), I had heard of Hermann and the Stone Hill Winery, but never realized they had been around that LONG!
Thanks again! 202 thumbs up! SHOW ME ... the history, guy!
These well made videos always remind me of how amazing humanity is. Despite the difference in technology of our era and their era, people were still able to decipher what was at the root (pun fully intended) of this blight and even found an ingenious solution to it. Human ingenuity is an amazing thing.
Great and informative episode on something very few people are aware of, as per usual! Thanks for including us in this story and so glad we could help you all!
This guy is what is known as 'a class act' . Ever increasingly difficult to find.
Great video.
As a sommelier, the ending where you suggest people try something new, really spoke to me.
There's more to life than Pinot Grigio! Wines with actual taste and flavour!
My history teacher was just as engrossing as you. It was thanks to him that I managed to remember what I did in that class. just wanted to say thank you you're doing a great job and I enjoy watching your shows.
Once again you've navigated a fairly technical subject, and once again I've learned things "I didn't know that I didn't know."
I love your channel, much better than the history channel on tv. I enjoy your choice of what to present. I enjoy your wife's presentations as well. Like you I love history.
"I don't drink water, that's the stuff that rusts pipes." -W.C. Fields
...also "Fish fornicate in it".
Like fine wine, The History Guy keeps getting better with age!
I took a break from this channel when the plague turned my taste toward more escapist fare for a few months. I return to find a far slicker, more sophisticated program, such as this video. Outstanding work here. That bow tie has come a long way. This channel was always good. But now it exceeds broadcast offerings by a distinct margin. Well done!
You gave no idea how good it feels to see a new history guy episode!
Absolutely great, even for someone not living in the US. I love the food history episodes. Very happy that I first saw you on Answers With Joe.
Oddly, Texas has the oldest and one of the youngest wine industries in the United States. Oldest because the first winery in what is now the US was built near Del Rio at a Spanish mission. Youngest because we’re just now growing an industry. However, due to our young-ness in that regard, we have grape-growers who are willing to experiment with different varieties and currently grow over 30 varieties, including grapes native to Texas:
Fifth largest wine industry in the country - and growing
I have two varieties of wild grape on my property in North Florida. A variety of wild muscadine (AKA scuppernong) and a wild clustering variety we call "fox grapes" down here. Small grapes barely bigger than green peas, mostly seed but with scanty but very sweet flesh. Some years they produce a lot of fruit and some years hardly any and different conditions favor the different varieties. The commercial muscadine varieties are very popular in the area and I have considered setting up a proper grape arbor but they look like a lot of work to keep them producing every year.
With tremendous gratitude to The History Guy, I must avere that 99% of these programs are fascinating, and greatly augment my personal pursuit of a knowledge of history!
What 1% didn't you like? I'm just curious.
I remember reading how Mark Twain makes a stopover on the Azores islands in the Atlantic, on his famous travel journal, and he mentions that wine on the Azores was quite renowned till a recent blight killed all the vines.
Have had many wine tours through Europe, it is always a joy to stop at local wineries.
I love this episode. Very well done. Cheers, Russ
This presentation is Gold medal quality. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
TV MUNSON was a citizen of DENISN TX my home town!
My dad is from Bonham. I knew this story when I was old enough to walk
Great video The History Guy. I have a video suggestion. Can you please do a video about the construction of the Brooklyn bridge and the issues the workers faced working in the caisons with the Benz. Think people would enjoy that video.
I use to have a study cellar of wine's during and after my college days, having taken a course on wine appreciation from a Gentlemen named Pea Soup Anderson.
I'll never forget leaving class that first day and discussing how I doubted I could make it through to graduation. 1.5 bottles per student.
Ah the finer things in life.
The burgundy-colored tie was a nice touch. In the 1980s, there was a series called "Vintage: The Story of Wine," hosted by Hugh Johnson, who also wrote the companion book. I have the book, but it's been years since I read it. IIRC, his conclusion on why man made wine was that it got us drunk.
Cheers!
Thanks for all the help you do in helping lance produce some of the very best history content on RUclips.
🍷🍻👍
what a classy opening
I'd like to see an episode on Gertrude Bell (Featured in the film Queen of the Desert with Nicole Kidman) Gertrude was a fascination woman, far ahead of her time, who lived an extraordinary life, a tragic death and was instrumental in setting up the post WW1 Middle Eastern Kingdoms of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, many issues of which we live with today. Certainly, Gertrude Bell is almost forgotten today but her history ought to be remembered.
Dizzy, not to be confused with "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert"! 😁 but yes, I remember the Nicole Kidman film you spoke of..
My father works for a winery along the great lakes and I've found trying different grapes and other types of wines to be really fun. I'm often surprised by what I end up enjoying, and the people that work there are great at making recommendations. Visiting wineries is the best way to try different things without buying a whole bottle, and they're even open now during COVID (with extra precautions) because agriculture is considered an essential business. Thank you for the interesting video on wine history 😊
This is so interesting because just last week I was thinking about my port from the award winning Mount Pleasant Estates in Augusta, Missouri, and that led me to thinking about how Missouri grapes helped save the French wine industry, though I couldn't remember the details -- and voilà, here they are.
I’ve always enjoyed history and the way you present and tell the story is so enjoyable. Thank you for what you do.
Great episode, I’m a big wine fan and find the history and culture around it very interesting. My wife’s family were winemakers in southwest Germany.
Thanks History Guy, I am trying to do my part keeping a little known variety of grapes still alive called Brighton created in 1873 near Rochester NY. The grape has a red color and when ripe a almost honey taste.
If there were a way to give two thumbs up, I would do it. Great episode! You make an important point about discouraging agricultural monocultures just by trying different wines. As a wine lover who lives in Croatia, I get to drink some great varieties that go mostly unnoticed in the States and can testify to the benefits of trying different stuff and expanding your palette.
The original theme music is history that deserves to be remembered.
The intro was so unique I forgot what I was watching and wondered what I clicked on, well done!
Very interesting. The South African wine took a big knock with covid-19 lock down and ban on sale. This will be history that needs to be remembered in a couple of years. I like a dry red with friends or family and was left out in the cold with the unplanned ban on sale, especially the second ban. At least we have some wine now, so cheers.
One of my favorite subjects. Well done, sir.
I really liked your opener, that was unique for the topic and cool. BTW. Lived in your area 42 years and remember the traffic jams on I-64 around Christmas time for the mall
Good evening from Greece History Guy. I really enjoy your videos, I find them very interesting. Also I enjoy your style and the way you say these stories.Keep up the good videos!
Note: Consider working for the wine industry, your intro made me wanna open a greek wine .
The history of intros, deserves to be remembered.
My favorite Stonehill wine is Catawba!! It’s amazing!
You're an inspiration to a young (23) historian sir! I can honestly say I want to be like you when I grow up (whenever that may be), an educator in interesting and forgotten history. Thank you!
I am a big fan of cabinet Riesling, but i have tasted the spectrum of wines and am enriched by them all.
Speaking about the importance of variety in grapes reminds me of the peril the world's banana trees currently face.
Nice, tasteful pre-roll. You are my rabbit hole source for journeys in history :)
I wish you’d gone into how this played a role in the history of Absinthe and the stigma around it. Love the video though, thanks for all that you do.
You inspire me to actually give winemaking a try. I have a wonderful dry white grape called a Mortenson Hardy. It was a sport that arrived with a load of plants here in Texas from Florida. A huge producer, it thrives in our Texas Gulf Coast heavy clay soil, takes over the trellises I have, grow along the grass, climb the fence and strangle the neighbor’s lawn guys. A new variety is worth saving.
I want to like this one more than once! Fantastic episode!
Thank you for this lovely article about wine!
So many wines🍷🍷... So little time !!