Reading old news articles. In 1972 the US was the 6th largest producer of wine behind Italy, France, the Soviet Union, Spain and Argentina. Today just California is the fourth largest producer of wine in the world.

In 1968 1-ton of California Cabernet grapes sold for $305. In 1972 that priced jumped to $1000 per ton.

E&J Gallo was founded in 1933. By 1970 it produced the most wine in the state of California (and thus the country), more than twice that of the next largest producer of wine in the state.

In 1965 Jack Davies left his career in metals to revive Schramsberg. In 1972 Nixon took 14 cases of Schramsberg 1969 Blanc de blancs to China for a state dinner in honor or Premier Chou En-Lai.

In the 1970s only one shop in France, Fauchon, sold American wine, and all US wine entering France was taxed the equivalent of 25-cents-US per bottle.

In that same time period, US tax on wine coming from France was 7.5-cents-US per bottle.

Prior to 1970 wine bottle sizes varied widely and between countries. In 1970 Europe created an agreement to use a standard 750 size bottle. Other countries around the world slowly joined. The US adopted the practice in 1979.

In 1966 Heitz released Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, starting the trend towards Single Vineyard bottlings for the first time. Eisele was the next to follow in 1969, demanding wines made from the site use its name.

Between 1970 and 1974 the amount of Cabernet being grown in California tripled. 1974 is also regarded as one of the best vintages for California Cabernet in the 1970s. It was a horrible vintage in much of the rest of the world.

In 1944 w little apparent evidence Ed Rossi, then President of the Italian Swiss Colony, predicted that by 1969 in the US table wine sales would far surpass those of dessert wines. In 1967 table wines outsold dessert wines for the first time.

In 1944 when Rossi made the prediction, table wine accounted for only 38% of wine sales. In 1967 they were 52%. They continued to gain market share each year following.

The increase in table wine sales dramatically changed the source of American wine as well. The Central Valley had been the greatest source of dessert wines in CA and thus also carried the economic power. The switch to table wines collapsed the grape market for the Central Valley.

With the increase in table wines sales, economic power for the grape and wine market moved to the North and Central Coasts for the first time. This also meant for the first time the price of grapes finally exceeded the cost of farming and growers began planting premium grapes.

With the collapse of the Central Valley grape market, yield limits were imposed on the region to help stabilize their market. No limits were on the Coast. Growers and producers of the North and Central Coast began gaining the power to guide policies for farming in the state.

In 1957 public interest in wine in the US had increased enough that producers of CA wine demanded a formalized public relations effort. For the first time the Wine Institute created a budget with funds specifically allocated for stated public relation purposes.

These first public relation efforts were directed almost entirely at creating wine festivals.

In the 1950s increased use of the phrase "premium wine" upset numerous producers in California who felt it implied the existence of "non-premium wines." (Note the EXACT PARALLEL of this to the criticism leveled against "natural wine" since the first usage of that phrase.)

The famous "Welcome to Napa Valley World Famous Wine Growing Region" sign was erected in 1949 by the Napa Valley Vintners Association as one of their early marketing efforts to build awareness for the region and establish it as distinct from other parts of the state.

One of Napa Valley's early public tastings in the late 1950s used to increase excitement for the wines of the region included Zsa Zsa Gabor and Hillevi Rubin, Miss Universe of 1956.

In 1960 the disagreement over the phrase premium wine led to the promotion instead of fine wine and popular wine. Fine wine from CA was promoted on its own. This led to the creation of a public relations campaign promoting the health benefits of CA wine directly to physicians.

By 1965 the promotion of fine wine as separate from other wines was also too upsetting for many CA producers and the PR campaign was stopped. Producers began instead discussing the importance of regional expression to allow not better or worse but different qualities.

At the same time, the importance of packaging and marketing to trigger innate responses to the wine inside were also firmly established for the industry. Fine wine producers no longer able to use a PR push explicitly marketing fine wine instead used packaging to imply it.

Okay, y'all. I gotta go eat food.