As the season turns to friends
and family, we would like to extend to you our warmest wishes for a very Merry
Christmas and a fruitful New Year. We would also like to take this opportunity
to welcome new friends to the Amalie Robert Estate FLOG.
The 5th of the month and
the repeal of Prohibition!
The 5th of the month has more
significance than Ernie was previously aware. A thirst for knowledge and a
little research has greatly expanded his appreciation for the 5th of the month.
January through March is a
write-off. We are just too busy working to be bothered. However, for some the
5th of the month is payday.
April 5th is a day we wake up and
realize the government is about to get more of our money than ever before.
However, we owe ourselves about $23.1 trillion (up from about $21.8 trillion
last year), that's just about $69,923 (up from about $66,242 last year) per
person living in the United States, and $186,948 per taxpayer. Hmmm, back to
work. You can check our progress from time to time right here.
As you well know, the holiday
Cinco De Mayo is a celebration on the 5th day of the 5th month. The purpose of
which is to celebrate the victory by the Mexican Army over the French Army in
the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. Of course, and as always, there is more to
the story. Here is a link
with more details.
We transition right to June 5th.
This date is very significant to Ernie, as it is Dena’s birthday! As many of
you know, Dena’s middle name is Amalie and is the palate defining Amalie’s
Cuvée.
July 5th is the day we would have
declared our Independence, however as Americans, we just couldn’t wait.
Somewhat like opening a gift, or maybe two, on Christmas Eve.
August 4th, 2011, again we
couldn’t wait, is the first time the US debt exceeded 100% of our Gross
Domestic Product - GDP (Gosh Darn Politicians).
However, August 5th brings little
pink berries to our Pinot Noir vines. Ernie likes this, a lot!
September 5th is significant to
all children and especially their parents. It usually is about the time the
children are going back to school.
October 5th usually finds us in
the middle of harvest. Due to the protracted nature of harvesting and
fermenting Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, Syrah, Viognier and now that
little rascal Gewürztraminer, Ernie has dubbed the 10th and 11th months to be
“Octo-vem-BIER.”
On December 5th we find ourselves
at the end of the calendar. 2019 marks the 86th year of the repeal of the
social engineering experiment known as Prohibition.
On January 16th, 1919, the United
States Congress passed the Volstead Act. The Volstead Act was passed to provide
enforcement of the 18th amendment to the Constitution of the United States, aka
Prohibition. This marked the beginning of Prohibition. We wonder what
Congress’s approval rating was that year.
This is an excerpt of section 1
of the 18th amendment:
“…the manufacture, sale, or
transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or
the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the
jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.”
During the following 13 years,
the people of the United States bore witness to the effects of Prohibition.
Further, they were able to compare the politicians’ promises and pontifications
to the experiences in their own daily lives - aka The Real World. This
phenomenon has persisted in each and every congress since and can lead to the
malady known as cognitive dissonance. Ernie calls it “Negotiated Reality”.
It was in 1929 that a curious
little product was invented and granted trademark protection. Ernie may be
deviating from his factual discourse here, but perhaps this product was used in
reference to the politicians of the day who could not tell the difference
between a good idea and Prohibition. Sometimes it is hard to tell fact from
fiction, sometimes not. The product was a shoe wax called Shinola. Now they
make watches.
Winegrowers of the time were a
hearty breed, they had to be. The manufacture, distribution and sale (including
export offshore) of alcohol was illegal. If your livelihood depended on growing
some 100 tons of grapes and selling the fermented juice, you were out of
business (and so was your labor force), or so the politicians thought.
Now, let us introduce the law of
Supply and Demand. (Note: Much like gravity this is a law not subject to
political pressure.) Despite a small minority trying to legislate morality on
the entire citizenry, the American public sought to exercise their rights as
citizens living in a free country. After all, that’s why they were here.
It turns out that many people had
unexplained illnesses during those 13 years. In visiting their family
physicians, it seemed the most cost effective treatment was the prescription of
alcohol, wine in most cases, for medicinal purposes. One thing often leads to
another and new upstart health clinics quietly appeared. Called speakeasies,
these outpatient clinics provided a wide variety of treatments for whatever may
be ailing you. Lead poisoning, while not common, was a serious health risk. The
health care industry in this country is a very curious thing.
Even today, the debate continues
over the health benefits of alcohol, red wine in particular and Pinot Noir
specifically, for the high content of Resveratrol. You can learn more about Resveratrol
here. Or NASCAR,
which is the natural evolution of a rapid delivery system that kept the
formularies of the day fully stocked - much to the chagrin of the treasury
agents.
We now come to the presidential
election of 1932. FDR, as he was known, achieved many things. The most wide
sweeping change affected nearly everyone in the United States and for
generations to come, including several of our foreign trading partners. Recall,
the importation of Canadian, Irish and Scotch whisky was also illegal. As an
aside, Ernie’s time in Ireland taught him that the Scot’s never acknowledged
Prohibition and they kept the pipeline open.
On December 5th, 1933, the 21st
amendment was ratified by the United States Congress. In what may be the most
effective and efficient legislation known to this great country, here is
Section 1 in its entirety:
“Section 1. The eighteenth
article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby
repealed.”
We see here that sweeping changes
in legislation, or repeal of them, may be difficult, but certainty not
impossible.
As you enjoy the holiday season,
please take a moment to reflect on your constitutional right to grow, produce,
blend, bottle, sell/purchase and consume wine, especially Pinot Noir!
When the time is right, please
enjoy our wines with friends, food and in moderation.
Kindest Regards,
Dena & Ernie
