
by Fred McMillin
for April 17, 1998
Winery of the Week
An Earthquake Heartache
Prologue
5:12A.M.,
April 18,1906—Young Louis Martini was delivering a wagonload of his father's
fresh-dug clams to a San Francisco fish market. Suddenly he said, "What's the
matter with Julia?" The 20-year-old mare was throwing her head wildly as she drew
the cart. "Then for fifty-eight seconds it lasted. Nothing to do. Everything collapsed"...including
a vat of wine he had aging in a downtown cellar.
(By Teiser & Harroun)
Louis' loss was dwarfed by that of the Italian Swiss Colony winery. To the
north in
Sonoma County, they had the largest wine tank in the world, holding half a million
gallons of wine. The concrete vat was cracked by the quake and the wine lost.
The Rest of the Story
Tomorrow is the 92nd anniversary of the great quake. Historian William Heintz's
careful compilation indicates something like 30 million gallons of wine were lost,
much of it from the storage vaults in San Francisco. One of the largest was that
of Gundlach Bundschu. Charles Bundschu was there and here's how he described it.
"A puncheon of Red Wine was shaken from its saddle of the third row right above
my desk and the Claret flooded everything...Half an hour after the shock a mountain
of heavy dense smoke loomed over the heart of the City...A furious wall of fire
consumed the Palace Hotel...Our building fell at 5 o'clock...At our home, we buried
our silverware in the garden, before our hasty flight to Sonoma from the city
of hell, the thunderbolt having smashed the last hope of my life forever." (From
P. Latimer's "California Wineries")
Happily, the devastation was not permanent. Charles' great-great grandson,
Jim, now runs the vibrant Sonoma winery, with his sons, Jeff and Robbie, doing
more and more of the heavy lifting. So, my earthquake anniversary wine will be
a Gundlach
Bundschu...the white will be their Riesling, since their first Riesling was harvested
exactly 140 years ago (1858). For reds, the Merlot, Zinfandel and Cabernet have
all done well in my tastings. For more, phone Robbie at (707) 938-5277.
Postscript
When the earthquake-fire destroyed the Palace Hotel, it also destroyed the
40 pairs of boots belonging to its most famous guest, the magnificent Italian
tenor, Enrico Caruso. Upon leaving for his homeland, he shouted to the press,
"Give me Vesuvius!"
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About the Writer
Fred McMillin, a veteran wine writer, has taught wine history for 30 years on three continents. He currently teaches wine courses at San Francisco State and San Francisco City College and is Northern California Editor for American Wine on the Web. In 1995, the Academy of Wine Communications honored Fred with one of only 22 Certificates of Commendation awarded to American wine writers.
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More articles by
Fred McMillin
Welcome to WineDay, the electronic Gourmet Guide's daily update. Monday through Thursday, WineDay presents a wine profile. Then on Fridays we present the Winery of the Week to take you through the weekend.
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