For the Love of History and Wine

I may not be Indiana Jones – from the good movies, not that crappy new one that came out last year – battling my way through hidden temples for pieces of history long forgotten, but I do love a good treasure hunt through a wine or antique shop. There is something very exhilarating about losing yourself in a store stuffed full of hidden gems and never knowing what you are going to find.

               My husband and I recently drove down to visit my family for a belated birthday celebration. Not a fan of driving over mountain passes in the winter, my parents are always willing to let me push my February birthday to an April celebration. Due to my love of digging through antique shops, A Robin’s Nest of Antiques and Treasures in downtown Grand Junction, with its two stories of antiques and close proximity to Shiras Winery, has been on my list of must visits for a while. Therefore, taking a day trip up to Grand Junction with the family for some shopping and wine was the perfect activity for some birthday bliss.

               Packed full of everything you could imagine – jewelry, books, furniture, records, comics, etc. – I spent a solid hour paroozing through every nook and cranny of that store. Every time I go to an antique shop, I look to expand upon my collection of Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton and Dana Girl books, ogle over everything from the 1920s, continue my search for the exact wine glasses my grandma had let me drink soda out of as a child, and hope to discover old wine books and paraphernalia. This store did not disappoint. Digging through their insanely large collection of books, I not only found me a couple of books to expand upon my Nancy Drew and Judy Bolton collections, but I also came across a 1955 copy of “Valley of the Vines,” a mystery-romance novel by Joy Packer that takes place in the South African wine country. The book even has a wine cellar ghost!

               The real treasure of this store, however, was what I happened to find by pure luck. Having shopped until we dropped, we started heading towards the cash registers to buy our newfound must haves, and I happened to notice a sign out of the corner of my eye. Lo and behold, it was a Robert Mondavi Winery sign! I hastily rushed over to it and discovered that the sign not only was priced reasonably, but it was also from the year I was born. I snagged it and added it to the pile of loot my mom was buying for me as part of my birthday present. This was the ultimate find!

               Though the Robert Mondavi Winery – sold by the family years ago – is no longer at the caliber it used to be, it was one of the defining American wineries. Always intrigued by the man, I had recently gobbled up every word of Mondavi’s book, “Harvests of Joy: How the Good Life Became Great Business,” that my dad got me for Christmas. Of course, I found the story of how the winery came to be and Mondavi’s philosophy on wine fascinating, but I also loved learning about his life growing up in America. Born in 1913, he witnessed so many changes in our country and in the world of wine, and it was a thrill experiencing it all through his eyes. It was one of the best books I have read, and now I had a memento to hang in my wine room representing all of that history, and the joy in reading that book. 

               With that book in mind, and the marvelous wine and antiquing day, I really began to think of the correlation between history and wine. Most wine lovers are history buffs. It’s a pure and simple fact most people don’t think about, but it is true. We wine lovers obsess over the land and story that brought us a particular bottle. We pour over the timelines of famous wine regions and the wineries and winemakers who shaped them. Every time an article comes out talking about an ancient bottle of wine being found in the depths of the ocean or in a long-forgotten cellar, we dream about what it would be like to taste something that has stood the test of time. We marvel at ancient winemaking techniques and tools. We greedily buy up wines made from vines that are 50, 75, 100 years old. We can’t help but fall in love with every story a wine bottle has to tell. And it’s all because wine has seen it all.

               Wine, and the love for it, has been around for what seems like forever. It is speculated that some of the first wine production took place in the country of Georgia around 6000 BC, and since that time it has been consumed for rituals, medicinal purposes, and for pleasure. It has been used to toast a celebration, or as a comfort during heart break. Heck, it was even part of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Since its birth, wine has had a connection to most historical and monumental occasions. Each vine, winery, bottle tells the story of the people and places it came from and is a reflection of that era. It truly is its own history book.

               This day and age, when history is being ignored and altered to appease the weak, statues are being destroyed as a way to completely forget our past, a bottle of wine can paint a true picture of the times it came from. Wine allows those of us who love history, and all of its happy and gory details, a delicious way to explore the world and where we came from. Each bottle has a story to tell to anyone who is interested in hearing it. Wine has been a part of society for almost forever, and it has tracked our growths and downfalls. The next time you open up a bottle of wine, take a moment to ponder its history, and all of the trials and tribulations that led to that particular bottle being made for your enjoyment. Cheers to historical truth through wine.