Dark History - 89: Shocking Secrets of the Wine Industry: What Are They Hiding? | Dark History with Bailey Sarian

Episode Date: May 31, 2023

Welcome to the Dark History podcast. Throw everything you know about wine out the window right now. In this episode, we’re talking about wine orgies, forced grape stomping, and hoarding wine just like we hoarded toilet paper during the start of the pandemic. Not to mention a whole host of wine secrets… enough to shock even the biggest wine lover into thinking twice before pouring the next glass! Episode Advertisers Include: Ouai, ZocDoc, Rocket Money, & ZipRecruiter. Learn more during the podcast about special offers! 

I've always wanted to love wine. I really did. But I hate it. It's awful. It gives me like a massive headache, cold sweats at night, not worth it. And then on top of that, I'm like, I just don't understand why. Like, isn't it just grapes? Why am I so sick?

So I started to look into what the hell is in wine. And it turns out there's all kinds of wild stuff in there. Sausdust and fish bladders. The road to wine in America is paved with depressed housewives enslaved communities and false advertising. Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. My name is Bailey Sarian and I like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. This is a chance to tell a story like it is and to share the history of stuff that I don't know, a lot of us don't even think about.

So all you have to do is sit back, relax, and let's talk about that hot, juicy, history guys. The other day, I was out with some make-believe friends and we were ordering drinks. And we went to one of those fancy places that had only like a few things on the menu and four types of house wines. First of all, who's house?

Right? Like, okay. Unfortunately for me, wine is kind of hard to avoid because it's everywhere, right? The United States is actually the world's number one consumer of wine. I guess we Americans just can't get enough of it. I mean, it was the preferred beverage of, I don't know, Jesus. So I mean, that says something. Now I know wine can be very polarizing.

People have all sorts of opinions about it, and there are entire cultures and societies dedicated to the love of wine. I'm talking about that fine wine scene. There's even careers dedicated to knowing all the different types of wine and where they come from and what makes them so special. But I'm more interested in finding out where the hell did wine actually come from?

Right? Well, that's what I was thinking. Like, who found a bunch of old grape juice and said, oh yeah, I'll drink this. Where's that person? I want to talk to them. So let's talk about where wine started and how it got to you and me. We do know that wine drinking started a long, long time ago with something called fermentation. Firmamentation, which is the process that turns any liquid into alcohol, is a natural

thing that just happens in nature. Scientists have found birds and monkeys in the wild, straight-up drunk, after they've eaten fermented berries or run fruit. Joan, I'll see you coming in here, I'll flop a flopping around, smelling like liquor. My personal favorite drunk animal story was a moose in Sweden. Yeah, a moose in Sweden. That made headlines after he ate a ton of rotten apples, which got him wasted. And then I guess he got somehow stuck in a tree. Yeah, I was like, I just call that a two-state knight, am I right? But I wanted to know, when did wine go from like rotten Fruit to something sacred? Turns out that wine and religion go all the way back to the year 30,000 BC. Yeah, we're talking old school cavemen time. Now there's actually evidence out there that the earliest cave drawings ever done were drawn under the influence of wine.

Makes sense why those lines are so sloppy. Scholars found these cave drawings and after studying them, they found that they were probably done by ancient maybe drunk shamans. Shamans, for those of you who haven't done Ayahuasca in Mexico after a breakup, are basically spiritual guides

who lead people through important rituals. These rituals traditionally include some sort of drug or alcohol. which are the most important in the world. The most important in the world. The most important in the world. The most important in the world. The most important

in the world. The most important in the world. The most important in the world. The most important in the world. The most important in the world. The most important in the world.

The most important in the world. The most important in the world. The most important in the world. The most important in the world. The most important in the world. The most important of wine in 8,000-year-old pottery fragments in modern-day Georgia, not the state in America. Georgia the country. I know. And the drawings on this old-ass pottery show clusters of grapes with like men dancing around them. Which like, if we insert a picture here, I was like, I don't see any

guys dancing. I don't know what they're talking about. Like, if I squint maybe? Sure, whatever. Then in ancient Egypt around 4,000 BC, wine was considered something that was sacred. King Tut was buried with three wine jars. You know, just in case he got a little thirsty in the afterlife, the Egyptians even had a monthly day of intoxication, which was a religious ceremony that was honestly just an excuse

to really rage party and get wasted. We should bring it back. Well, I think we'd kind of have that now with like Burning Man and all that. But the cavemen and Egyptians, they weren't alone in thinking this way. The Greeks, the Romans, the Christians, the Catholics, the ancient Hebrews, and so many more have believed

that wine is divine, holy, a gift from above. And especially back then, all they knew was that sometimes grape just like miraculously became this liquid that made you all warm and tingling inside. I mean, it's the same reason the Greeks associate bad weather with angry gods and Zeus with lightning bolts They were just trying to make sense of the world in a time before microscopes and Google So this state of Shwaisted which we just think of as being tipsy Blitzed Terned was actually a religious

Experience for these ancient civilizations. Wine was like a prayer. It was a way of processing trauma, letting go of inhibitions and getting closer to God or multiple gods if you wanted. It had so many possibilities, it relaxed you, made you want to open up to your fellow man. Alcohol does literally alter your consciousness, so it made sense that ancient cultures put wine up on that altar

I decided this stuff. Yeah, it's miracle. It's a miracle. We like this shit And no matter which god you prayed to you want to make sure you could say thank you for that good-ass time you were having I've been trying to perfect my morning routine. You know, get up, like make my bed, boo. Drink some coffee, take a shower, you know, all that. And those habits, they can be really hard to build. But you know what, it sets me up for a good day. You know, like it gets the blood flowing.

I make my bed and it just gives me a second to breathe, really, and center myself. Sometimes small daily actions can have a big impact. And when it comes to caring for your hair, a little goes a long way. Whether you've got fine, medium, or thick hair, way is just your type. No matter what your hair needs, talking volume, shine, maybe need hydration. Your shampoos and conditioners are made to give your strands exactly what they need. So, you know, you can get on your way to just having a good hair day, but every day. I like

to use heat on my hair, which I know is not the best for it, but I can't give it up. I got a crimper and I love it. I really do. So with ways heat protection spray, I know my hair will be protected because it protects my strands, even when I turn up the heat all the way up to like 450 degrees, which I shouldn't be doing, but I do it, sorry. And their conditioner keeps my hair soft and healthy every day, replenishing it no matter how I style it.

If you've been on a product binge, you know, been there, don't know. Their detox shampoo is perfect for getting rid of buildup while adding strength, softness, and shine. Clarefying apple cider vinegar and enriching keratin, cleanses and puries, product buildup, I mean, hard water deposits, and so much more. Get on your way to healthier hair.

One day at a time with shampoo and conditioners that are just your type. Go to the way THOUAI.com slash dark history for 15% off your entire purchase. That's the way THOUAI.com slash dark history. Speaking of people who know how to have a good-ass time, no one did it better than the ancient Romans. And when they wanted to let their hair down, they turned to a god named Boccus. He was the god of like many things, including wine. And the ancient Romans had a special way of celebrating him.

They hosted infamous secret parties called Buccaneleus. A Buccaneleia was a night of wild parting in ancient Rome that celebrated total freedom from societal rules and regulations. Now it happened about three times a year, usually around harvest time, and was typically done in secret out in like the countryside under the cover of darkness. This party would last like all night until the sun came up. And the whole goal of the night was to induce a kind of trance where you just stopped feeling any insecurities or hangups. You could just get naked, dance, and experience

total euphoria. I mean, dildos were actually a part of this event. So it sounds like a good time. Now here's a twist. These parties were only for women. They were like bachelorette parties, but like on crack, you know? No men, just free spirit vibes man, on a shitload of wine. And the reason they were so secretive was because women could get in huge trouble if they were caught drinking wine or even just in general worshipping their wine god. Let's say your husband caught you at one of these parties. Ooh! Off with her HIT!

I mean, it was pretty risky for them. Not for what though. A little bit of freedom. Geez. Women who went to these all-nighters were called Maynads, which means raving ones Latin, because it was believed that these Maynads were literally possessed by their wine god, just like those shamans we talked about. It was believed that while Maynads were under Bacchus's influence, aka Drunk, they had supernatural powers and strings, which is like sick, yeah bro. This was ancient Rome's version of witches and people were scared as hell of Maynads by 188 BC.

The men were starting to get a little jealous and they're like, hey, should we just like crush their party, you guys? Yeah. And then the Maynads were like, okay fine. But we're still bringing the deltoes now that the men were involved, all of a sudden, they were now socially acceptable.

And this is when these parties morphed into straight up drunken orgies. But just too, honestly, you must have smelled so bad. But just two years later, the Roman Senate, yeah, they had to set it, banned them. Because they were getting too out of hand. See, this is why we can't invite men to batch your lorette parties. They ruined everything. We were having fun till you arrived. Every religion usually has an opinion on wine. It's sacred and Judaism and Christianity.

I mean, according to the New Testament, Jesus' first public miracle was turning water to wine. Incredible party trick that guy had. My party trick is just telling everyone I'm going to the kitchen for soda and then I just leave. They never know. And because it was seen as religious, wine wasn't seen as a luxury only to be enjoyed by the elite. Oh, nay nay. It was considered a staple of life for people of all classes and all ages. Yeah. So wine is taking over the world, just writing religions, coattails, and moving from country to country, expanding its reach. And this brings us to Europe during the Middle Ages. From about the year 500 to 1500,

the best wine in Europe was made in vineyards that were run by monks and nuns exclusively for their churches. Some of these vineyards were in business for 700 years, making the same wines from the same grapes for the same church. That's kind of like longer than America has been around, so that's a long time. One of these church vineyards made a burgundy wine that was so tasty it was said to be described as, quote, so smooth that it slips down the throat like baby Jesus and satin diapers. Yeah, that's a direct quote. Guess who said that shit?

From the nun who ran the vineyards hundreds of years ago, she knew her baby Jesus taste. So why does moving and grooving and really spreads its roots into France. From the soil to the climate to different types of grapes, France was a natural home for wine. Since the year 1000, which is when France's first vineyard was in full operation, the French had the entire world

convinced that if you wanted good wine, you had to get it from France. French wines are king of the world until a scrappy, pain in the ass country showed up and decided to get into the wine game. That's right, baby. America, America. A lot of people like to say that the pilgrims over in America were sipping on some version of wine at the first Thanksgiving. That's because we actually have a first hand account from Edward Winslow, a colonist who was at the first Thanksgiving. Come on in Edward, we're so happy to have you first hand account

just kidding he's dead. He said there were, quote, grapes, white and red, very sweet and strong growing in the nearby woods. So if there was wine there, it was most likely naturally fermented. But we do know that wine was important to those early settlers. But this summer of 1630, the Massachusetts, uh oh. This is a word I cannot say, but I'm gonna try my best.

But this summer of 1630, the Massachusetts Bay Colony was making wine from local grapes. Fuck me, I'll bring you guys. And figuring out how to make wine was a top priority for community leaders like governors. Some say they wanted to make money off of it, but the more than likely reason, according to historians,

is that this wine would be used for religious purposes. Even though they were Puritans, they still got down with that Jesus' juice. But like a lot of things in those early years of America, there was a whole lot of trial and error by the settlers to make their own wine. I mean, woof, they were running into a few issues. First of all, New England winters can be hellish. Secondly, the quality of the wine was inconsistent at best, and that's mostly because they weren't bottling it yet. In most cultures, they would bottle their wine and drink it the same year, so they wouldn't need to worry about, you know, things going bad. But for a long time, wine was just stored in those big wooden barrels outside.

See, exhibit A. Joan brought her barrel. She loves her wine. So they'd open up the top of a barrel, you know, and just like those sketchy punch bowls at prom, yeah. They just like dunk the cup right in there with their nasty hands. Oh, ugh, ugh, they probably just like wipe their ass and then they're getting wine.

Oh, now as you can imagine, this wine wasn't always stored properly so it could get funky real quick. But they weren't gonna like toss out the whole keg of slightly sketchy wine, get me a break. But they had to do something about the taste. Let's put on our lab coats for a minute because we're gonna talk about science. Exposing wine to oxygen can help it taste better, but too much oxygen can spoil it. And you leave wine out long enough, it just turns into vinegar. This pilgrim wine was on the road to vinegar town,

and they had to do something about the flavor. So to make it taste better, they would add things to it like cheese. Yeah, you know, for taste. Before they figured out how to stop wine from rotting, they would just swirl in some cheese. Yeah, you know, for taste. Before they figured out how to stop wine from rotting, they would just whirl in some cheese. My first question was, well, what kind of cheese? Because I think that makes a difference.

Well, it turns out cheese from sheep's milk, especially good at hiding that yucky-ass taste. Now, this cheese, the sheep's milk cheese, is described as quote, creamy and gritty. Choices were definitely made, but they were working with what they got, you know? Other things were also used to mask the flavor and smell because it was kind of stinky. So in turn, they were using herbs, honey, and even salt water to save the wine. It's kind of like if you fab Fabrice yourself instead of taking a shower. You're so stinky, but the Fabrice just really

tells it down a bit, and that's what they were doing. They were just trying to mask the stinky rotten smell of this wine. But while all of this was happening on the East Coast, something really interesting was happening with wine on the West Coast. In 1697, Father Juan Lugarte did something that would change the wine world forever.

Father Juan, and a group of Jesuit priests, made their way up from Mexico into an area known as Baja California. Now, they were headed for something called a mission, which is like a church set up in an area where people don't really believe in Jesus and the whole mission of the mission is to save all of those souls.

For when Father won and his Mary missionaries arrived at the mission, one of their very first things they did was take a whole bunch of grape seeds and vines and jam them into the ground. Priorities, you know, they planted them because you can't practice Christianity without a little wine. I mean, come on, that's the blood of Christ. We need it. And over the next hundred years, more missions were built along the West Coast from San Diego to Los Angeles and all the way up to San Francisco. And as the word of God spread, wine was a long for the ride.

But about 150 years later, something popped off, which would take those sleepy mission vineyards and turn them into big money. And they've ever gotten stuck in a medical TikTok rabbit hole? Ugh, you're just looking for an answer for your symptoms, like pedics, constant sniffing, as she throat. But instead, you keep running into some questionable advice from people who shouldn't be giving the advice. Yeah, no.

It's like, am I dying? Or is it just allergies? I'm not sure. But maybe you're gonna need an actual doctor. There are better ways to get the answers you want and the care you deserve from trusted professionals, not just internet randoms. That's where Zock-Dock comes in. Zock-Dock is the only free app that lets you find and book doctors who are patient reviewed. They take your insurance. Plus are available when you need them and treat almost every condition under the sun. No more doctor roulette or scouring the internet for questionable reviews.

With Zoc Doc, you have a trusted guide to connect you to your favorite doctor you haven't even met yet. Millions of people have used Zoc Doc's free app to find and book a doctor in their neighborhood who is patient reviewed and fits their needs and schedule just right. Go to zockdock.com slash dark history and download the ZockDock app for free, baby. Then find and book a top rated doctor today.

I mean, many are available within 24 hours. Again, that's ZockDock. Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash dark history. ZockDock dot com slash dark history. In 1848, a carpenter, not Jesus, a different carpenter, was overseeing the building of a sawmill on a river in California when he noticed there was something shiny in the water. Ooh, caught his eye. His suspicions were confirmed. He had found gold, baby. I love gold! Shmook on a bongek! Well, word spread like a damn wildfire and there was gold all over California, just ripe for the

pick-in. Now this ignited what became known as the California gold rush of 1849. And people showed up in Southern California with axes in their hands and dollar signs in their eyes. I mean, they want some like gold. But some of them would end up making money in a way that had nothing to do with gold. You see what happened was, California became a state in 1850.

And the very first thing the state did, like right out the gate, California became a state in 1850, and the very first thing the state did, like right out the gate, they passed a law that went after Native Californians. It was called the Indian Endenture Act, and it allowed cops, politicians, and people in power to arrest Native Americans for being quote lazy or drunk in public. So after they got arrested, they'd be able to get out of this mess by paying a fine, right? But there was a catch.

Native Californian communities, like the Tongva tribe, who had been in Southern California for thousands of years before any of these literal gold diggers showed up, they were struggling with poverty. When people started rushing to California and taking their land, it just completely ruined their lives. They were left in a shitty position where they couldn't pay for most things, including

the fines when they got arrested on these bullshit charges. And even worse, native Californians couldn't complain or sue anyone based on how they were treated. Because there was literally a law that said they couldn't testify against white men in court. So in order to avoid jail time, native Californians had pretty much one option. Do a week of hard, manny-wool labor to pay off the fine. And what was the industry that so desperately needed labor at the time? Huh, well, wouldn't you know? The wine veneers.

Before 1850, wine was pretty much always imported from other countries. It did not come from the United States at all. It was expensive and pretty difficult to get. I mean, a lot of people don't know this, but before Napa became known as wine country, Los Angeles, California was actually the center of wine making in America. If you wanted your wine, chances are you'd get it from the city of Vines, aka Los Angeles. But back then, they didn't have machines to help them harvest grapes.

They literally had to hire people to hand pick and stop the grapes into wine juice. Which I hope we've all seen that I love Lucy's scene, you know, the wine stomping. It always seemed like so much fun, but imagine being forced to do that all day long, I mean pretty much non-stop in the horrible heat. After a week of hard labor, they were free to go, but usually the veneer owners could send them off with like a nice little thank you present, which was like wine. I don't know. Money would be nice. Anyway, the wine that they were being gifted, it was strong. The alcohol content was so high. It was actually stronger than a full glass of vodka today. We want to talk

about party. That's a party. Now, you might be thinking, wow, that's so nice of them. Until you realize it was trap. Tra-the owners, they only did this in the hopes that the native Californians would get drunk off of that wine they gave them and then get caught being drunk in public and then they'd get sent back to the veneer to do more free work. Those bitches.

He was indentured servitude, which is just another way to say slavery. And this went on for 13 long years. Now that they could get free labor through slavery, wealthy men bought up land and great vines all over California to build their own vineyards. You see the government at the time was giving land to owners all sorts of incentives to make wine like tax breaks, you know. And pretty soon word on the street was if you could get a vineyard going, you could be rich, dirty rich. So rich, you wouldn't know what to do. It was the American dream. And everyone wanted a piece of it. In the year 1855, there were only around 32,000 great vines in California total.

And by 1859, there were over six million. When California started pumping out those bottles, New York started getting their wine from California instead of Europe. I mean, hey, it was cheaper and shipping costs alone to get Californian wine instead of French baby Jesus wine. And from that moment on, Californian wine was every Americans go to affordable, table wine. So California's wine game starts popping off. Not just because of the climate or the missionaries or like the gold rush,

it's because for decades, wine makers enslaved Native American communities and grew their business using free labor. Something else that was helping wine really pop off. In the 1800s and early 1900s, a ton of people immigrated to America. Over 11 million people between 1850 and 1910 alone, and many of these people came from countries with a strong wine culture. So with that being said, the demand for wine went up. And California's wine production went wild. By 1910, 90% of the wine consumed in America

came from these California vineyards. And everything seems great and happy and wow, wow, so amazing. Oh my god. But then a little thing called the prohibition happens. Yay! I won't get into like the nitty-gritty of it all, but it was a rough 13 year period when booze was illegal in America. But many people saw this coming, I guess. Because leading up to the law going into effect, people stalked up on wine. You know, like you guys did with the toilet paper during COVID, you guys did that and I bought myself a bidet off of Amazon.

Ha, ha, ha, ha. Anyway, Congress passed the prohibition law in 1919. After prohibition went to effect, no one could legally produce, distribute, or sell alcohol. But, you know, there were a couple interesting loopholes that allowed wine to continue to thrive. First of all, during prohibition,

there was a backdoor way to make wine at home. And it wasn't just like a few bottles of the stuff, you know? People could make 200 gallons or about 1,000 bottles of homemade wine legally. Well, not all the people could do it. There was an exception in the law that allowed vineyards to sell wine grapes to the male heads of households. So as long as they use it to preserve fruit through fermentation. California vineyard started shipping these things called wine bricks to people all over the country. Now these were like tight packages of

concentrated grape juice which could then be turned into wine. You know kind of like a chia pet. You just add water. Like we learned in our season one episode about prohibition, these wine bricks had some handy instructions printed on them. Basically, it told consumers how to make sure that this brick they received in the mail does not turn into wine, wink, wink. Well, people would accidentally follow these instructions

that they were told not to follow. And because of this, millions of people learned how to make wine. And, DIYN kept America buzzed for years and led to massive growth in California's vineyards. Now that people were making wine at home, demand for grapes, they went through the roof. I mean, this was the only way you're going to get wine during the prohibition. So, any grapes?

In 1919, the price of a ton of wine grapes was $9.50. Two years into prohibition, it then cost $82 per ton. If my math is math and write, that's a huge increase. And the second prohibition wine, loop loophole brings us back to the church. There was an exception in the law that allowed wine to be used for religious purposes. You know, Sacramento wine. So good number of wineries were allowed to stay open, saying that they were only making Sacramento wine for the Catholic services. You know, nothing to see here. By 1924, about four years of people buying a lot more grapes than usual, the federal government finally got a little...

so special, like what the fuck is really going on? Why do you guys like grapes so much? Apparently, Sacramento wine production grew to nearly one million gallons in only two years. So, they decided to crack down on all that at home wine making and you know that had a suck. It's the middle of prohibition, you finally figured out a way to get you know a good buzz. And then the feds come knocking at your door. You open the door with some wine teeth. We're just in the middle of the Bible study, Oscar. We're just studying, but Jesus is wine rubs.

During prohibition, roughly half a million people were arrested on charges of drinking. And of those people, two of every three would end up convicted. The fine for being caught drinking at this time was $5,000, which in today's money is like $75,000. That fine alone could literally ruin your life. Finally, after 13 long-ass years, pro-abition comes to an end in 1933.

A lot of things go back to normal, but there were some lasting consequences. If you're like me, you've probably found yourself in home goods on a Tuesday night, wondering why the hell there's a whole aisle devoted to little wooden signs that say things like, it's wine o'clock! Or, it's mom's turn to wine! Well, what's interesting is that wine mom culture didn't originate at home goods.

And it wasn't invented by someone named Ray Dunn. Oh, nah. Ray Dunn is that annoying font that they use for like, wine a clock, live laugh love. Oh, so ugly, it hurts my eyes and I start to cry. And I'm like, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo to be seen drunk or even drinking. It kind of went against the whole concept of what was feminine at the time. People thought women should be sweet, innocent caretakers, and if they were moms, they should never be off the clock. Oh, so just like we saw in those Roman balkanelias, women drinking wine was something in the 1950s and 60s

that had to be done with discretion. AKA, inside the house with the windows closed and like, shut in and you're alone. Like, you can't see anything, but you may or not get caught, you know. I meant that there were a lot of American housewives who were lonely, isolated, maybe just bored, and turned to wine for self-medication. So, when one of America's biggest trendsetters at the time got into wine, it was just an excuse for these wine mommies to lean in even a little bit harder. In the 1960s, Jackie Kennedy hosted a TV tour of the White House.

Oh yeah, where she showed off her table setting, which included crystal wine glasses. And everyone wanted to be Jackie O. I mean, she was literally that bitch of her time. Kind of like America's Queen Victoria. Everyone wanted to do what she was doing. So this essentially launched a huge surge in wine glass sales and wine sales. That year, there were 163 million gallons of wine sold in the United States. That's a lot of booze.

Pretty soon Hollywood stars start advertising wine and the culture around drinking loosens up a bit, you know? I mean like, hey, if the first lady's doing it, why not me? I can do it too. I'm like, Jackie O. Hmm. In the 1970s, America started to get very serious about wine. As in, there were literal wine competitions. Now, a lot of these competitions happened in France because the wine culture there had had and always will be very strong. And the French thought that they did wine like no one else. You know, they kind of snubbed their nose like California.

They thought California wine's a joke. Don't kid me. But then something wild happens. Do you know how much your subscriptions really cost? Like I was sitting on the toilet this morning I was thinking, I was like, how many streaming services do I have? Why do I have so many?

Like, what am I paying for? And I was spiraling. And I guess like most Americans think they spend about $8 a month on subscriptions. But the actual total is closer to $200. I know. I was like, there's no way I was spending more than $100 on my subscriptions. I mean, everything costs like $10 when I signed up, but rising prices means the cost

of my subscriptions have almost doubled. If you don't know exactly how much you're spending each month, you need rocket money. Rocket money is a personal finance app that finds and cancels your unwanted subscriptions. They also monitor your spending and they help you lower your bills all in one place. Over 80% of people have a subscription that they've completely forgotten about, you know? So chances aren't you're probably one of them. Welcome to the club. Get in here. Rocket money will quickly find all of your subscriptions, so you don't even have to go like digging

through your bank statements, trying to find those charges, you know, and if you find any you don't want to pay for anymore, all you have to do is hit cancel. Hi, I love that, and guess what? Rocket money will do all the hard work for you. Rocket money also helps you manage all of your finances in one place and automatically they categorize your expenses. Yeah, I'm like, well, I'm old. Okay. With this, you can easily track your budget in real time and also get alerted if anything is looking a little suspicious.

You know what I'm saying? Inflation is robbery and we can all use a little extra cash in our pockets right now, huh? So forizing prices or stressing you out, try out rocket money. Over 3 million people have used rocket money saving the average person up to $720 a year. That's a lot. Stop throwing your money away.

Council unwanted subscriptions and manage your expenses the easy way by going to rocketmoney.com slash dark history. That's rocketmoney.com slash dark history. Rocketmoney.com slash dark history. The date is May 24th, the year 1976. The place, Paris, France. For years, there had been heated arguments about who created the best quality wine. Was it the French who had been doing it for hundreds of years?

Or was it the Americans who are new to the game but have some solid techniques? Now this was a fierce debate, so a blind taste test was organized, and people were eager to hear the results. So the glasses are corded without any of the judges seen, and the taste testing begins. Well, when all is said and done, not only does the USA win the white wine category, but they also beat the French and the coveted red wine category. Now, people's heads were exploding. One French judge demanded her ballot back. The other French judges were equally as but hurt and said,

quote, If there's one thing French wines do better than any wine in the world, it's that they age well. They were certain that California wines wouldn't hold up. And if they did this taste test again in like 30 years, the French would definitely win. Talk about a bunch of sour grapes. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm here all day. Thank you. So guess what? 30 years goes by. Yeah, they took this very seriously. They ended up doing another blind taste test, again 30 years later, and guess who came out on top? Ooh, once again, USA spaked France right in the booty. No spanking, I just want to spank. This whole thing became known as the Judgment of Paris, and it really gave American wine some street cred on the world stage. Before this, American wine was considered gutter juice, but now its dominance was undeniable.

And the homes of that world's class wine became Napa Valley in Northern California. People from far and wide come to take in the gorgeous sites, walk through the vineyards and taste the finest wine America has to offer, but there was still one big problem. Wine culture is a bit hard to swallow. Yeah, the dad jokes.

Like I had mentioned earlier, anytime I drink wine, I get a headache, I feel really sick, I get cold sweats. It's just not a good time. And I guess this isn't like a normal response. So I got to researching and what I found was honestly... shh. I was like, oh this is why I'm getting sick because it's bullshit. Wine today has all sorts of gnarly stuff in it. In the US, wine, just like fragrance, is kind of like the Wild West. Because when it comes to the mystery chemicals that get thrown in during the process, there's a lot we don't know about it.

Currently, the US allows over 72 different chemicals to be added into wine. 72 different chemicals, huh? Yeah, now these are things like preservatives. Things to stop the fermentation process and also stop any molds from getting in. Which, sure, yeah, we want stop the fermentation process, and also stop any molds from getting in. Which sure, yeah, we want that, but like, you know, it's things that you would also never

expect. Like sawdust. Did you hear me? Yeah, sawdust is in your wine. Things that are known to cause cancer. And then fish bladders, and something called chudasin, which is crushed up seafood shells from like crabs and lobster. So it was at this point where I was like, wait a minute, nutritional labels?

How come those aren't on wine? You know, it's a beverage. I was, because I was looking on the back. And there isn't one. I don't get that. If soda and sports drinks have to list what's in them. Shouldn't wine? Well, there's yet another loophole that allows wine to keep its weird ass ingredient list. Hush, hush. When you see a nutritional label, that means that the product itself is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration or the FDA,

but wine, she's regulated by something called the alcohol and tobacco tax and trade bureau. And right on their website, they say, quote, T-T-B, regulations do not require nutrient content labeling for alcohol beverages. End quote. And since no one is really checking wine, some crazy things have been reported.

Now most big wine companies in the United States don't hand pick their grapes anymore, and there's this rumor online. Well, more of like a theory called the claw theory? The claw! You know, some companies were said to use giant mechanical claws to harvest their grapes, and in the process if like a little rat or a few pigeons or maybe like an animal got stuck in there. Oh well, they'd be crushed up into the wine too. Yeah, think about that for a second. With that marinade. Mm. Yeah, that's powerful. I mean, it's like 2023. Why can't we get shit together? It's not, it's not that hard. Why did they, they just want to kill us all the time. It's so annoying. I mean, there's really no way to make sure there aren't other things in your wine,

like, urchit, turtle bones, a hand, I don't know. And honestly, we never know the difference. Take me back to that non-wine. Am I right? Simpleer times. Then, in the 1970s, a guy comes along who is determined to stick it to the elitist wine culture and prove that wine is for the people, not just for the 1%.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Fred Franzia, and also know, I know it's kind of confusing, but it's not the box wine company. Now this is another guy. Yeah, I don't know. Growing up, Fred's whole life was centered around wine. His Italian grandparents started their own winery in California in the 1910s, and his parents took over the business in the late 40s. And while some kids were delivering newspapers, or I don't know, working at McDonald's, serving up fries, Fred was working right alongside his family

at the winery. After college, he even started working in their sales department. And the winery did so well. Coca-Cola came in and bought them for $49 million. Damn. Now Fred was like, look, baby, I'm ready to go out on my own. So he started his own winery in 1973 called Bronco Wine Company in series, California. Now when I first heard Bronco white wine, I was like, oh my god it's giving very OJ on the run isn't it? Snaps. Right from the get-go he's like I'm

gonna do things differently because he had the secret weapon that all successful businesses have. Fred understood that value is something created in the mind of the consumers. Huh? Basically, if you tell consumers a product is good quality, they'll believe you. I guess that's true. Oh, I'm such a sucker for that shit. The like, this bullshit is great for your face because it is.

And I'll be like, give me some of that bullshit. I put it all over my face and bullshit does nothing for me, but if you tell me it's good for some reason, I'm like, yeah, that's good. What is that? We're so fucked up. Help me.

It didn't matter if they used random ass grapes from a random ass part of the country. If you can make people believe the wine in their glass was high quality, then it was high quality. Period. Fred's company was known for selling tons of bottles of white Zinfandel from Napa Valley. Now, the problem was, Fred was starting to blur the lines a little bit. Fred's company was known for selling tons of bottles of white Zinfandel from Napa Valley. Now the problem was, Fred was starting to blur the lines a little bit because he wasn't really selling white Zinfandel, which was an expensive wine to make that housewives at

the time just loved. What Fred was selling was a like a barrel of random white wine. And the only reason he got away with calling it white Zinfandel is because of a hack he had his employees do. You know, my fact, something called, quote, blessing the load. Inquip, yeah. His employees would grab a couple of leaves from actual Zinfandel grapes and then like,

sprinkle them all over the barrels of the random white line. And he's like, ta-da! It's a zin-fendel. It's got the leaves in there. You can't tell me it's not, but to you and I, I think we can both say it wasn't. It was just like random white wine with floating zin-fendel leaves.

And honestly, you gotta give him props. It's kind of genius. No one questioned him. You know, it's also like sprinkling glitter on a piece of poop. Or like that time I went on ebay.com, that website, you know? And I bought, now I thought I was buying a fancy Chanel bag. But when I opened up the box,

the bag itself said, channel. I was like, oh, my channel bag has come. Now Fred ended up doing this with many different types of wine for years before he got caught in the early 1990s. I guess he was brought into court and was forced to pay a fine of $2.5 million. I mean, yes, this wasn't D. Chetty, but his reasoning was actually pretty interesting to me.

It wasn't just about greed, allegedly. Fred had this core belief that wine should be for everyone, which means it should be affordable. He had this famous quote that no bottle of wine should cost more than $10. Love to hear that. Fred's belief that wine should be affordable really paid off with customers. Bronco wines continue to be very successful. It's actually still one of the most successful wine companies in America, and his most famous product is something that many people still drink today.

I'm talking about two buck chup. If you're a small business, you probably know hiring is no easy task. And it takes 11 weeks on average to hire for an open position. I mean, my gosh, that's almost two and a half months. And if you're a small business owner, you've already got a lot going on.

I mean, you really have time to wait. Well, if you're listening today and you're like, yes, Bailey, you are preaching to the choir. Stop waiting and start using zipper cruder. Zipper cruder can help you find qualified candidates for all the roles you have fast. And right now, you can try it for free at zippercruder.com slash dark history.

Zippercruder, they use powerful matching technology to quickly find and send you the most qualified and experienced people for your roles. Which is a whole lot easier than sifting through endless resumes by yourself. You can check out the people that Zipper Cruder sends you, and if someone really catches your eye, you can send them a personal invitation to apply with just one click. And here's how quickly Zipper Cruder can help you hire.

Four out of five employees that post on Zipper Cruder, get a quality candidate within the first day. Wow. I know. I know. So speed up your hiring process with Zipper Cruder. I mean see why 3.8 million businesses have come to Zipper Cruder for their hiring needs. Again just go to this exclusive web address to try Zipper Cruder for free at zippercruder.com slash dark history. That's zippercruder.com slash dark history. D-A-R-K-H-I-S-T-O-R-Y. Zipper Cruder, the smartest way to hire. In 1974, a man named Charles Shaw was taking a totally different approach to wine than Fred.

He made award-winning wine that people were living for. It was a French-inspired wine and people thought it was incredible and it was American. Ugh, so annoying. Charles' famous wine cost $13.50 in the 80s, which is around $40 today. Though he had years of being known as a great wine maker, Charles had a really bad couple of years. People in America stopped buying his wine, his wife filed for divorce, and then he had to declare bankruptcy.

So who swoops in to save the day? You guessed it. Fred Francia. So Fred, he comes in and he takes over Charles Shaw Wines and takes it from like Boogie name brand to super affordable real quick. He starts using grapes from lesser known areas of California like he did with the that Zinfandel situation and he ends up cutting costs big time. And then in 2002, Charles Shaw hit the shelves of a little grocery store chain named Trader Joe's. The bottle says it's a private label, whatever. That means, you know, cool.

It's got the legit Charles Shaw stamp on it and the best of all, it's 199, so people win nuts. But the press, they ended up dragging Fred for it, saying that he was ruining the reputation of Charles Shaw wine, but not really, because like he went bankrupt with, he ruined his own name. Sorry, ooh hot take. And not just Charles Shaw, but many people in the wine industry believe that Fred's bargain wine was making the whole industry look bad. But Fred never cared. He was getting his money, he was getting his checks, he was like whatever. For many years Charles Shaw wine was the

Costco hot dog of the wine world and it stayed $1.99. It was only recently that the prices went up but it's still under $5. So, I mean, that's a good deal. I can't say if it's good or bad wine. So let me know in the comments section. By 2009, Kubuk Chuk had sold 400 million bottles. When this happened, Fred issued a statement to the press where he said, quote, take that and shove it, Napa.

Yeah, party. So friends, where do we go from here? Wine culture today feels like so many things, very overwhelming. You have the Rose all day and it's wine o'clock somewhere. It's like people have built their entire identities around finding wine, buying wine and drinking wine. And you know, I'm not judging.

I'm just kind of annoying. We have literally no idea what's inside of a lot of those wine bottles. And you've got the whole natural wine movement now. They're organic and natural, whatever that means, you know. But I just want to know what's in it. I mean, point blank period period and I guess I guess that's too much to ask. My god I'm sorry. Well as I was wrapping up my research on this topic you know the department I mentioned earlier that oversees wine. Well turns out that they're making a move towards requiring labels. Come on you guys get this shit together and require labels. It's going into our bodies,

get it together, get it to fucking gather. I'll print the bottles. I got a printer. I'll do it. Some wine experts think we're going to get nutrition labels for wine by the end of this year, and then ingredientless might be coming sometime in 2024, they say, I'm not holding my breath. But until then, really rolling the dice with the fish bladders and sawdust. So cheers to that buttercup. Well, everyone, thank you for learning with me today. Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions to get the whole story because you deserve that. I'd love to hear your reactions to today's episode.

So make sure to use the hashtag dark history over on social media so I can follow along and join me over on my YouTube where you can actually watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs. And while you're there, you can also, I don't know, hang out and maybe catch my murder mystery and makeup. Well, I hope you have a great rest of your day, you make it choices, and I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye! Dark History is an audio boom original. This podcast is executive produced by Bayley Sarian High, Junia McNeely from Three Arts, Kevin Grush, and Matt Nlo from Maiden Network. A big thank you to our writers, Joey Scavuzzo, Katie Burris, Allison Floboz, and me, Bailey Surion. Writers assistant, Casey Colton.

Production lead, Brian Jaggers. Research provided by the dark history researcher team. A special thank you to our expert, Alice Faring. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. That's me. Hi. Okay, bye.