Is there a Sommalier (sp) in the house? Need an answer fast.?

Question

I am trying to find out what kind of wine that has such concentrated fruit that during prohibition, it was shipped from California to Chicago, where they "cut it" about five times and it was still good juice. All I know is that it is still around today, named for the varietal, and classified as a "diverse red". Fastest person to get back to my boss with the answer gets a bottle of Dom! The only hints he gave were "chewy".

thanks in advance.....no stupid answers, please.

I think I've narrowed it down some: Charbono, Sangiovese, Barbera, Bourriquot, Cabernet Franc or Pinotage?

Answer 1

I think the grape is 'Alicante Bouschet' -- this grape was one of those shipped to the eastern USA to home winemakers during prohibition and used by home winemakers (so was Zinfandel) but the the difference with Alicante is that it is one of those very rare red grape varieties that has red juice, and it makes an intensely concentrated dark red wine.

I was at dinner with other wine geeks where we kept adding water to a glass with a little Alicante in it to see how much it would take to thin the color. With 4 times as water it was still as dark as a normal red wine.

Robert Mondavi's father started in the wine business by shipping grapes from California to the east during Prohibition and one of those varieties was Alicante Bouschet -- as documented in Robert Mondavi's autobiography "Harvests of Joy"

All the other varieties you mentioned are red grapes with clear juice, and Pinotage cannot be correct as it wasn't planted until the end of Prohibition.

Later edit: it is definitely Alicante -- there's lots of references on the web to it being 'cut' by bootleggers during prohibition because of its deep color -- this one from a newspaper review of Topols winery says "This workhorse grape also has a natural resistance to mildew and bears lots and lots of fruit. Prohibition-era winemakers could dilute the juice, add extra sugar and get nearly double the amount of wine for their buck." see http://www.metroactive.com/bohemian/02.01.06/swirl-0605.html

Answer 2

The grape was, indeed, Zinfandel, but the wine was called 'Dago Red' and is still produced today from Zinfandel in California or from Primitivo grapes in Italy. 'Dago' was a wine from Italy, but during prohibition, the name was adopted by illicit, underground winemakers who were shipping wines or grapes out of California to the major cities where it would be distributed. The thick skin and hardy nature of the grape, combined with the common practice of harvesting late, allowed a very heavy, strong wine to be made which could then be watered down by almost 50%, yet retain a good colour, body and an alcohol level of around 7-8% by volume.

Hope this helps. Sorry I didn't find this question earlier.

Answer 3

Cabernet Sauvignon.

Answer 4

Carignane was even called "Jammy" Used with Zinfandel today to make an uncommonly good wine. in the 20's it was considered a table wine.