Introductory Post

Well, I figure I should give some sort of introduction before I start blogging for the class. Last quarter I took Wine Making for Chemistry credit. Yes, you can do that at our school. We went on a field trip to Concannon Vineyard toward the end of the quarter. While Jim Ryan, the estate manager, was giving us a tour and telling us a brief history of the vineyard and the winery. He stated that during Prohibition, Concannon was one of the few vineyards to stay open. The reason they were able to stay open was because they "produced church wines." This along with my interest in the women's temperance movement of the late 1800s and early 1900s lead me to want to research the vineyard further. In addition to having wonderful wines, which I would suggest to anyone, this estate vineyard has a rich history, and is one of California's oldest wineries/vineyards.

So at this point I am just waiting to hear back from Jim Ryan to see who can assist me by participating in interviews and giving me a general background so I have some sort of jumping ground for this class. I will include, somewhere along the way, a short background on the temperance movement and Prohibition, as well as various little pieces of necessary information for those of you who aren't necessarily history buffs, which should help to ease you into an understanding of the eras this vineyard has lived through. If anyone wants to check out the Concannon website, you must be 21 years old, but the website is linked below.

http://www.concannonvineyard.com/