In October 1972, New York magazine published a special issue on wine called the “Whole Grape Catalogue.” Noting that “the past few months have seen enormous growth in the New York wine market,” the special section covered 34 pages.
This issue recorded a unique period in wine history. Bordeaux was ebullient over the 1970 and 1971 vintages. A California wine renaissance had started. German wines held firm in the market for quality. People still drank “Sack.” And New York had just become a powerhouse of international wine commerce, reflecting 1960s US prosperity. Most importantly, perhaps, this was just before the 1973 Oil Crisis. A peak before the precipitous fall. The special issue offers a time capsule of wine. Some things in the wine world have changed; others not so much.
The New York Wine Establishment in 1972
The lead article by a young feminist called Ann Geracimos — who as of last year remained an active journalist — started with the line, “Wine goes where the money flows.”
As the European Common Market had yet to solidify, at least for wine commerce, the money had flowed to New York from London by 1972. The members of the city’s Wine Establishment — the “prime movers” — still ring some bells: Frank Schoonmaker (“unofficial dean of the Establishment”), Alexis Lichine, Peter Sichel (linked to writer Alexis Bespaloff), Robert Haas (then an independent importer, who would later found Tablas Creek), the opinionated critic Gerald Asher, the indefatigable businessman Sam Aaron (of Sherry-Lehmann), and
