THE TIMELY SPIRIT

[Music] the growing and harvesting of the grape was one of the first pursuits of civilized man across the great vineyards of the old world a spirit of particular taste and meaning came to be known by such unusual names as odo V and Vaughn fine today we call it brandy truly the soul of the grape the carefully preserved traditions of brandy making are to be seen throughout the famous grape growing regions of Europe but the heritage of brandy has also been transposed to the rich in fertile valleys of the new world [Music] the discovery of California revealed the land of continuous sunshine and rich soil essential to the production of fine quality Brandis the Spanish Padres found they could grow and harvest grapes and from them they made wines and brandies for sacramental use and for sale as a source of revenue by 1774 the supply ship Santiago sailed from Monterrey with four barrels of California brandy bound to Spain soon after Colonel Augustine harassed thee a Hungarian nobleman transplanted to the California soil over 100,000 vines from Europe by 1840 there was only one essential element to the production of brandy which was still missing people James Marshall indirectly resolved this shortage when he discovered gold on the American River in 1848 immigrants swarmed to California on ships abandoned by their crews in San Francisco Harbor thousands walked or rode the 1800 mile Overland Trail from the Midwest however the great 49er Gold Rush subsided as quickly as it had begun and thousands of luckless miners returned in agriculture [Music] Charles Kohler a German immigrant brought to California a much-needed business spirit he was able to create domestic and international markets for the new California brands brandy making had its share of Mavericks General Harry niggly made fine brandy but he claimed his brandy could cure everything typhoid and assorted fevers to fits of depression then there was a notorious EJ Lucky Baldwin a devotee of smooth brandy fast horses and even faster women shot twice by lady friends lucky narrowly escaped a third attack when he tried to sell his brandy to the Mormon leader Brigham Young by the turn of the century however these early Californians had created a respected spirit it was an era that will long be remembered for the development of buying grapes and brandi's today in California's San Joaquin Valley second and third generation families are busy preserving the best of the brandy making traditions brandy grapes require consistent Sun and moisture during their growth cycle growers have learned to tap underground rivers and supplemented by careful land management are capable of providing their vineyards with the proper amounts of water during the long hot summers it is this natural balance of heat and moisture which is so important to the growth of ripe sound grapes since the time of a g'sten harathi California has nurtured over a hundred and twenty-five varieties of grapes used for making brandy the Thompson seedless along with a toque a variety of the nucleus in the production of brandy while others are used to contribute specific qualities before harvesting can begin the sugar content of the grape must reach the proper level the growers combine scientific methods with their instinctive abilities to determine the precise moment for picking [Music] [Applause] during the harvest it appears that all roads in the valley lead to the brandy distilleries California Brandy's are prepared from fresh young wines and it is important that the grapes enter the age-old process soon after they are picked each load is weighed for volume and identified according to grape variety a core sample is taken from each gondola to verify the grapes sugar content having passed the first of several character tests the grapes are deposited into large steel crushers the modern version of the ancient hand presses it is here that the grapes are converted into a freerunning River of juice yeast will be added to initiate the fermentation process which will transform the grape juices into young wines by passing steam through the young wine enlarge distilling tanks the liquids alcoholic content the heart is separated from the less desirable elements called heads and tails to capture the soul of the grape brandy making is a science as much as it is an art throughout the various production stages chemists biologists and laboratory technicians will carefully control the personality of the brandy after the young wines have been distilled into fresh brandy they are aged and charged oak barrels oak staves tule flagging and steel hoops are the raw materials which comprise the Cooper's timeless craft the ritual of barrel making is perhaps too important and too sacred ever to replace the slow passage of time and these oaken barrels is essential to the splendid character and softened tones of California brandy it is in these barrels that the oak impart certain mellowing characteristics as well as golden color to the brandy from the moment the barrels are sealed California Brandy's begin their sabbatical in oak law requires they aged in wood at least two years but most California Brandy's aged four years and some much longer brandy matures only while in these oaken barrels such labels as 50 year old Napoleon thus become misleading and meaningless for any brandy kept in a barrel for fifty years would have evaporated long ago and then he kept in a bottle that long but tastes the same as it did when it first left the wood unlike wine brandy ages only in the barrel thus patience is more than just a virtue in making fine brandy it's a necessity the consumer art of brandy making comes into fullest play after the aging process has been completed samples are taking of the mature brandy as it is poured and directed to processing tanks testing and analysis is important in determining the character of the brandy for the most exacting scrutiny of all the taster each taster is expert in the art of detecting and identifying the most delicate nuances of the brandy his discriminating palate becomes the final arbiter as he tastes and classifies the various samplings in many cases a formula or recipe will be created for blending the proper amounts of different Brandy's [Music] in each distillery the brandy master controls the final blending process to ensure the quality and individual character of his product bottling signifies a moment when the brandy makers art is culminated and when the consumer becomes the final judge of a drink whose heritage and carefully nurtured life began with the fertile earth beneath a warming Sun and in a special region of the world California California brandy the drink of infinite mixability is always full of surprises and unlike other liquors brandy stemming from the grape has a special affinity for fruit based drinks straight or mixed the choice is yours for the timely spirit the Brandy's of California walked in and diggin the weather watchin the Sun Ruby just bein together with the hood [Music] it's a smile for me it's gotta be real [Music] [Music] [Music] what cannon diggin the weather watchin the Sun just bein together [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] thank you got a theory [Music]