The year was 1888. The San Francisco Examiner published what many consider to be baseball’s greatest poem. At the same time, Bacchus was stalking Bay Area wine country (including Napa and Sonoma), with annual production increasing rapidly from 28,000 gallons to over eight million! First, the baseball poem.

“Casey at the Bat” – Using the Stockton ballpark as his model, Examiner columnist Ernest Thayer penned 52 lines about the fictitious Mudville team and its heroic slugger ... who was the last man to bat in the game. His hit will win it ... here’s the final pitch.

“And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and little children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville. Mighty Casey has struck out.” ##M:[more]##

Now, Back to Bacchus in 1888

Leland Stanford’s two million gallon winery featured a newfangled gadget in its dim winemaking cellar ... a string of electric light bulbs!
• Upstart California wines were winning medals at international competitions in London and Paris.
•Lillie Hitchcock’s parents were growing wine grapes in the Napa Valley. She would marry Howard Coit of San Francisco, where her devotion to the San Francisco Fire Department led to the construction of the celebrated Coit Tower.
•Last, here are some of the wineries of l888 whose wines we all can enjoy over a century later: Beringer, Chateau Montelena, Concannon, Lillie Langtry (Guenoc), Gundlach-Bundschu, Charles Krug, Simi and Wente. (Credits: Wine history books by Charles Sullivan, Thomas Pinney and Paul Lukacs. Also, research assistant Judith Lorentz.)

How Time Flies When You’re Having Fun ... Take a Wine Class

Our S.F. City College classes at Fort Mason in November will fill early, so enroll soon by phoning (415) 561-1860. Here are the fun topics:

•Nov. 5 – A Careful Comparison of Napa and Sonoma Wines
•Nov. 19 – What Wines Are Suitable for Thanksgiving? (and why)

Both classes held Saturday at 1 p.m. Taste 20 wines.

From Australia ... a Bunch of Bargains

For the first time this year, in one tasting we found six good wines under $10. They are not the equal of a $30 Carneros chardonnay or a $50 Napa cabernet sauvignon, but they are just right to grab on your way home from work to add charm to supper. The bottle with the most bang for the buck is listed last. The importer’s name is in parentheses.

•Semillion, Bin 777, Wyndham, 2002, $9 (Pernod Ricard)
• Semillion-Chardonnay, Jacobs Creek, 2004, $8 (Pernod Ricard U.S.A.)
• Merlot, Reynolds, 2002, $8 (Trinchero)
• Shiraz (Syrah), Reynolds, Orange district, 2002, $8 (Trinchero)
• Cabernet-Merlot, Black Opal, 2002, $8 (Beringer Blass)
• Sauvignon Blanc, Jundalee, 2004, $7 (Wildman)

Jack Sprat

Jack Sprat could drink no red,
His wife could drink no white.
So between the two of them,
Buying wine caused quite a fight.

Nag, nag – it was some husband-wife wine fight. Charlemagne liked red wine, but his wife kept telling him he looked tacky because red wine stained his white beard. She insisted he should drink white. So, rather than continue to fight, he finally did switch to white.

However there are many couples who have no such conflict. They own the winery and are proud of both their white and red. Examples:

Shirley and Lee Sobon: Try their Shenandoah Vineyards red Primitivo.

Judith Gannon and Bill Frick: Try their white Frick Viognier.

Kristine and Chris Williams: Try their white Wattle Creek Sauvignon Blanc.

Karen and Orville Magoon: They built the Guenoc Winery’s fine reputation; their red Petite Sirah has long been one of our favorites, though it too wouldn’t have done much for Charlemagne’s beard.

The Joy of Booking

“The term ‘organic wine’ has no real meaning.”

Fermentation – “Yeast, like humans, eat their food and exhale carbon dioxide.”

“Polyphenols [in grape skins] are powerful antioxidants, which act as preservatives both for the wine itself and for those who consume the wine.”

These quotes are from a marvelous book, Understanding Wine Technology, a book for the non-scientist that explains the science of winemaking, 2nd edition, by David Bird, chartered chemist and master of wine. It is published by San Francisco’s own Wine Appreciation Guild. Phone (650) 866-3020.

Even the renowned author Hugh Johnson says Bird is among the best. Whadda gift.

A Final Gourmet Grin

In James Beard’s Greenwich Village townhouse, my wife took cooking lessons for eight years, learning classic American dishes such as Lobster American Style. Then, she wanted to learn French dishes on location, so we headed for Paris where she qualified for classes at the legendary L’Ecole de Cordon Bleu. Yet, when I picked her up after the first lesson, she was rather glum. It seems the chef had taught them how to prepare Lobster American Style!

Fred McMillin was voted one of the U.S.A.’s 22 best wine writers by the Academy of Wine Communications. If questions, phone him at (415) 563-5712.