Occasio Winery One of the original buildings of the Cresta Blanca winery that is today owned by Wente Vineyards. Thus began my quest to recreate a Livermore vermouth, perhaps not as famous, but definitely better. ", The winery is registered as California Historical Landmark #586.[1]. cresta-blanca-vermouth. By the mid-fifties when Fleming was writing, Cresta Blanca had moved vermouth production to its distilling plant near Fresno. [1], Named for a white limestone cliff that dominates the Livermore Valley landscape, the winery was thriving prior to Prohibition, at which time it had to be shut down. In the James Bond novel Diamonds Are Forever Felix Leiter orders martinis for himself and Bond made with Cresta Blanca Vermouth. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Cresta Blanca Winery was one of the original Livermore Valley wineries. 925-371-1987. Subscribe to Blog via Email. It was excellent, but he didn’t recognize the Vermouth. [2] Its first vintage, a dry white wine in 1884 won Grand Prize at the 1889 Paris Exposition, becoming the first California wine to win a competition in France. There was a medium dry Martini with a piece of lemon peel waiting for him. It was sold in 1941 to Schenley Distillers, who closed the business in 1965. The winning recipe – 3 parts London Dry Gin, 1 part Cresta Blanca Triple-Dry White Vermouth, stirred, with a twist of lemon. Cresta Blanca Vermouth. Learn how your comment data is processed. It was founded by Charles Wetmore in 1882 with cuttings of Sauvignon blanc from Chateau d'Yquem and other top Bordeaux properties. Cresta Blanca, for their part, used the award in advertising copy that appeared in the New Yorker. After a nationwide search and winnowing of the field, the winner was crowned at Rickey’s Townhouse in San Francisco on September 29, 1953. It was probably through this publicity that Cresta Blanca vermouth caught Ian Fleming’s attention during one of his frequent trips to New York. “Best Vermouth I ever tasted.” Cresta Blanca was one of California’s most historic wineries, having been founded in 1882. As for a release date? Location of Cresta Blanca Winery in California, "Charles A. Wetmore and the Cresta blanca Winery", "Cresta Blanca," the most historic vineyard in California", "Photograph and transcription of historical marker", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cresta_Blanca_Winery&oldid=916251930, Food and drink companies established in 1882, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 17 September 2019, at 22:07. In the US version, Leiter’s comment imply reads, “Domestic stuff.”. Any other products get edited out that you’ve seen? Livermore, CA And, most important – we would craft a wine that appeals to our modern tastes for authenticity and provenance, a wine for those who appreciate craft cocktails, slow foods, single-batch bourbons…. By the mid-fifties when Fleming was writing, Cresta Blanca had moved vermouth production to its distilling plant near Fresno. Learn how your comment data is processed. Clearly, the vermouth in Hemingway’s day must have been a better wine than what sits on the lower shelves of my grocery store. We probably will never know, but I have a theory. Required reading in my senior year, we spent countless hours discussing the themes and motifs in the work, and in learning about Hemingway’s involvement in the first world war. View all posts by M, My old US paperback, published by Signet, deleted the Cresta Blanca name, apparently due to an aversion to product placement. We don’t know much about the original Cresta Blanca vermouth. ‘Made with Cresta Blanca,’ explained Leiter. It was excellent, but he didn’t recognize the Vermouth. Finally, the flavors of the spices were most likely extracted at high temperature in ethanol, and then back blended into the base wine. The winery was purchased by Schenley Distillers in 1941, and closed in 1965. The ad is in Good condition. Wetmore died before Prohibition's repeal, but it was re-opened by his brother Clarence. Evidently the Cresta Blanca was one of the major factors in establishing the California wine industry, but the brand isn't in production anymore. We would bring the entire production of our vermouth back to Livermore Valley. Post navigation. The bottom line? We would reintroduce wormwood, and scour the world for the finest sustainably harvested roots, herbs, and spices. Registration Date: 5/22/1957 The vineyards were located on the South end of Arroyo Road in Livermore, California. Cresta Blanca was one of California’s most historic wineries, having been founded in 1882. What did Frederick Henry, or Hemingway for that matter, see in vermouth? And by the time Cresta Blanca was sold to Guild Winery, the formula had vanished along with the vermouth, a ghost of another era. The recipe was widely publicized, and even appeared in the New York Times. Bond smiled at Leiter’s memory and tasted it. 2245B South Vasco Road The Olive or Onion Society had created the world’s best martini using the dry vermouth from Cresta Blanca Winery, and James Bond had picked up on this in Diamonds are Forever (http://bit.ly/29VkTc2). The site is now a historical landmark. Want to be the first to sample? This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Aided by what historian Simon Schama calls the “serendipity of adjacency,” I accidentally stumbled upon Lowell Edmunds’ book, Martini, Straight Up: The Classic American Cocktail, where he relates the story of the Lower Montgomery Olive or Onion Society’s search for the perfect Martini. Like it?”. Cresta Blanca Winery was one of the original Livermore Valley wineries. My introduction to Hemingway was through his novel A Farewell to Arms. We can do better. Leave a Reply Cancel reply. We don’t know much about the original Cresta Blanca vermouth. Great addition to any serious collection. The victory also assured the future of the California wine industry, which had fallen upon hard times. They apparently had created the world’s best martini using the dry vermouth from Livermore’s Cresta Blanca Winery, which James Bond enjoyed in Diamonds are Forever. Why did Ian Fleming choose Cresta Blanca Vermouth? I couldn’t resist the thought of recreating a Livermore Valley vermouth. We have designed a bottle, and now are working on a label design. With the victory, the future of the wine industry in the state looked much stronger. In 1889, a white wine from Cresta Blanca won the Grand Prize at the Paris Exposition – the first time a California wine won a competition in France. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Also, Cresta would not have used its finest wines or brandies, as the standard formulation in the 1950s used neutral wine and spirit. And by the time Cresta Blanca was sold to Guild Winery, the formula had vanished along with the vermouth, a ghost of another era. Wormwood was reintroduced only in 2007 after a 95-year ban. ‘New domestic brand from California. They also made a Vermouth, which was what Leiter ordered above. We would use the finest wines from our cellar and use Livermore brandy distilled from our own fruit. Historian and fan of the literary James Bond and his world as created by Ian Fleming. “Made with Cresta Blanca,” explained Leiter. The land remained fallow until it was purchased by the Wente family in 1981, and revitalized as the "Sparkling Cellars. It was founded by Charles Wetmore in 1882 with cuttings of Sauvignon blanc from Chateau d'Yquem and … The name was then sold to the Guild Wine Company in 1965. After Felix Leiter surprises James Bond in Manhattan in Diamonds Are Forever, they go to lunch. Bond visits the washroom and when he returns, Leiter has already ordered for him. That’s odd. Considering it is a key ingredient in the world’s most famous martini, surprisingly little is known about the composition of Cresta Blanca vermouth. July 19, 2016 | Posted in Livermore Valley. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. We can guess that it was not a true vermouth, at least in the European sense, because it could not have contained wormwood as an ingredient. Considering it is a key ingredient in the world’s most famous martini, surprisingly little is known about the composition of Cresta Blanca vermouth. “New domestic brand from California. In June, the government approved our proprietary recipe of a dozen rare ingredients, and this past week we finished our first run. The Cresta Blanca wine he made from its fruit won for California the first International Award, the highest honor at the 1889 Paris Exposition, first bringing assurance to California wine growers that they could grow wines comparable to the finest in the world. Like it?’ ‘Best Vermouth I ever tasted.’”. In 1889, a white wine from Cresta Blanca won the Grand Prize at the Paris Exposition – the first time a California wine won a competition in France. But struggle as I might with these important themes, my mind kept wandering to the peculiar choice of drink Hemingway chose for his protagonist, Frederick Henry. It was probably through this publicity that Cresta Blanca vermouth caught Ian Fleming’s attention during one of his frequent trips to New York. Bond smiled at Leiter’s memory and tasted it. From our artist’s palette of roots, herbs, and spices we have formulated the first Livermore dry vermouth in over half a century. I gave vermouth little thought after that, until one day while eating lunch with a local historian, I was asked if I had ever read Ian Fleming’s Diamonds are Forever. Read it, he suggested, and tell me what you discover. There, in chapter five, CIA agent Felix Leiter made James Bond his favorite martini, “There was a medium dry Martini with a piece of lemon peel waiting for him.
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