WHERE TIME

The practice of making wine is as old as most ancient civilizations, and wine has played a central role in human culture for more than 8,000 years.

Starting at about 1000 BC, the Romans made major contributions in classifying grape varieties and colors, observing and charting ripening characteristics, identifying diseases, and recognizing soil-type preferences. They became skilled at pruning and increasing yields through irrigation and fertilization techniques. They also developed wooden cooperage which is a great advance for wine storage which had previously been done in skins or jars. They may also have been the first to use glass bottles.

Not much has changed today. The process of contemporary winemaking follows principles established in ancient times, augmented by contemporary knowledge and practices, and is considered by many to be an art form.

The first vineyard planted in California was in 1779 at the Mission San Juan Capistrano under the direction of the Spanish Father Junípero Serra.

Rod Byers, who’s been in the “wine business’ all of his adult life, says, “Nevada County’s original golden age of wine started with a bang with the onset of the Gold Rush. Suddenly the world rushed in. For one brief shining moment in 1851, Nevada City was the largest city in California; Nevada County the most populous county in the state. California itself was 1 year old. When those original intrepid miners came, they brought grape vines with them. Nevada County’s first vineyards date back to 1852.”

Heard it Through the Grapevine: Sierra Starr Winery earns national recognition

By Rod Byers, Nevada County Wine Expert

Fast forward 143 years later.

Phil and Anne Starr bought an existing vineyard in 1995 with the intent of moving their flower-growing nursery from the Monterey Bay area onto the vacant land on the parcel. The nursery didn’t move but Phil felt the challenge of grape growing and making fine wine was one that he couldn’t pass up.

2022

Phil and Jackson Starr, the father and son team behind Sierra Starr Winery, have been on a roll lately. Phil focuses on grape growing while Jackson runs the winemaking side of things. Not only are they producing great wines, but they’re receiving national recognition as well.

They have been earning strings of Gold Medals and 90plus point scores for their wines across the board, and now most recently, for their Cabernet Franc.

Wine Enthusiast magazine, a national publication, just awarded their 2019 Cabernet Franc a 94-point score and a Cellar Selection meaning they think it is delicious now, and they think it will improve and excel for years to come.

While Cabernet Franc remains unfamiliar to many consumers, winemakers know better. At over $9,000 per ton, Napa County Cabernet Franc received the highest average price paid per ton of any wine grape in California, according to the most recent California Grape Crush report.

I visited Phil and Jackson to discuss their Starr attraction. “We planted Cabernet Franc back in 1997,” Phil recalled. “We thought it might be hard to compete with Cabernet Sauvignon but Cab Franc, there could be a niche there.”

I wondered, thinking about their success, was their high score the result of a maturing vineyard producing increasingly better fruit, or were other things at play as well? Jack and Phil looked at each other in silence. I could see they were communicating without talking. After a long pause Jackson said, “Ya, maybe a couple of things.”

Sierra Starr Vineyard has a significant slope from top to bottom. The bottom collects water, and the ground is too wet. As it turned out, that is where they had planted the Franc. About five years ago they cut off the water and started dry farming the grapes.

“Actually, we tried it throughout the vineyard but the Zinfandel at the top of the hill looked like it was going to die so we had to go back to watering it,” Jackson explained. Then Phil took over, “but the Franc at the bottom wasn’t affected at all. It did better than ever., All the water they needed was already there.”

When it came to changes in the winemaking process, they were more cryptic. About the same time, they attempted

When it came to changes in the winemaking process, they were more cryptic. About the same time they attempted the dry farm experiment they started making some significant changes in how they handled the grapes in the cellar. “Let’s just say we attempt to extract as much flavor as possible without extracting too much bitterness or tannin,” Jackson said. “We’ve hit upon a few things that we think really help the process.” the dry farm experiment they started making some significant changes in how they handled the grapes in the cellar. “Let’s just say we attempt to extract as much flavor as possible without extracting too much bitterness or tannin,” Jackson said. “We’ve hit upon a few things that we think really help the process.”

“Climate change, warming, is another thing making a difference,” Phil said. “I always thought it was too cold here. There is no doubt harvest is now at least two weeks earlier than it used to be. The grapes are riper, sooner. It may get too hot if it keeps going but for now, for us, we’re picking riper grapes while they are still retaining their natural acidity.”

“Climate change, warming, is another thing making a difference,” Phil said. “I always thought it was too cold here. There is no doubt harvest is now at least two weeks earlier than it used to be. The grapes are riper, sooner. It may get too hot if it keeps going but for now, for us, we’re picking riper grapes while they are still retaining their natural acidity.”

In spite of the recognition by winemakers of Cabernet Franc’s superiority as a premium wine grape, consumers have been less quick to follow. It’s still a hand-sell. Cabernet what? is a common response.

In spite of the recognition by winemakers of Cabernet Franc’s superiority as a premium wine grape, consumers have been less quick to follow. It’s still a hand-sell. Cabernet what? is a common response.

At $9,275 average price per ton, that makes the typical Cab Franc coming out of Napa about $100 a bottle. That makes Sierra Starr Franc, out of Nevada County, at $28, and a 94-point National Cellar Selection, one of those wine gems people dream of discovering.

At $9,275 average price per ton, that makes the typical Cab Franc coming out of Napa about $100 a bottle. That makes Sierra Starr Franc, out of Nevada County, at $28, and a 94-point National Cellar Selection, one of those wine gems people dream of discovering.

Experience award winning Sierra Starr wines at their tasting room

Experience award-winning Sierra Starr wines at their tasting room in downtown Grass Valley at 124 W. Main Street or visit the vineyard, open by appointment. www.sierrastarr.com

The Women

Some Were Wild • Many Were Just Plain Wicked

Most Were Strong, Determined, Spirited Pioneer Women Who Settled the West

By The Greater Grass Valley Chamber of Commerce

Thinking back to the Wild West, the first images that may come to mind are those that appear on the silver screen; cowboys, ranchers, trappers, miners, and entrepreneurs who came west in the early days of the westward migration to seek new opportunities; to build new lives or their fortunes.

Westward expansion began in earnest in 1803, and the era between 1812 to 1860, the great westward migration, often called the territorial expansion of the United States, is referred to as the “Age of Manifest Destiny.”

George Crofutt, a publisher of a popular series of western travel guides, commissioned Brooklyn-based artist John Gast to create “American Progress” in 1872. Gast creates a “Columbia” in his painting, who appears to be an angel or guardian, carrying a schoolbook in one hand and a string of telegraph wire in the other. The image is meant to convince the hesitant that it was morally just to migrate West.

Lured by romance and promises of cheap land ownership under the Homestead Act and gold rush mining opportunities, eager young men, filled with the thought of striking it rich by mining silver or gold or becoming a cowboy needed little encouragement to head west.

But encouragement came from many sectors. “Go west young man, go west, and grow with the country.” So said Horace Greeley in July of 1865 in the New-York Daily Tribune encouraging young men to leave Washington DC as it was not a place to live in. “The rents were high. The food was bad, the dust disgusting and the morals deplorable. Go West, young man, go West. There is health in the country, and room away from our crowds of idlers and imbeciles.”

And while all of this recruitment was pointedly directed at the men, what about the women?

Thousands of women trekked the overland trail after 1840 when the great westward migration took off.

Most of these women were married, and while somewhere forced to make the move, many others insisted on accompanying their men, for they were determined to maintain family unity, despite the great potential risk to survival.

Many married women were widowed, and some remarried on the trip, or soon thereafter, but many women chose to remain single.

Taken away from civilization female pioneers had to deal with the rigors of the journey while pregnant or caring for young children, but they were determined to take civilization with them. While the journey was liberating for a few, most battled the constant challenges to their feminine and domestic identities.

Arriving in a new land, one very alien to the landscape of home, with none of the customary or usual comforts, single women, or those whose husbands had perished on the journey and left them single, were faced with many choices and quite often made decisions based on common sense and survival instinct. With sensibility and convention left on the eastern seaboard, some women chose to live by their wits and employ their talents; some traditional and some outside the boundaries of acceptability, and some outside the law; all serving to support a new life.

Nonconformists, Cowgirls, Painted Ladies, and Outlaws.

Arriving in a new land, one very alien to the landscape of home, and with sensibility and convention left on the eastern seaboard, women, regardless of their marital status, were faced with a choice; embrace tradition and build a home and family or live by their wits and employ their talents. Some, freed from convention chose to live outside the boundaries of acceptability; serving to support a new life.

Remarkable women, past and present, have made Nevada County their home. Many have contributed to building the foundation of Nevada County, leaving enduring legacies. Others also left memorable legacies; often scandalous in nature and many of their stories prevail today.

First Female Railroad President in the World

By Maria E. Brower, Special to The Union

She had big shoes to fill. Her husband was a prominent businessman and community leader — a mine owner, land developer, a leader in the Republican party, member of the Yosemite Commission, California Debris Commission, Exalted Ruler of the Grass Valley Elks, and the president of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad.

At his burial service he was eulogized as “the most important man to the welfare and progress of Nevada County…” Before his death on April 10, 1901, John Flint Kidder, Sarah’s husband of 27 years, signed over his 1,844 shares of stock by deed of gift, leaving her three-fourths of the capital stock in the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad.

Not quite a month later, May 7, at the annual meeting, Sarah was elected president by a majority vote of 2,345 shares voting out of a possible 2,502.

In the late 1880s, Kidder had built a new house for his family on

Bennett Street. Sarah and John, not being blessed with children of their own, adopted Beatrice, a niece of Sarah’s, who lived in the house along with their servants. The residence was at the corner of Bennett Street and Kidder Avenue overlooking the works and offices of the Narrow Gauge Railroad in Grass Valley.

Sarah was known throughout the county as a gracious hostess, and the Kidders frequently entertained friends as well as dignitaries from around the country in their home on Bennett Street.

It would become known as the Kidder Mansion, and Sarah’s stylish home was one of the last of the Victorian queens of that era of elegance to be torn down in Grass Valley after falling into disrepair due to many years of neglect.

Overnight, Sarah’s daily duties changed from housewife and hostess to being the only women in the U.S., possibly the world, to ever run a railroad.

Although her tenure may have been rocky in the beginning, the years that Sarah Kidder was running the railroad were known as the “Twelve Golden Years.”

She had steadily improved the railroad until it was said to be a showpiece of its kind, and her years of management led the railroad into its greatest prosperity.

Sarah Kidder was one of the most notable women in Nevada County history. She came to California as a bride and died at age 94 in September 1933 in San Francisco.

American Journalist and Essayist Courtesy of Wikipedia

Jennie Carter was born a free person of color in either 1830 or 1831 and is believed to have spent her early life in New Orleans and New York.

Carter moved to Nevada County with her first husband, a preacher named Reverend Correll, around 1860, before the Civil War. Nevada County was pro-Union during the Civil War and held about 150-300 African Americans, who worked in a variety of professions and businesses. Some of them were active in civil rights and had helped to organize the California Colored Convention of 1855. While married to the Reverend, Jennie served as Vice President of the Grass Valley Christian Commission.

In 1866, she married her second husband, musician, and Civil Rights activist Dennis Drummond Carter and began a life with him in a house on Lost Hill then on Green Street in Nevada City.

In 1867, using the pseudonym Mrs. Trask, Carter wrote to

Philip A. Bell, editor of The Elevator, a weekly San Francisco black newspaper, offering to write short stories for children to be included in the paper. Bell liked the idea, publishing her letter and a short essay by Carter about her childhood dog in New Orleans in the following issue. Over the next seven years, Carter published over 70 pieces in The Elevator, her topics expanding to commentaries on California and national politics, racism, women’s rights and suffrage, morality, education, temperance, and many other issues.

Later, she began using the pseudonym, Semper Fidelis. Since The Elevator had a circulation that extended throughout the American West, Carter achieved regional and, in some cases, national exposure for her work. She also published in the Philadelphia paper the Christian Recorder.

Carter’s writings began to receive wider critical and historical attention when they were published in Eric Gardner’s 2007 book Jennie Carter: A Black Journalist of the Early West. A reviewer in American Literary Scholarship wrote that her work “remarkably complicates assumptions about blacks’ access to the middle class in the late-19th-century West even as it adds to and confirms a rich tradition of post-Gold Rush West Coast journalism.”

Gardner speculated that her choice of the pseudonym Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful), suggested that for Carter, “writing is a gesture of faith for the community, in the community, writing about topics that need to be discussed but that might not be discussed”, a way to “push people to be involved and think about the issues.”