Editor's Note: Wine Ramblings is a weekly feature where we share a wine-inspired quote, poem, passage, monologue, or otherwise creative rambling.
“Anyone who tries to make you believe that he knows all about wines is obviously a fake.” - Leon Adams in The Commonsense Book of Wine
The rarely photographed Californian was the definitive voice on American wine during his time, an instrumental and ultimately historic figure in the development of the industry following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Leon Adams published The Commonsense Book of Wine in 1958, and in doing so introduced the idea of table wine to families throughout the country, families that had previously been (in his mind's eye) undereducated on wine. And then, in 1973, Adams published The Wines of America, commonly considered the most thorough book on the subject.
Revered as the seminal wine historian in the United States in the 20th century, the prolific writer — so prolific that he was deeamed the "dean of American wine writers" after publication of The Wines of America — was also a founder of Wine Institute, a trade organization that represents California's wine industry, as well as the Wine Advisory Board. What really made his message resonate then and resonate even now was his support of the everyman, from winemakers to wine drinkers.
In the Times obituary, the 30-year wine editor of Gourmet magazine Gerald Asher told them, "Leon was not much interested in the fancier aspects of wine. He always said that wine should be as cheap as milk. He had a point."
Yes, we might all agree that Adams had a point.
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