Partial transcription and abstract of group interview of wine collectors conducted by Smithsonian's Nanci Edwards and Paula Johnson
name: label: Collection Interviewer
content: Edwards, Nanci
label: Collection Interviewer
content: Fleckner, John A., 1941-
label: Collection Interviewer
content: Green, Rayna, 1942- (Curator)
label: Collection Interviewer
content: Johnson, Paula, Curator
label: Collection Creator
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.)
setName: label: See more items in
content: American Wine Documentation Project
label: See more items in
content: American Wine Documentation Project / Series 2: Collections Event / 2.2: Interviews and Abstracts
unitdate: label: Date
content: 2001-03-30
container: label: Container
content: Box 1, Folder 4
label: Container
content: Box 1, Folder 8
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Audio
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This interview with five of the ten collectors present at the event was conducted by Smithsonian's National Museum of American History staff Nanci Edwards and Paula Johnson on March 30, 2001.  (1 of 2) Partial transcription and abstract by Cindy Ott.

Abstract

Over the weekend of March 30-31, 2001 the Stag's Leap Wine Cellars organized a wine tasting to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the "Paris Tasting," in which American wines stunningly upstaged European vintages in a blind tasting by experts in the field.  Participants of the 2001 event included some of the top American wine collectors.  Coming from a broad range of professions, including dentistry, international business, and the movie industry, the group was brought together by their passion for wines and their reputation as collectors.  The ten individuals were selected by Dennis Foley, participant and wine auctioneer, who stated that he chose people he knew who lived in different parts of the country.  

Among the myriad of weekend activities, which included the tasting of contemporary wines donated by producers as well as wines from the "classic" period in California winemaking, dating from1933 to1985, donated by the collectors themselves, were interviews conducted by Smithsonian staff.  They form a part of the National Museum of American History's project to document the history and culture of American wine.  The interviews were held at the Culinary Institute of America's Greystone campus at St. Helena, California in Napa Valley, the site of most of the weekend activities.  The collectors were divided into two groups of five.  This group included the collectors Dennis Foley, Tom Black, Keith Browning, Dr. Steven Mandy, and James Orr.  Ron Kuhn, who participated in the event as a winning bidder of the SLWC lot at the 2000 Napa Valley Wine Auction, sat in on the second part of the discussion.   A short biography of each participant is provided in one of the event booklets that form part of this sub-collection. The fact that only men were among the collectors is a reflection of the nature of the business, which is currently almost solely a male domain.  Smithsonian curator Paula Johnson and museum project manager Nanci Edwards led these interviews. 

The discussions, spurred by questions posed by the Smithsonian staff, centered around the origins, intentions and styles of the participants' wine collections and collecting habits.  Topics addressed include forms of documentation used to track their holdings, acquisition and storage methods, and the most significant bottles in their collections.  The groups also raised issues relating more broadly to the wine industry, including the influence of wine critics (which one participant refers to as "wine critic's fascism"), the importance of wine's heritage and history, the effects of re-corking older wines, the social and gender aspects of wine collecting, the impact of terroirs, the differences between old and current wines (especially in regard to the New World "fruit bombs"), and the relationship between American wines and national identity. The conversations provide insights into patterns of American consumerism, recreation, and product marketing.