Lecture traces Sonoma County winemakers during Prohibition

Some wineries folded, some adapted to survive the dry years.|

To make ends meet during Prohibition, Louis A. Foppiano of Healdsburg grew prunes, apples and pears, all between the vines of the grapes on his family’s ranch.

The grapes? He turned them into juice and shipped his “kit” to home winemakers from the western to the eastern United States.

In 1926, Federal Treasury agents raided Foppiano Vineyards, saying they were violating the Volstead National Prohibition Act of 1919, which outlawed alcoholic beverages. The feds forced 100,000 gallons of wine to be dumped in a nearby creek, the Russian River.

It became the most popular spot in town as the creek ran red with wine, and is the subject of John Freeman’s lecture on the second Saturday of June, at 2 p.m. via Zoom. Freeman, a former public school teacher, opens the speakeasy doors into the Prohibition years of 1919 – 1933 to see how some in the wine industry survived, while others could not adapt to the strict prohibitions on alcohol.

June’s Second Saturday lecture from the Sonoma Valley Historical Society is June 12, beginning at 2 p.m. It is free though donations are welcome. Register for the Zoom lecture in advance by emailing info@sonomavalleyhistory.org.

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