The Covid-19 pandemic has provided at least one saving grace: more time to drink delicious wines and to read good books. Since the “lock down” started, I’ve traded reading and drinking recommendations with lots of friends, My wine industry colleague and fellow Pittsburgh native, Jess Peters, made the terrific recommendation of reading Mark Whitaker’s “Smoketown: The Untold Story of the Other Great Black Renaissance” (Simon & Shuster, 2018) while drinking Mac and Lil MacDonald’s delicious 2017 Vision Cellars Pinot Noir from California.
“SMOKETOWN”
In its heyday, the Pittsburgh Courier boasted the largest national readership of African-American owned newspapers. The paper’s editorial staff gave their hometown the nickname “Smoketown,” because steel mills operating around the clock created perpetually smoky skies. Mark Whitaker’s “Smoketown” tells the remarkable, colorful stories of African American musicians, journalists, athletes and business entrepreneurs who either started in or came to prominence in Pittsburgh in the Twentieth Century.
Pittsburgh was racially segregated, but, as Whitaker notes, the Steel industry and related industries created opportunities for talented and hard working individuals of all backgrounds and complexions. The willingness to take risks was essential. For example, Whitaker’s grandparents, who were African-American, ran respected businesses in Pittsburgh. His father grew up in Pittsburgh before obtaining a Ph.D from Princeton and pursuing an academic career.
Robert L. Vann, a leading African-American attorney, offered another Pittsburgh success story. He eventually became the Pittsburgh Courier’s publisher. And as an eloquent orator and astute politico, Vann played a critical role in persuading black voters to switch from “the party of Lincoln” and instead vote in large numbers for Franklin D. Rossevelt in the 1932 Presidential election. Mr. Vann’s had other important cultural influences as he enabled the Pittburgh Courier’s editorial staff to chronicle and even promote the rise of many now famous black Americans with Pittsburgh ties.
For example, the Pittsburgh Courier ballyhooed heavy weight boxer Joe Louis’s meteoric rise and dramatic comeback victory over German boxer Max Schmeling. The newspaper also championed Negro League stars Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige who played in Pittsburgh. And ultimately the Pittsburgh Courier team helped create the opportunity for Jackie Robinson to become the first black ball player in major league baseball.
Pittsburgh’s lively musical scene also offered pivotal opportunities for talented black artists such as Billy Eckstine, Billy Strayhorn, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Mary Lou Williams, Errol Garner, Lean Horne and Duke Ellington. After performing in segregated downtown venues, these performers typically had after hours performances at popular night clubs such as the Crawford Grill in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, a predominantly black neighborhood. And because downtown hotels also were segregated, the performers often stayed in the Hill District near the Pittsburgh Courier’s offices and printing plant. Mr. Whitaker’s “Smoketown” weaves the tales of these artists’ close connections with Pittsburgh.
Eventually “Smoketown” vividly recounts the period when Pittsburgh’s vibrant African American community suffered displacement with wholesale urban “renewal” in the lower Hill District. Unrest and riots followed in 1968 after Martin Luther King’s assassination. These painful events influenced Pittsburgh-born playwright August Wilson, who Mr. Whitaker aptly dubs “The Bard of A Broken World,.” Wilson’s plays featured resilient, vivid personalities living in the Hill District throughout the Twentieth Century.
JESS PETERS’ JOURNEY FROM TERRACE VILLAGE TO TERROIR
Jess Peters, who is African-American, grew up in the 1950’s and 1960’s in Waring Court, an apartment building in the Terrace Village Housing settlement just on the fringe of the Hill District neighborhood. President Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal” plan to deliver high-quality, modern housing for low-income residents led to Terrace Village’s construction. Despite not having material luxuries, Peters obtained a solid education and excelled athletically at nearby Schenley High School of the Pittsburgh’s Public Schools.
He attended the University of Pittsburgh and become a sports information director early in his career. Peters also served as a Pittsburgh Courier freelance sports writer. The latter gig provided an opportunity to know first hand some of “Smoketown”‘s featured entertainers, sports figures and characters including talented Pittsburgh Courier photography Teenie Harris.
Also at the newspaper, Peters worked with Mr. Bill Nunn, Jr. in selecting the popular annual “Black All-America” football team. It highlighted athletes from Historically Black Colleges. Mr. Nunn went on to serve as a respected scout for the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers. He identified talented players such as Mel Blount, John Swallworth, Donny Shell and many others who helped the team win six Super Bowl championships.
Meanwhile, Jess Peters also served a stint in the National Football League where he worked as a publications relations directo for the Kansas City Chiefs. He eventually moved south to New Orleans and began applying his communication and sales skills with a small wholesale wine distributor. By his own account, Mr. Peters sold just about every conceivable type of wine over his career. He developed a special preference for Argentine wines and food.
“I rate wine destinations based on the people, the food and wine, and the music,” Peters says. “In my view, Argentina is like being in Paradise.”
Peters eventually purchased his own vineyards and finca (i.e., a small rural ranch house) high in the Andes Mountains.
“It has been a long journey from Terrace Village in Pittsburgh to terroir in Argentina,” he says with his trademark laugh.
Today Peters collaborates closely with “Women in Wine,” a group of South African female wine makers promoting imports to the United States and other countries. Meanwhile, Peters’ studies at Sonoma State University to obtain a Wine Business Certificate created contacts and friendships with California winemakers. Chief among these is Mac McDonald, co- founder of Visions Cellars and one of the founders of the Association of African American Vintners.
VISION CELLARS PINOT NOIR
Winemaker Mac McDonald grew up in Texas. His father made “moonshine” corn whiskey while Mac’s mother made sweet fruit wines. In the mid-1960s, Mac worked in the corporate world.
After tasting some well-aged European wines over the years, MacDonald fell in love with the finesse and flavors of great red Burgundies. The die was cast after Mac and his wife paid a memorable visit to visit legendary French vineyards. They embraced the vision of making great, understated California pinot noirs, and they succeeded admirably.
The McDonald’s became respected members of the northern California winemakers’ community. Mac learned from some of the greats such as Chuck Wagner at Caymus Vineyards in Napa and Gary Pisoni in the Santa Lucia Highlands in Monterey.
Before selling a winemaker some his highly prized pinot noir grapes, Pisoni always said that he had to first like the winenaker. With his unaffected, straight-shooting style and humor, McDonald hit it off with Pisoni. Mac knew that you can’t make great wines without outstanding fruit.
I recall years ago first tasting the 1999 Vision Cellars Pinot Noir, 75 percent Sonoma County, 25 percent Marin County, California and appreciating the wine’s superb balance. More recently while reading “Smoketown,” I drank the 2017 Vision Cellars, Pinot Noir, California. Wow, what a wine. It offers subtle, ripe red fruit and plum aromas with light oak accents. Succulent but elegant black fruit flavors follow balanced with supple tannins, fine acidity and a complex, elegant fruity finish. It strikes a perfect balance between California’s trademark ripe fruit and the complexity and finesse necessary in a finely crafted pinot noir. Delicious but not easy to find in the market place today.. Highly recommended.
A couple years back, Mac and Lil sold Vision Cellars, so now Mac mainly makes wines for his own enjoyment and for friends. So if you happen to see a bottle of Vision Cellars’ older vintages at a retail store, buy that bottle! You won’t regret it. And don’t miss reading Mark Whitaker’s “Smoketown” to catch glimpse of a Pittsburgh story worth knowing. Cheers!