In my Levi’s Jeans. . .
Wine, but make it fashion.
Wanna hear a wild take that connects the wine industry to the current conversation the country is having on immigration?
During the height of the gold rush on the west coast, there was not only a demand for workers in the mines, but also for clothing that would protect those workers as they searched for their literal “pot of gold”. The clothing item that was suitable for the job due to its durability & flexibility is what we’ve come to know originally as “negro cloth”, but then later as the infamous “denim blue jean”. This innovation did not actually rise to popularity during the gold rush, rather, it came onto the scene much later as an affordable, protective work-wear option for freed and enslaved laborers across the industrial & agricultural industries. Also, if you thought cowboys of the Midwest wore these first: think again.
A Latvian immigrant, Jacob W. Davis, had the idea to reinforce the stitching of cotton denim & cotton duck cloth with copper rivets would be perfect for those aforementioned laborers. Jacob asked for financing to mass produce this invention in the form of overalls & jeans from a fellow immigrant & marketing genius, Levi Strauss. Fast forward a bit, this iconic fashion item, originally designed for the working class, transitioned into what is now considered a timeless (and now more expensive) piece in any wardrobe.
You’re probably scratching your head right now as to what point I’m trying to make by telling this tale, right? How does the tale of Levi’s Jeans correlate to wine or even one of the Wino’s wine-fashion parallels? This contribution to American history was NOT the result of “natural born citizens” of this country. We are a country built on the backs of those who were either brought here unwillingly or those who came here of their own volition under the promise of the “American dream”. Immigrants have long been a crucial part of this great nation, and an indelible part of the American wine industry. If immigrants contributed an innovation as significant as the rivets on jeans, who’s to say the next great innovation in wine, fashion—whatever— isn’t coming from one of those individuals being ripped from the homes they’ve built here & wrongfully deported?
Whether it’s vineyards in California or right here in my backyard of North Carolina, immigrant workers have been essential to maintaining the success of the wine industry. Migrant workers are often responsible for tasks like vineyard maintenance, harvesting, and other labor-intensive activities. Many migrant workers, including both domestic and foreign laborers, find employment in the wine industry due to the seasonal nature of the work. They will utilize programs like the H-2A visa programs help fill those employment gaps, and eventually some take the steps to become official citizens of this country. This system of labor for the American wine industry, while not perfect & notoriously exploitative in years past, acts as a gateway for talents that would otherwise be unavailable to us. For example, immigrant friends of mine have worked their way up to becoming winemakers or vineyard managers at their respective wineries & have achieved what, in many ways, is their version of the “American Dream”. Why we keep trying to move the goal post on that so called dream is something I’ll never fully understand.
I’ll be generous with your time and not delve further into the impact of immigrants on another industry dear to my heart, the hospitality sector (hotels, restaurants, etc.), but I do hope you receive the message I’m conveying here in around 600 words. That little snippet of the blue jean tale serves to remind all of us that the most important element to the wine industry has never been the final product.
It has always been the people.
- The Certified Wino -
