Wine and a 10¢ Cure

FIRST, THERE WAS A CONVENTION at Yosemite and a dinner in the Ahwanee Hotel and a status grab. A doctor at our table recently had a wine cellar built in his home, and along with the cellar came a remarkable knowledge of wines, foreign and domestic. To those of us unacquainted with wine culture the cellar man was irritating. And we had nothing to add when he ordered the wine for our table. Our silence was not enough, he insisted upon an opinion of his choice. "O.K." was not enough, either, and I couldn't bring myself to add "full flavored," or "distinctive" or "sensual." I fell back on the standard "interesting" and he let me pass.

That was a beginning for my husband. Soon there was a course in Enology at the University of California at Davis. Then trips to wineries in the Napa Valley. Tastings. Trips outside Napa Valley as the wineries and their reputations spread North and South in California. Vacations included French and German wine country, and we snapped photos of special grapes that would be made into rare and expensive wines.

Our home was built with a basement, and a "wine cellar" was inevitable. If the man in the family is of Scottish ancestry and has had a frugal upbringing, ordering a contractor to install a wine cellar is out of the question. Hours were spent building heavy, insulated boxes, the first ones equipped with special notches and supports for holding bottles in the approved position, necks down. The end of the basement was blocked off and temperature controlled by the simple expedient of cutting a hole in one of the air conditioning ducts. In the summer, the hole was open. In the winter, it was closed. Bottles of wine were chosen, stored, and began to mellow.

It was not enough, though, to buy bottled wine. Grapes must be grown and crushed and wine produced. Napa vineyards and a few from the El Dorado County provided trimmings and slips that were planted among the camellias in the front and backyards. A little home wine was made from the grapes, and so simple and easy the process seemed that an article was written and published in Physicians' Management.

This wine knowledge was only the start of adventure. In wine production a chemical tablet was added to cut down on yeast growth and appeared to be very effective. During these years, there was an epidemic of vaginal yeast infections among women patients. Complete and satisfactory relief was not easily obtained. The affliction was frustrating for both the patient and the doctor.

So, could the wine-making tablet be applied? What was in it? A private lab diagnosed potassium sorbate. Then we noticed that many cheeses and other edible foods contained potassium sorbate to control everpresent yeast organisms. We found it eliminated yeast organisms in material from the vagina. Why not try it on patients?

After some experimentation, a 1 percent solution was found to bring remarkable relief to infected women. But, how was potassium sorbate to be obtained in large enough quantities? A small package from a wine-making shop was not enough. It turned out that the wine industry obtained its chemical in 10-pound drums.

We bought a drum and small amounts were measured for exact dilution. We estimated an entire course of treatment for two weeks would cost ten cents (10¢)! The idea and the treatment could not be copyrighted because the chemical was "already in the public domain."

We collected cases and published articles in the OBGYN Journal. These were read by interested doctors and commercial interests. One company concocted a douche that it placed in all the supermarkets, using quotes from the published articles. I even found a potassium sorbate suppository melting on a Safeway shelf. Our objections caused the company to withdraw its products.

Finally, a company producing a popular TV series about doctors in Vietnam telephoned for permission to use the concept of a wine-making idea turned into a successful disease treatment. I was sent a check for $100 but the show was cancelled and the idea never used.

Thus this interest in Enology followed a convoluted course. With my retirement, an effective, inexpensive treatment for an unpleasant affliction disappeared, as far as I know. The grape vines planted between the camellias died away. The homemade wine turned to vinegar. But the chosen bottles laid away in the cellar years ago are not only "interesting," they are valuable and "delicious." Sometimes, even "sensual."

ebr8809@aol.com