One Party Is Sure to Have Vintage Year

You’ve heard of the hemline barometer for the economy. Now comes word of the symbiosis between wine grapes and politics.

Gracelyn & Burns, a Santa Rosa public relations agency, reports that, in years when California experiences a good to outstanding harvest, Republicans tend to take the White House.

In years with average to poor vintages, Democrats are more likely to win. The firm notes that the 1976 vintage, which coincided with Jimmy Carter’s election, is often described by winemakers as “awkward” and “simple.”

Davis Bynum, a Sonoma County vintner, wonders: “What are we Democratic winemakers to do--hope for a bad vintage just to get the right man elected?” Bynum adds that he would take “a good vintage over a Democratic President any time.”

Will this year’s extremely promising vintage mean sour grapes for Bill Clinton? Stay tuned.