In his spare time, he invented the first wine cooler for Seagrams and Gallo’s Hearty Burgundy. Say hello to Richard Peterson; a chemist, scientist and winemaker. But most importantly, Peterson was a revolutionary inventor. He invented systems that revolutionized #wine production, with his most noted invention the steel barrel pallet in 1975, a system that allowed wineries to stack barrels to the ceiling with a forklift, maximizing space and saving labor costs. Peterson’s 50-plus years in the wine industry was the basis for his book; The Winemaker. It’s a must read for any wine lover and perfect for the beach!
You could share a glass of wine with Dick Peterson and hear a story. But it wouldn’t be near enough wine to learn about the history making changes that Dick helped pioneer in the wine industry. You better get a bottle or two…..
Here are a few:
- The original designer of the steel barrel pallet, which allows wine barrels to be handled mechanically instead of by hand.
- Invented many wine techniques still in use today, such as ‘no topping, bung-and-roll,’ a practice for barrel aging red wines.
- Created many successful new wines, including Lancers Vinho Branco in Portugal, the J. Wile line of varietal wines, Seagram’s first wine cooler, and all the original Monterey Vineyard and Taylor California Cellars varietal and generic table and sparkling wines.
Cheers to Dick and his contributions to the wine world!
About Jessica Altieri
Jessica, or “Just Jess”, is a Certified Sommelier, California Wine Appellation Specialist, and the CEO of the Wine Channel TV Network. By reaching and engaging millennials with digitally-based social media, mobile and live experience events, she has led the growth of her wine lifestyle community to over 300K wine enthusiasts in 2015.
Altieri is a visionary for wine “edutainment;” engaging both novice wine drinkers and experienced enthusiasts around the world with fun, fresh and edgy content. In 2013, she published her first book “Kiss My Glass: Jess Altieri’s ‘NO-BS’ Wine Buying Guide” which is now available on Amazon and in select Walgreens stores.