COGNAC,
FRANCE - DENISON,TEXAS:
A Century of Friendship
 Over
100 years ago Cognac, France and Denison, Texas shared two of it's
citizens with the world to solve a major destructive force - the
grapevine destroyer, phylloxera. It was 1880 and the phylloxera
plague was rampant in France, especially in the Charante Region
where Cognac is located. The phylloxera root louse was destroying
the prestigious French wine grapes and therefore, destroying the
economy of France. France assigned the preeminent French scientist,
Pierre Viala the task of finding a cure for the phylloxera plague.
This investigation brought him to the United States and to the
home of Thomas Volney Munson in Denison, Texas. The two scientists
collaborated on the problem for several days in Denison and various
other locations in Texas to view the native grapes of Texas in
their natural habitat. For you see, the soils of the Charante and
Denison are very similar and therefore should have grape species
capable of growing in either location. T. V. Munson suggested that
the only way to save the French vineyards was to graft the Vitis
vinifera
varieties to resistant rootstocks.
Munson
knew that the Texas rootstocks were resistant to phylloxera
and at his suggestion, Pierre Viala agreed that it was a good
plan of action. Thousands of bundles of Texas rootstocks were
shipped to France where Pierre Viala and other French scientists
started educating the French winegrowers on the enormous grafting
tasks that lay ahead. The grafting literally continues to this
day.
For his
monumental contributions to France, T. V. Munson was awarded
the highest award that could be given a foreign civilian, the
Chevalier du Merite Agricola and was inducted into the Legion
of Honor in 1888. To commemorate the award 100 years later,
a Centennial Celebration was held in 1988 in both Cognac and
Denison where identical plaques were presented to each city
and official delegations visited in both countries.
While the
Denison delegation was in Cognac, Mayor Francis Hardy asked
David Munson of the W. B. Munson Foundation, to investigate
the possibility of establishing a formal relationship between
the two cities. This was accomplished and in October of 1992
a delegation from Denison went to Cognac and in a formal ceremony
established the Sister City relationship. In a reciprocal visit,
an official trade delegation from Cognac was in Denison in
October. 1993 to begin the economic development strategies
between the two cities. Upon the arrival of the Cognac delegation,
Denison Mayor Ben Munson stated, "This Sister City relationship
marks the beginning of an international economic development
venture which will significantly benefit the peoples of Denison
and Cognac for generations to come." Educational and professional
exchange programs will be implemented in 1994.
Economic
development and trade are of paramount interest to both cities,
and with a relationship that spans over 100 years, this new
international venture should mature rapidly and reap great
rewards to both great cities.
Cognac,
France Denison's Sister City
The
Legacy of Thomas Volney Munson
The Texas Grape and Wine History
T. V. Munson
Memorial Vineyard
The
Thomas Volney Munson Memorial Vineyard is located on the
campus of Grayson County College at Denison, Texas, in his
beloved Grayson County, an area that he first described in
coming to Texas in 1876 by stating, "I have found my
grape paradise!" It must surely have been true, for
he spent the remaining years of his life in the area developing
superior grape varieties from the wild native grapes along
the bluffs of the Red River and its tributaries. As a result
of the dedicated research of Mr. Wallace E. Dancy, a retired
oil company controller, during the early 1970s, Thomas Volney
Munson's magnificent achievements were rediscovered. Mr.
Dancy's research led him to Mr. John Clift, State Editor
of the Denison Herald and author of the weekly newspaper
column, "Wine Rack." These two energetic investigators
collaborated on their viticultural "hero" and discovered
that many of the Munson grape varieties still existed, mostly
in private collections. Voluminous amounts of information
were collected from many sources and, as a result of the
contacts make throughout the nation, and admiration society
for T. V. Munson was launched. The W. B. Munson Foundation
of Denison, Texas, was contacted and a project to honor T.
V. Munson, brother of W. B. Munson, was begun.
In the
spring of 1974, a meeting was held on the campus of Grayson
County College attended by Mr. Ben Munson, III, Foundation
president; Dr. Truman Wester, president, Grayson County College;
Mr. Ben McKinney, Foundation director; and Mr. John Clift seeking
the expertise of the college's Horticulture Department in developing
the memorial. "I've asked the college to assist in this
project," Munson said, "because I feel that this
area has great potential for the grape industry. Grayson County
College has the potential management skill more so than any
other institution in the area. I feel that we need this kind
of expertise to make the project work." An advisory committee
was appointed, consisting of Mr. Clift, Mr. Mr. W. E. Dancy,
Mr. Ben McKinney, Mr. Ben Munson, III, Mr. David Munson, Dr.
Truman Wester, and Mr. W. E. Wilcox. Mr. Horace Foster, who
had worked for T. V. Munson as a child, was appointed special
advisor to the project. And so it was, the T. V. Munson Memorial
Vineyard was created! The agricultural instructor for the college,
Roy E. Renfro, Jr... was appointed administrator of the vineyard
project and given the authority to proceed with the development
of the memorial. Land preparation, vineyard layout, securing
variety donors, soil tests, etc., kept the advisory committee
and the administrator busy during the summer and fall of 1974.
When spring of 1975 arrived, the vineyard plot was ready to
accept the first few grape varieties that had been located.
From this
meager beginning of five varieties, the memorial now has 60
of the Munson cultivars in production. The T. V.
Munson Memorial Vineyard is located on the West Campus of
Grayson County College, one half mile west of the intersection
of State
Highway 1417 and 691 between Sherman and Denison, Texas.
The plan is to have as many as possible of the 300 Munson varieties
in residence when the memorial is completed. The Munson three-wire
' T' trellis system has been used with native cedar posts
having
been cut from timber along the banks of the Red River where
many of the native grapes Munson used are still thriving.
A greenhouse has been constructed to aid in the success rated
of rooting cuttings of the rare Munson varieties. A turn-of-the
century style brick maintenance building has been constructed
adjacent to the greenhouse and serves as an area for propagation
work and storage of the Munson grape cultivars. A museum
and
library have been constructed overlooking the memorial vineyard
to house the memorabilia of T. V. Munson and to serve as
regional viticulture and enology center. The T. V. Munson Memorial
Vineyard
opened for public tours in the summer of 1979.
T. V. Munson Viticulture & Enology
Center
The T.
V. Munson Viticulture and Enology Center, which officially
opened September 10, 1988, serves as a state and regional center
for the delivery of educational programs in viticulture and
enology and a repository for historical documents of international
significance to the wine industry. The building houses a library
for research documents and historical memorabilia; classroom
and office space; and workroom facilities for processing grape
plants, juice, and wine. Academic credit and credit-free courses
are conducted in the facility throughout the year.
Grayson County College's Viticulture and Enology program is one of the
few degreed grape growing and wine making programs in the country, and
the first of its kind in a community college. GCC's timely offering of
the program corresponds with the growing popularity of vineyard and winery
operations in the southwestern United States.
The future of the viticulture and enology program at Grayson County College
will be measured in the quality of its graduates and their success on-the-job.
Using the foundation laid by Munson and the Texas grape and wine industry,
the program is designed to be of world class. A bright future lies ahead
as the program grows and as new technologies emerge.
An underlying philosophy of our program is to create constance of purpose
toward improvement of product and service, with the aim for the graduates
to be competitive, stay in business, and provide leadership for change. |
