Frog Hollow Photography Exhibit: Peter Miller – French Wine

Frog Hollow Gallery Presents Vermont Photographer Peter Miller’s Vintage Images of the 1957 Margaux Wine Harvest!

In 1957 Peter Miller was a Signal Corps Photographer for the US army stationed in Paris, France. He took two weeks leave and went to the Margaux region of France to photograph the wine harvest. He developed the negatives, put them in a folder and forgot about them until late 2009 when he rediscovered them, scanned them into his computer and began to work on them. The exhibit next month is the first time these images will be exhibited outside of Peter’s own gallery.

Peter tells of his Experience:

In the spring of 1956 I received orders to ship out to Europe for a 2 and a half-year tour of duty as a US Army Signals Corps photographer stationed in downtown Paris. What luck!

I was a hick from Vermont with a university education. Paris became my graduate school. There I learned about a foreign culture, urban life, art, architecture, music, beauty, fashion, sex, fine food and of course wine. My interest in wine is what led me to take a train to Bordeaux and spend my leave in nearby Margaux, photographing the vendange, or wine harvest, in one of the most famous wine growing regions in the world.

This was during the fall of 1957 and I lived in a small room on the top floor of a simple hotel, and the only one in town, called the Hotel Margaux. I spent my time in the vineyards, sheds, and caves, watching the harvest of the grapes, the wine being pressed and put into large vats, and tasting older vintages. The wine harvest is hard work, but a festive time. Everyone turned out to help—children, teenagers, parents, grandparents and even great grandparents. Communal meals were served and the people were very friendly to this young photographer (I was 23) who shot so many photographs with a Rolleiflex and a Leica equipped with a 35mm lens.

What I recall is the easy way they accepted me and allowed me to photograph them. I was a novelty as was photography. They were curious, amused and pleased that I was taking their photograph. They, more than I, had a sense of place, and a sturdy understanding of their role in the history of their town.

I will never forget the smell of the caves with the big barrels of wine and the tapping and pouring and tasting of older vintages. Never have I tasted such elegance. A chateaux wine that has not traveled is the essence of the terroir and the people who shaped this wine through so many centuries.

I photographed mostly at Chateau Lascombes, at that time owned by Alexis Lichine, Chateau Tour des Mons, a small unknown vineyard, and at Chateau Margaux, a premier cru and the best known of the Bordeaux reds.

When I went to Chateau Margaux I was taken to a small but elegant garden that was empty save for a few tables and chairs. They asked me to sit and shortly a waiter in a white jacket brought a bottle of Margaux and a goblet. He opened the wine and poured a small portion and waited for my approval. When I smiled, he filled the goblet half way and left, leaving the bottle on the table.

I swirled the wine, scented a musty sensuality like I had never experienced. I sipped.

“My,” I said to myself, “this is good!”

I do not remember the year of the wine. I think it was from the early fifties. I had another sip. Relaxed in my chair and gazed at the garden. I floated in a reverie of wonder and contentment.

That’s the only time I ever had a Margaux. I did not realize what a gift I was given. Chateau Margaux, 2009—one bottle of 750 ml—sells today for $1,300.

I understand the 2009 Chateau Margaux is one of the greatest vintages but is being surpassed by the 2010, say those critics who tapped into a barrel early this year.

The photographs I made in Margaux remained in a file for half a century and only recently have been scanned and placed on line at www.petermillerimages.com.

About Peter Miller:

Born in New York City in 1934 Miller was raised in New Jersey and Connecticut. His mother moved the family to Weston, Vermont in 1947. He went to Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester. There were no photography teachers at that time so he taught himself.

He attended the University of Toronto where he was selected by Yousuf Karsh to assist him in Europe while he photographed such people as Picasso, Albert Schweitzer, Pope John, Field Marshall Montgomery and other luminaries.

In 1955 Miller was inducted into the US Army. He graduated first in his class from the Ft. Monmouth Signal Corps photography school and was assigned to Paris as a photographer.

When Miller left Paris in 1958, he gave up photography deciding to learn how to write. Within a year he was working for LIFE Magazine as a reporter.

Miller resigned from LIFE to move with his family back to Vermont where he has continued to write and photograph. He is known for his iconic black and white photographs of native Vermonters and country scenes. He is the author of eight books including The First Time I Saw Paris, People of the Great Plains, Vermont People, Vermont Farm Women and Vermont Gathering Places. His books have won numerous national awards and he was named 2006 Vermonter of the Year and honored by the Vermont State Legislature for his documentation of Vermont’s culture.

About Frog Hollow

Frog Hollow is a 501C3 non profit organization. Having opened its doors in 1971, Frog Hollow is the first state recognized Craft Center in the Nation. Our gallery in Burlington features the work of over 200 juried Vermont artisans. Frog Hollow exhibits a unique collection of fine traditional and contemporary Vermont craft. Our goal is to promote original works of lasting beauty and impeccable quality by providing a place for artists who reside in Vermont’s communities to exhibit and sell their work. We seek to support and celebrate individual design and craftsmanship through the sale of items that are made by hand, with loving care and attention to detail. The VERMONT STATE CRAFT CENTER designation is an honorary title bestowed upon our organization for its elevated standards in supporting fine craft and educating the public about it. Our artisan community is choosen through a constantly evolving jury system held throughout the year. All of our funding comes from the generosity of our artisan community, sales of our artisan creations and private donations. We receive no state funding.

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