The wide variety of wild grapes inNorth America were eaten by the indigenous people.[2] The first Europeans exploring parts of North America called itVinland because of the profusion of grape vines found there. The various native grapes had flavors which were unfamiliar to European settlers and did not like using them in the initial production ofAmerican wine. This led to repeated efforts to grow familiarVitis vinifera varieties. The first vines ofVitis vinifera origin came up throughNew Spain (Mexico) and were planted inSenecu in 1629, which is near the present day town ofSan Antonio, New Mexico.
The discovery in 1802 of the nativeCatawba grape led to very successful wine-making inOhio. By 1842Nicholas Longworth was growing 1,200 acres (4.9 km2) of Catawba grapes and making the country's firstSparkling wine. In 1858,The Illustrated London News described Catawba as "a finer wine of thehock species and flavor than any hock that comes from theRhine" and wrote that sparkling Catawba "transcends theChampagne ofFrance."[citation needed] But the successful operations in Ohio ceased when fungus disease destroyed the vineyards. Some growers responded by moving north to the shores ofLake Erie and its islands, wheremildew was not a problem. TheFinger Lakes region ofNew York State developed a successful wine-making industry beginning in the early 1860s when thePleasant Valley Wine Company began using carefully selected derivatives of native grapes to produce wine. In 1865 theUrbana Wine Company (which marketed its wine under theGold Seal label) was established. In 1872, O-Neh-Da Vineyard was established by the late Bishop Bernard McQuaid, on the shores of Hemlock Lake, to make pure grape wine for his churches. 1880 saw the establishment of theTaylor Wine Company. By the late 19th century, wines from the Finger Lakes were winning prizes at wine tastings in Europe.
InCalifornia, the first vineyard and winery was established by Spanish Catholic missionaries in 1769. California has two native grape varieties, but they make very poor quality wine. Therefore, the missionaries used theMission grape, which is called Criolla or "colonialized European" inSouth America. Although aVitis vinifera, it is a grape of "very modest" quality. The first secular vineyard was established inLos Angeles by an immigrant fromBordeaux,Jean-Louis Vignes. Dissatisfied with the Mission grape, he imported vines from France. By 1851 he had 40,000 vines under cultivation and was producing 1,000 US barrels (120,000 L) of wine per year.
Major wine production shifted to theSonoma Valley in northern California largely because of its excellent climate for growing grapes.General Mariano Vallejo, former commander of the presidio of Sonoma, became the first large-scale winegrower in the valley. In 1857,Agoston Haraszthy bought 520 acres (2.1 km2) near Vallejo's vineyards. In contrast to Vallejo and most others, Haraszthy planted his vines on dry slopes and did not irrigate them. Today, the value of dry farming to creating superior wine is generally recognized.
Haraszthy has been called the "Father of Modern Viticulture in California." He wroteReport on Grapes and Wines in California, a manual onvineyard management and wine making procedures in which he urged experimentation with different grape varieties in different soils and different parts of the state. He also urged the government to collect cuttings from Europe and distribute them to growers in California. In 1861, the State Legislature commissioned Haraszthy to travel to Europe and purchase a diversity of grapevines. He did so, and obtained 100,000 vines of 300 different varieties.
In 1852,Charles LeFranc established what became the very successfulAlmaden Vineyards, where he plantedCabernet Sauvignon,Pinot noir,Semillon, and many others. LeFranc produced good wine as did his son-in-law,Paul Masson. In 1854,John Patchett planted the first commercial vineyard inNapa Valley and established the first winery there in 1858.[3][4] In 1861Charles Krug who previously had worked for Agoston Haraszthy and Patchett founded his namesake winery inSt. Helena and began making his own wine.[5] Originally a Prussian political dissident, Krug learned the trade of the vintner as an apprentice to Haraszthy in the Sonoma Valley. The land on which Krug founded his winery was part of his wife's (Carolina Bale's) dowry. Krug became an important leader of winemaking in the Napa Valley. He was also a mentor forKarl Wente,Charles Wetmore andJacob Beringer, all of whom became important vintners.
Early on, the Napa Valley demonstrated leadership in producing quality wine. At the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889, Napa Valley wines won 20 of the 34 medals or awards (including four gold medals) won by California entries. This was the high point that was followed by 40 years of natural and human-caused disasters. Severe frosts, the outbreak of thephylloxera louse which destroyedVitis vinifera vines, an economic depression, theSan Francisco earthquake that destroyed an estimated 30,000,000 US gallons (110,000,000 L) of wine in storage, and the disaster of nationalProhibition from 1920 through 1933.
Some wineries managed to survive by making wine for religious services. However, grape growers prospered. Because making up to 200 US gallons (760 L) of wine at home per year was legal, such production increased from an estimated 4,000,000 US gallons (15,000,000 L) before Prohibition to 90,000,000 US gallons (340,000,000 L) five years after the imposition of the law. Unfortunately, quality grapes do not ship well, so producers ripped out their vines and replaced them with tough but poor quality grapes such asAlicante Bouschet andAlicante Ganzin.
Following Prohibition, American wine making reemerged in very poor condition. Many talented winemakers had died, vineyards had been neglected or replanted in poor quality grapes, and Prohibition had changed Americans' taste in wines. Consumers now demanded cheap "jug wine" (aka "dago red") and sweet, fortified (high alcohol) wine. Before Prohibition dry table wines outsold sweet wines by three to one, but after the ratio was more than reversed. In 1935, 81% of California's production was sweet wines. The reputation of the state's wines suffered accordingly.
During the 1970s a system was established to identify appellations of origins, using the termAmerican Viticultural Areas (AVA). An AVA guarantees that a minimum of 85% of the wine in the bottle comes from grapes grown in that AVA. The use of individualvineyard names guarantees that 95% of any wine using a vineyard name must be made from grapes grown in that vineyard, and from within a recognized AVA. There are 238 AVAs, of which 138 are in California.[6]
Leading the way out of the abyss was research conducted at theUniversity of California, Davis. Faculty published reports on which varieties of grapes grew best in which regions of the state, held seminars on winemaking techniques, consulted with grape growers and winemakers, offered academic degrees in viticulture, and promoted the production of quality wines. The results of their success would be demonstrated decades later at theParis wine tasting in 1976, the nation's 200th anniversary.