Learn More About Wine History in California.
Many people connect fine wines with France and Italy, but the reality is that California wine is amongst some of the best, finest wines on the market today! Wine creation didn’t originally start out in California but is one of the biggest producers and sellers of wine in our modern-day marketplace. Curious as to how it became that way? Take a look at the information below!
Discovering the New World
As with the many things, wine came over with the colonization of the New World. The first vineyard opened in 1683, though it was Junipero Serra in 1779 that really started off wine production. Coming originally to spread the gospel to the people of the New World, this Spanish missionary is remembered today for being at the head of wine in California.
Wine over the years
Throughout the early 1880s, vineyards and distilleries started setting up shop in order to make a profit off of the growing variety of wines that could be made and sold at a high profit. Already, these wines were considered to be fine and sophisticated.
The Gold Rush hit in the mid-1800s, and this really impacted the wine market. Gold was discovered at a winery, which immediately brought attention to it. Even when the Gold Rush moved elsewhere in the area, many people had flocked to California for this reason. This increase in population also created an increase in wine and its many varieties. Wineries also supplied wine to gold miners themselves, offering great rewards.
Prohibition and onward
Even a plague couldn’t stop the booming wine industry, but Prohibition did. It left the entire industry in ruins since everyone was forced to stop production and start to look at bootlegging wine instead. It took an entire century for the industry to recover from this national decision.
Modern Californian wine
By the 1960s, the wine industry was back and booming better than ever. There were many wines produced that experts easily agreed were fine and high quality, but there wasn’t much talk about them outside of California. Other production locations were touted with great quality wines.
In 1970, California wine was put head to head at a professional, world-renowned wine tasting that officially changed it forever. All of a sudden, the experts agreed that it was, in fact, a fine wine, and the rest is history. California-based wine skyrocketed in value, and today it remains among some of the top quality wines on the market.
Just the start
Previously, wine lovers had to travel to California to taste these delicious wines, but now shipping wine is no longer as expensive as it used to be, and you can experience this beautiful wine around the country and even the world. Online wine is also normal now, and you’ll be able to really get this wine from anywhere and everywhere that you could hope for.
This is something to think about seriously when you are looking at just what you should try the next time that you are searching for a new bottle to try. Why not make it a high-end, fine California wine?
