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merican
wine has
been produced for over 300 years. Today,
wine production is undertaken in all fifty
states, with California producing 89 per-
cent
of all US
wine.
The Unit-
ed States is
the fourth largest
wine producing
country in the world
after France, Italy,
and Spain.
The North American con-
tinent is home to
several native species
of grape, including
Vitis labrusca, Vitis
riparia, Vitis
rotundifolia,
and Vitis
vulpina,
but it
was the
introduc-
tion of the
European Vitis
vinifera by Euro-
pean
settlers that led to
the
growth
of the wine making
industry. With more than 1,100,000 acres
(4,500 km2) under vine, the United States
is the sixth most planted country in the
world after France, Italy, Spain, China and
Turkey
In California, the first vineyard and
winery was established
by the Franciscan missionary
Junípero Serra near San Diego in
1769. Later missionaries would
carry the vines northward, with
Sonoma’s first vineyard being
planted around 1805. California
has two native grape varieties,
but they make very poor quality
wine. Therefore, the missionar-
ies used the Mission grape,
which is called criolla in
South America. Al-
though a Vitis vinifera
variety, it is a grape of
“very modest” quality.
Jean-Louis Vignes was
one of the early settlers
to use higher quality
vinifera in his vineyard
near Los Angeles.
California’s Napa Valley
Wine Region
California’s Napa Valley
is the best-known, most
prestigious wine region
in America. And yet only
about four percent of
Cali-
fornia’s
wine