- Regions
- Wines
- Winemaking
- Winegrowing
California Wine Timeline
1770s Franciscan monks plant California’s first winegrapes, the mission variety, at their 21 missions.
1812 Russian colonists plant winegrapes at Fort Ross on the Sonoma Coast.
1833 Bordelais Jean-Louis Vignes brings the first European vines to Los Angeles.
1838 George Yount plants the first winegrapes in Napa Valley.
1849 Gold Rush draws immigrants to California, including many winemakers.
1850 California becomes the 31st state in the Union.
1850s California’s winemaking base begins to shift from southern to northern California.
1860s The California wine industry surges with the arrival of wine-drinking and winemaking Italian and German immigrants.
1861 Agoston Haraszthy brings 100,000 European vine cuttings to Sonoma and other parts of California.
1906 Northern California earthquake destroys wine cellars and stocks.
1920 Prohibition begins and alcohol consumption becomes illegal. Many wineries close, though some wineries stay open by making sacramental wines for mass and some winegrape growers survive by shipping fresh table grapes to home winemakers who were legally allowed to make 200 gallons annually.
1933 Prohibition is repealed; only 160 of California’s original 700 wineries are still in business.
1934 The Wine Institute is created to support California’s wine industry.
1939 The University of California at Davis builds its first enology building. The program will soon begin turning out future winemaking stars.
1960 Wineries begin labeling wine by grape variety rather than by generic name; for the first time, the United States’ sales of table wine exceed that of dessert wine.
1970s Forward-thinking vintners start wineries that become leaders in California’s wine quality revolution.
1976 California wines stun the world by beating French wines in the “Judgment of Paris” tasting.
1980s Vine-damaging root louse phylloxera results in many growers replanting to superior varieties and using innovative planting and trellising techniques.
1991 The CBS-TV “60 Minutes” program broadcasts a story about the “French Paradox” – compared to Americans, the French have a 40% lower incidence of coronary heart disease, despite a lifestyle that includes a high-fat diet, smoking and little vigorous exercise.
1996 USDA AND HHS release the “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” which updates the official alcohol message, emphasizing moderate consumption with meals, and stating that moderation is “associated with a lower risk for coronary heart disease.”
1997 Fresno State establishes the first licensed, bonded, commercial winery on a United States university campus.
2005 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that states cannot discriminate by allowing in-state wineries to ship to its adult residents yet banning out-of-state wineries from shipping to those same consumers. The decision opened many states to direct-to-consumer wine shipping from about 50% of U.S. adult consumers to 81% as of July 2008.
2006 In a re-enactment of the “Judgment of Paris,” a California Cabernet Sauvignon wins again; California’s 4,600 growers and 2,700 winemakers produce 2.7 billion bottles of wine, showing tremendous growth.
1812 Russian colonists plant winegrapes at Fort Ross on the Sonoma Coast.
1833 Bordelais Jean-Louis Vignes brings the first European vines to Los Angeles.
1838 George Yount plants the first winegrapes in Napa Valley.
1849 Gold Rush draws immigrants to California, including many winemakers.
1850 California becomes the 31st state in the Union.
1850s California’s winemaking base begins to shift from southern to northern California.
1860s The California wine industry surges with the arrival of wine-drinking and winemaking Italian and German immigrants.
1861 Agoston Haraszthy brings 100,000 European vine cuttings to Sonoma and other parts of California.
1906 Northern California earthquake destroys wine cellars and stocks.
1920 Prohibition begins and alcohol consumption becomes illegal. Many wineries close, though some wineries stay open by making sacramental wines for mass and some winegrape growers survive by shipping fresh table grapes to home winemakers who were legally allowed to make 200 gallons annually.
1933 Prohibition is repealed; only 160 of California’s original 700 wineries are still in business.
1934 The Wine Institute is created to support California’s wine industry.
1939 The University of California at Davis builds its first enology building. The program will soon begin turning out future winemaking stars.
1960 Wineries begin labeling wine by grape variety rather than by generic name; for the first time, the United States’ sales of table wine exceed that of dessert wine.
1970s Forward-thinking vintners start wineries that become leaders in California’s wine quality revolution.
1976 California wines stun the world by beating French wines in the “Judgment of Paris” tasting.
1980s Vine-damaging root louse phylloxera results in many growers replanting to superior varieties and using innovative planting and trellising techniques.
1991 The CBS-TV “60 Minutes” program broadcasts a story about the “French Paradox” – compared to Americans, the French have a 40% lower incidence of coronary heart disease, despite a lifestyle that includes a high-fat diet, smoking and little vigorous exercise.
1996 USDA AND HHS release the “Dietary Guidelines for Americans” which updates the official alcohol message, emphasizing moderate consumption with meals, and stating that moderation is “associated with a lower risk for coronary heart disease.”
1997 Fresno State establishes the first licensed, bonded, commercial winery on a United States university campus.
2005 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that states cannot discriminate by allowing in-state wineries to ship to its adult residents yet banning out-of-state wineries from shipping to those same consumers. The decision opened many states to direct-to-consumer wine shipping from about 50% of U.S. adult consumers to 81% as of July 2008.
2006 In a re-enactment of the “Judgment of Paris,” a California Cabernet Sauvignon wins again; California’s 4,600 growers and 2,700 winemakers produce 2.7 billion bottles of wine, showing tremendous growth.