THE ORIGINS OF CALIFORNIA WINE
If California were its own country, it would be the fourth largest producer worldwide, behind only the old giants of France, Italy, and Spain.
Buongiorno amici:
California is one of the world’s most acclaimed wine production regions. It makes up roughly 90% of the wine industry in the United States. And if California were its own country, it would be the fourth largest producer worldwide, behind only the old giants of France, Italy, and Spain. Moreover, it is not simply the sheer size of the Californian wine industry that is noteworthy, but the quality of the wines made in Napa Valley, Sonoma, and other parts of the state. For instance, in 1976, at a Paris wine-tasting event, blind tasters ranked California wines above their highly successful French challengers.
This is especially unusual because the California wine industry is comparatively very young. It only emerged around 250 years ago along the west coast. Much of its origins can be traced to one man, Father Junipero Serra, a Spanish missionary often referred to as the Apostle of California.
Here, we examine his pivotal role in the origins of Californian wine with a historical immersion.
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