According to historical sources, the first wine in the US was made by French Huguenot immigrants in Florida in 1565 using the native American grape, Muscadine (Bates et al, 1989). Though successive European immigrants brought cuttings of vitus vinifera winegrapes from their homeland to the East Coast of the US, the majority did not survive due to phylloxera and other native pests.

A Brief History of Wine in America
Greystone Cellars in Napa Valley, CA (now the Culinary Institute of America) – Established 1889. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

It wasn’t until the 1620’s that Spanish explorers successfully made wine from vitus vinifera grapes in what is now the state of New Mexico (Mobley, 2017). Here, with its dry climate and sandy soil, they planted “Listán Prieto” grapes, which create a fruity dry red wine. A century later, the same grape was introduced to California by Spanish priests who established a chain of 21 missions, starting in the south at San Diego in 1769 and building the last mission at Sonoma in the north in 1823. They recruited Native Americans to assist in planting vineyards to make wine for religious services, as well to plant and harvest other crops. It was because of this, that the “Listán Prieto” grape became known as the “Mission” grape, and still maintains that name in California today. More importantly the early missions became a place for travelers to stay overnight and sample the wine – thus becoming locations for early wine tourism.

Historic Winemaking on the US East Coast

While the Spanish were making wine in California, efforts to make wine on the East Coast did not stop. As early as 1619, Lord Delaware imported grapevines from France to Virginia, but unfortunately, they all died due to the climate (Lukacs, 2000). President Thomas Jefferson, a great wine connoisseur, planted two vineyard sites at his Monticello home in Virginia, in 1771 and 1774, but neither was successful (Morgan, 2016). However, wineries using Native American grapes or hybrids, such as “Concord, Niagara, Norton and Catawba grapes,” were successful. Brotherhood Winery was established in 1839 in New York, and remains the oldest continually operated winery in America, today using both Native American and European grapes.

Winemaking spread to other states as well. One of the biggest successes was in Cincinnati, Ohio, where Nicolas Longworth created a sparkling pink Catawba wine that brought people in from many states to taste and buy it. It became so popular that a British reporter wrote about it in a London newspaper, comparing it to the great Champagnes of France (Luckas, 2000). In Wisconsin, Wollersheim Winery was established in 1842 by County Harazathy from Hungary, before he moved to California to start Buena Vista winery in 1857. In Missouri, Stone Hill Winery was established in 1847, building its reputation on making a complex red wine from the Norton grape, which it continues to do so today – making it one of the most visited wineries in the Midwest. Other famous old American wineries of the East Coast and Midwest include: Meiers Winery in Ohio built in 1856; Renault Winery of New Jersey established in 1864; Wiederkehr Wine Cellars and Post Famile Vineyards of Arkansas both started in 1880, and the Val Verde Winery of Texas established in 1883 (Thach, 2014).

Historic Wineries of California

Despite the success of wine and wine tourism in other states, it is California where wine thrived the most. This is mainly due to its sunny dry Mediterranean climate, making it perfect for grape growing, and is perhaps the reason that California is still the largest wine producer in the US. Therefore, wineries were established rapidly in California, especially in the 1850s and 1860’s, as entrepreneurs flooded into the prime grape-growing regions of Napa Valley and Sonoma County, north of San Francisco. Many old famous wineries were established at this time, in addition to Buena Vista and Krug. They include Beringer, Inglenook, and Schramsberg in Napa Valley, and Gundlach Bundschu, Sebastiani, and Korbel in Sonoma County, amongst others. Today these wineries all have successful wine tourism programs, attracting thousands of visitors each year.

A Brief History of Wine in America
Korbel Winery in Sonoma County, CA – Established 1882. Photo by MarkDoliner 

Historic Winemaking in Oregon & Washington

However, not all wine-loving immigrants settled in California. A small number moved further north to Oregon and Washington, planting grapes in both states as early as the 1850’s (Washington Wine, 2020; Oregon Wine History, 2020). These were primarily French, German and Italian immigrants who planted small vineyards of both American hybrid and European grape varieties. Despite this, the first large commercial scale plantings didn’t occur in Oregon and Washington until the 1960s. Since then, both states have expanded the number of wineries so that they have achieved second and third place, respectively in terms of the largest number of US wineries by state. Likewise, both states attract thousands of wine tourists each year.

Wine Produced in All 50 US States

Today wine is produced in all fifty US states, with the majority of wineries operating as small family businesses, and very much reliant on tourists visiting their winery in order to sell winery direct to consumers (DTC). Of the more than 10,000 wineries in the US, the top 50 producers hold more than 90% of domestic market share (Penn, 2020), selling primarily through distributors to on/off premise channels, such as grocery stores, wine shops, restaurants, and bars. This illustrates why the rest of the small wineries need to focus on wine tourism, and indeed, depend on it for their livelihood. Since they do not produce a large volume of wine, they primarily sell in local markets, to tourists visiting their wine region, and – with a few exceptions – to carefully selected on/off premise accounts. They have had to adapt to new and creative ways to sell wine direct to consumers (DTC), and many have adopted the six major DTC wine sales channels for wine tourism in the US market.

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