Journey to Harvest . . . and Beyond!

Monthly postings by Squire Fridell

Sonoma Valley… 200 Years of Growing Wine Grapes!

At the end of this month, the 127th Vintage Festival Weekend will be happening here in Sonoma Valley, celebrating the 200th year of growing wine grapes in our Valley. That’s right…200 years! Wow!

That would put the year at 1824 and, certainly, twenty decades is a reason to celebrate. That beginning year may have been a long time ago (even before I was born!) but it’s not the earliest record of California’s wine grape planting.

Before 1824…
Winemaking had been a common practice throughout Europe for thousands of years, but it wasn’t until relatively recently that grape growing and winemaking began on this continent. Until 1821, Mexico (and what is now Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, and Texas) were lands owned by Spain, a very religious country. The Spaniards began building missions (religious outposts) as far back as the 17th century in Baja California in order to “spread the Christian Gospel”. Along with each mission, the missionaries grew grapes for religious purposes as wine was a necessary element of holy communion.

In 1769, seven years before the signing of our Declaration of Independence, Spain began expanding north into “Alta California” to build even more missions. A religious priest by the name of Father Junipero Serra was dispatched by Spain to travel into this uncharted land, which later became “California.” His first stop was (what is now) San Diego and there, Father Serra built his first mission that he christened “Mission San Diego de Alcalá.” As that mission was being built, of course, Father Serra planted grapes to make the wine that was necessary for communion. When the wine experiment proved to be a resounding success, Father Serra was dispatched by his mother country to move further north. Mission San Juan Capistrano was built next, and they planted 2,000 grapevines at that site. Spain then tasked Father Serra to continue farther north and establish more missions. Serra eventually created eight missions during his lifetime. In total, 21 missions were constructed in Alta California, each with its own vineyard to produce wine for communion.

And then…
In 1823, the 21st and final mission, San Francisco Solano, was built just off the town square right here in our hometown. Our “Sonoma Mission” was the only mission of the 21 that was built under Mexican rule rather than Spanish, as Mexico had finally gained independence from Spain in 1821. Father José Altimira was the missionary responsible for the task and within one year, he had planted enough vines to produce 1,000 gallons of wine per year (certainly enough for communion!). Like all the missionaries and missions, the goal of the missions was to convert the indigenous population into baptized Christians. As we now know, there were many devastating results of those ill-guided intentions including tragic impacts on indigenous peoples and their cultures. (But that’s another story for another time…)

General Vallejo Statue on the Sonoma Square

Enter Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo!

In 1834, just ten years after Altimira had built his mission in our valley, two things happened that would forever change the world in which we now live. First, the Mexican government decided to appropriate and de-commission the mission and the vineyards began to grow fallow. Secondly, that same year the Mexican government assigned General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the enterprising commandant of the Presidio in San Francisco, to command this rural “backward” village where the mission had been created. After Vallejo arrived with his family and took charge, he immediately went about building homes for himself and his large family and he began to lay out our Plaza, build barracks to house his troops, and design and name the streets in our town. (If you have not visited the barracks on our square or the beautifully restored “Vallejo homestead” not far from our plaza on Spain Street, I encourage you to do so.)

The saving grace was that Vallejo loved wine. Two years after he settled, he began to plant 20,000 grapevines to continue where the missionaries had left off, this time not planting grapes to make wine for communion but to enjoy wine as a commercial beverage. It proved to be a sound investment for him and by 1854, Vallejo’s wine had produced an income of $20,000 (a huge amount of money in those days). Vallejo’s brother Salvadore, also seeing profits, began planting additional vineyards east of Sonoma, one of which eventually became today’s Buena Vista. (Read the rest of our tumultuous, feast-to-famine history of wine in our Valley in my earlier “History of Wine” Kenwood Press articles.)

The Name “Sonoma”…
Vallejo was probably the first to use the word “Sonoma” as the name for his new pueblo. Even though it was disputed for years where the name originated, anthropologists now say that “Sonoma” is a compilation of two Wappo tribes’ words: “tso” meaning “earth” and “noma” meaning “home or village.” Put them together and say it fast and it comes out pretty close to “Sonoma.” There you go…. For over 150 years, we’ve also been known as The Valley of the Moon (another disputed origin) which became the popular novel penned by our own Jack London in 1913.

What Grape Varieties Did the Missionaries Plant?
The common variety that those missionaries planted for communion up and down our coast was a thickskinned, drought-tolerant, high-yielding red variety they called “the mission grape”. The grape’s origin is disputed but is closely related to varieties from Spain, Chile, and Argentina.

It is thought that the early missionaries had brought the grape cuttings with them from Spain (more dispute). As the missions moved up our coast and the acreage of grapevines for communion increased, cuttings from those early vines were propagated and traveled with the missionaries to the next site and planted. Even though the mission grape has pretty much disappeared from today’s vineyards, it’s interesting to note that up until 1880, it was the most common variety planted and grown in California. Unfortunately (or fortunately as we look back) about that time, a worldwide vine disease called phylloxera destroyed almost all of the grapevines in the world, Sonoma included. When the solution was discovered late in the 1800’s (grafting to resistant rootstock), we subsequently had discovered European varieties, and the mission grape was replaced with what we felt were higher-quality European grapes. (One of those original 18th century mission grapevines is located at the San Gabriel Mission. The rambling vine is affectionately known as “Vina Madre”).

Don’t miss the Sonoma Valley Vintage Festival, September 26 to 28, celebrating our 200 years of growing grapes for wine! Some events on Sept 28 are free, including the Blessing of the Grapes at 9:30 a.m. on the plaza, the Firefighter Water Fights following at 11 a.m., and the Artisan Festival on the plaza with live music, food, and wine from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Suzy and I will be at every event, so come up and say “Hi”!

“We are all mortal until that first kiss… or that second glass of wine.”

– Edwardo Galeano

“Men are like wine – some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.”

– Pope John XXIII

Squire Fridell
Winemaker, Vineyard Manager, CEO, CFO, COO, EIEIO, Wino & Janitor
GlenLyon Vineyards & Winery
Two Amigos Wines