Historical Chronicle

1769 · Mission Era

Spanish missions plant the first vines

Franciscan friars accompanying Junípero Serra planted the 'Mission' grape at Mission San Diego de Alcalá, establishing California's first vineyards for sacramental wine. Mission plantings spread north along El Camino Real through the 18th century.

AVAs: Napa Valley, Sonoma County.

1839 · Gold Rush Era

George Yount plants Napa's first vines

George Calvert Yount planted the first vines in Napa Valley at his Rancho Caymus grant, marking the transition from mission viticulture to secular, commercial plantings in the region that would become California's flagship.

AVAs: Napa Valley.

1857 · Gold Rush Era

Agoston Haraszthy founds Buena Vista Winery

Hungarian-born Agoston Haraszthy established Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma, championing European vinifera varieties and later importing cuttings from Europe, helping shift California toward quality vinifera over the Mission grape.

AVAs: Sonoma County.

1861 · Gold Rush Era

Charles Krug founds Napa's first commercial winery

Charles Krug established his winery in what is now Rutherford, building the foundation of Napa's commercial industry and training a generation of winemakers including the Mondavi family's forebears.

AVAs: Rutherford, Napa Valley.

1880 · Phylloxera & Replanting

Phylloxera reaches California

The aphid Phylloxera, which had devastated European vineyards, reached California in the 1880s. The crisis forced replanting on resistant American rootstock, transforming the state's vineyard architecture and varietal selection.

AVAs: Napa Valley, Sonoma County.

1920 · Prohibition

Prohibition begins

The 18th Amendment and Volstead Act (1920–1933) banned commercial alcohol production, devastating California's wine industry. Vineyards were uprooted or converted to table grapes; only sacramental and home-winemaking production survived, hollowing out a generation of expertise.

AVAs: Napa Valley, Sonoma County.

1933 · Rebirth

Prohibition repealed

Repeal in 1933 restarted the industry from a depleted base. The post-Repeal decades saw slow rebuilding, dominated by large bulk-wine producers; fine wine would only re-emerge in earnest in the 1960s.

1965 · Rebirth

David Lett plants Oregon's first Pinot Noir

David Lett planted the Willamette Valley's first Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, betting that the cool, maritime climate could rival Burgundy. His Eyrie Vineyards 1975 Pinot would later place in a Burgundy-led blind tasting, putting Oregon on the world map.

AVAs: Willamette Valley, Dundee Hills. Varietals: Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris

1966 · Rebirth

Robert Mondavi founds his namesake winery

Robert Mondavi opened his Oakville winery in Napa Valley, the first major new winery in the valley since Prohibition, championing cold fermentation, oak aging, and varietal labeling — and defining the modern California fine-wine model.

AVAs: Napa Valley. Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay

1976 · Judgment of Paris

The Judgment of Paris

In a 1976 blind tasting in Paris, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' 1973 Cabernet and Chateau Montelena's 1975 Chardonnay defeated top French wines, announcing California — and Napa in particular — as a world-class region. The event reshaped global perceptions of New World wine.

AVAs: Stags Leap District, Napa Valley. Varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay

1983 · Modern Era

Napa Valley and Yakima Valley become AVAs

The federal AVA system, established under TTB authority, began designating American Viticultural Areas. Napa Valley (1983) and Yakima Valley (1983) were among the earliest, formalizing the concept of terroir-based appellations in the United States.

AVAs: Napa Valley, Yakima Valley.

1984 · Modern Era

Willamette Valley recognized as an AVA

The Willamette Valley AVA was established in 1984, formalizing Oregon's Pinot Noir region. Subsequent decades saw nested sub-AVAs (Dundee Hills, Eola-Amity, and others) carved out to distinguish distinct soil series and microclimates.

AVAs: Willamette Valley. Varietals: Pinot Noir

2001 · Modern Era

Red Mountain and Rogue Valley AVAs established

The early 2000s saw rapid AVA expansion, including Washington's Red Mountain (2001) and Oregon's Rogue Valley (2001), reflecting the maturation and differentiation of West Coast wine regions by terroir.

AVAs: Red Mountain, Rogue Valley.

600 BCE

Phocaean Greeks found Massalia

Greek colonists from Phocaea establish Massalia (Marseille) and plant the first Vitis vinifera vines in France.

52 BCE

Roman conquest of Gaul

Caesar's conquest enables systematic vineyard expansion in the Rhône, Bordeaux, and Burgundy.

476

Fall of Rome; the Church inherits the vine

As wine is sacramental, the Church preserves and protects viticulture across former Roman Gaul.

1098

Cistercians found Cîteaux

The Cistercian order begins the centuries-long mapping of Burgundy's climats plot by plot.

1309

Papacy moves to Avignon

The popes' Avignon residence gives rise to Châteauneuf-du-Pape — 'the new castle of the pope'.

1715

Dom Pérignon's legacy codified

The Benedictine cellarer of Hautvillers advances assemblage, stronger bottles, and cork stoppers in Champagne.

1789

French Revolution

Church vineyards are nationalized and sold, reshaping ownership across every great region.

1804

Napoleonic Code mandates equal inheritance

Generation-by-generation subdivision fragments Burgundy's great monastery estates.

1855

Bordeaux Classification

Napoleon III commissions the five-tier ranking of Médoc estates for the Paris Exposition.

1863

Phylloxera arrives in France

The aphid sweeps through French vineyards, ultimately destroying ~80% of European vines.

1936

AOC system established

Châteauneuf-du-Pape becomes the first formally codified Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée.

1973

Mouton Rothschild elevated

Château Mouton Rothschild is promoted to First Growth — the only change to the 1855 list.

2015

Burgundy climats inscribed by UNESCO

The climat system is recognized as a World Heritage Site for its cultural landscape.