USA – Facts and figures

Around the time of the early middle ages, as Europe was finally recovering from the collapse of the Roman Empire and the Moors were at their peak in Spain, Norse settlers from Scandinavia began settling in small numbers in the north east of modern America. There were so many grape vines that they named this new country ‘Vinland’, although it’s unlikely they ever made wine from these strange flavoured and unsuitable native varieties. As British, Dutch and French immigrants began arriving through the 17th and 18th century, vineyards were planted on the eastern regions but with little success. There are few records, but had they brought European varieties, they would have instantly been destroyed by the Phylloxera louse that is native to the eastern region of America. There are records of a successful vineyard planted in Ohio, but this used native varieties that were resistant to the louse. Vines were later planted in San Diego, California by Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary who brought settlers from Mexico into San Diego. He established a mission there and the first known vineyard in California. As he moved north, he and others established 21 missions linking San Diego in the south to Sonoma in the north, bringing the cultivation of grapes. The first wines were produced for sacramental purposes and the daily table needs of the missions.