When you imagine a California winery, your mind probably goes to Napa Valley before SoCal. But as Evan Lovett tells us on “L.A. In a Minute,” Los Angeles was once the center of California’s wine industry.
The first grapevine planted in L.A. is older than the United States. Known as the “mother vine” or “Trinity Vine,” it was planted at the San Gabriel Mission in the 1770s and is still alive today.
The San Gabriel Mission became California’s first winery, but L.A.’s wine industry didn’t really take off until the 1830s, when Jean-Louis Vignes imported Cabernet and Sauvignon Blanc vines from France.
Vignes’ high-quality wines helped turn L.A. into the so-called “City of Vines.” By the end of the 19th century, L.A. was home to over 100 vineyards, more than anywhere else in the country.
But in the 20th century, urbanization put the city’s wine dominance to an end. As property value skyrocketed, vineyards were ripped up and turned into housing.
Today, remnants of L.A.’s winemaking history can be seen in the centuries-old grapevines growing on buildings on Olvera Street, and at the San Antonio Winery in Lincoln Heights, one of the few local wineries to survive Prohibition.
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