I took a short detour from chronicling the Spanish-driven advance of vitis vinifera northward in New Spain to cover the faltering attempts at creating a wine industry in the English colonies along the eastern seaboard. Having conducted this necessary due diligence, I now return to the true story of wine in America: vitis vinifera in California.
When last I discussed the Spanish, I provided a high-level view of the spread of grapevines in Alta California. I flesh out the details in this post.
Juan Rodriguez Cabrello, a former Spanish conquistador residing in Guatemala, was commissioned by Pedro de Alvarado, the Governor, to explore the Pacific Ocean. Cabrello sailed out of Navidad on June 27, 1542, and landed at Ballast Point in San Diego Bay 108 days on, claiming the land for Spain. The expedition continued northward to Monterey Bay and overwintered in the Channel Islands where Cabrello died. The expedition continued north after his death, eventually reaching the Rogue River in today's Oregon.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, Spain became concerned about French, English, and Russian designs on its northern holdings which were, at that point, occupied by native peoples. Expansion of English holdings on the continent after the Seven-Year War heightened Spanish concerns about foreign incursions and the decision was taken in 1768 to settle these northern reaches.
The Spanish plan for colonization of California was threefold comprising a religious, military and civil format. First and second stages consisted of the concurrent establishment of missions to civilize native Indians and military reservations, called presidios, to guard the missions and settlers against hostilities. The third stage was the establishment of farming communities called Pueblos.
The strategy was launched in 1769 when Captain Gaspar de Portolá and Father Juniperro Serra established a Presidio and a Mission (San Diego de Alcalá) in San Diego. The totality of institutions established by the Spaniards along the Pacific coast of Alta California is shown in the figure below.
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| Missions, Pueblas, and Presidios established by the Spanish in Alta California |
One source points to the formation of Alta California "when Spain separated the Dominican Missions from the Franciscan Missions in approximately 1769 with the founding of the first Alta California mission in San Diego. Separate administrations were created in 1804 when the Province of the Californias, then a part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, was divided in two, along a line separating the Franciscan missions in the north from the Dominican missions in the south. The southern part became the territory of Baja California ... The northern part became Alta California" which roughly encompassed the current states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona north of the Gila River, along with parts of Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
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| Alta California (Source: sfsdhistory.com) |
The remainder of this post focuses on the missions of Alta California, given their importance in the history of California wine.
Mission of the Missions
Religion and culture were inseparable within the Spanish Empire with the Catholic monarchs specifically decreeing the conversion of natives in newly discovered lands. Conversion allowed the incorporation of natives into the Spanish Empire and included "instruction in religion and the language, customs, economics, and skills of the Spaniards." Franciscan monks from the College of San Fernando in Mexico, and operating under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church, were tasked with this conversion.
The Franciscans controlled the missions in Alta California until secularization. Friars with missionary experience from the College of San Fernando were selected to take over existing missions and to create new ones: "They knew the crafts of husbandry, weaving, carpentry and masonry" and were also well-versed in the teaching of religion.
Structure of the Missions
The dominant building at the mission was the Church which, in times of danger, could serve as a defensive structure. The facility also contained housing for priests, soldiers, married neophytes, and dormitories for male and single female neophytes.
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| A plan view of the Mission San Juan Capistrano complex (including the footprint of the "Great Stone Church") prepared by architectural historian Rexford Newcomb in 1916. (Source: Wikipedia) |
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| Mission San Diego de Alcalá, first California mission (Source: missionscalifornia.com) |
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| Drawing of Mission San Luis Rey de Francia (Source: dunnedwards.com) |
The sites were chosen based on water availability, available arable land, accessibility by sea or land and proximity to the center of native populations and were located one-day's journey apart. The road linking these missions was named El Camino Real.
Missions lands were of two types: (i) close-in to the mission and used for farming and small-animal agriculture and (ii) the land between missions which were used primarily for cattle-grazing (This latter class of lands were stripped from the missions in the land allocations conducted after the treaty ending the US-Mexico War (1846 - 1848).). Counts from 1834 show the missions owning 400,000 head of cattle, 60,000 horses, 300,000 goats, sheep, and swine. Crops that were grown include wheat, maize, beans, and other staples. Mission products included wine, brandy, leather, hides, wool, oil, cotton, hemp, linen, tobacco, and salt.
Mission Grape
The wine produced at the missions were made with Mission grapes grown therein. The characteristics of the Mission grape are shown in the chart below.
Mission San Gabriel came to be called La Vina Madre because of its 170 acres of vineyards.
Vineyard labor was provided by the natives but it was not voluntary. The natives were enticed to become baptized and, once they were, they were made to renounce their ways, reside in the mission, and provide labor, inclusive of vineyard work.
Mission Wine
A simple table wine and a fortified wine were made at the missions. The table wine was of a lighter variety and, due to a lack of proper storage, did not age well. The fortified wine was made from a mixture of freshly crushed mission grapes and brandy, the ratio being 3 gallons of juice to 1 gallon of 180 proof brandy. The must should not be allowed to ferment. This was a very sweet wine and can still be found in small amounts in California today under the moniker Angelica.
What did the Monks Accomplish?
The monks were instrumental to the development of California and the California wine industry in a number of ways:
- They were at the vanguard at opening up the region for settlement (On the other side of the coin, this was deleterious to the population and social fabric of the native populations who had previously occupied the land)
- They established that grapes could be successfully grown along the western seaboard of the US
- They established that vitis vinifera could be successfully grown in the US.
The chart below shows the correlation of the current-day California wine regions with the historical emplacement of missions within the state. To the naked eye, the correlation seems rather high.
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