regije

California is not the oldest wine-growing state in the USA! They planted vines in Virginia 150 years earlier

Published: 24.09.2025

World

Ivo Kozarčanin

Bakhov Sin

As early as 1619, the Assembly of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in America, in what is now Virginia, passed Act 12, which ordered colonists to plant imported European vines. In the late 18th century, President Thomas Jefferson, inspired by years spent in France as an Ambassador, made wines from European grapes at his Monticello estate. Not very successfully, due to Virginia's challenging climate, pests and unsuitable varieties, his vision laid the foundation for future American viticulture. Today, Virginia is home to more than 300 wineries.

California is not the oldest wine-growing state in the USA! They planted vines in Virginia 150 years earlier

1202-Thomas_Jefferson_by_Rembrandt_Peale,_1800

Californian wine story begins with the arrival of Spanish Franciscan missionaries from what is now Mexico. Americans claim that the Franciscan Junípero Serra planted the first vineyard at Mission San Diego de Alcalá in 1769, so that they could have wine for communion. According to other sources, the pioneer of California winemaking was the Jesuit Fernando Consag, born in 1703 in Varaždin as Ferdinand Konščak. This missionary, explorer of California and cartographer died in 1759, a decade before Junípero Serra planted the vines.

Cover photo: Vinograd Pippin Hill u Virginiji, Meg von Haartman on Unsplash