Page 100 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2025 THAILAND
P. 100
tainable practices that ensured survival. through treacherous waters during a sea-
They gathered wild grapes but also relied son of frequent storms. It was fifty years
on the mesquite tree, whose sugary beans after Columbus planted the cross on the
could be ground into meal for cakes or island of San Salvador when the two ships,
soaked in water to create a sweet drink— led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, entered
sometimes fermented into a potent bever- the bay.
age. Yet the refined art of winemaking, as It’s possible that the first wine con-
it would come to be known, remained ab- sumed in what is now San Diego occurred
sent. on the evening of Thursday, September 28,
While they did not cultivate wine, the 1542. It was common for Spanish naval ex-
Kumeyaay were familiar with fermented peditions to carry wine for both religious
and medicinal plant-based beverages. One rites and personal refreshment. Cabrillo
such plant, Toloache (Datura), held cere- may have raised his goblet and drunk to
monial significance. When its leaves, the newly discovered port he christened
stems, and roots were mixed with water, San Miguel.
they produced a powerful hallucinogenic The second recorded wine consumption
brew—one that could induce visions, stu- in California may have occurred during the
por, or even death if misused. 1602 expedition of Don Sebastián Vizcaíno,
Despite the absence of winemaking, the second explorer to visit the port. He
the land held all the right conditions for likely toasted with wine upon his arrival.
future viticulture. The warm, dry summers Vizcaíno renamed the bay San Diego, in
and mild winters, coupled with a diverse honor of Saint Didacus (San Diego de Al-
range of soils, would one day prove ideal calá).
for cultivating wine grapes.
On September 28, 1542, as the Chapter Three
Kumeyaay man carried his catch toward The Mission Period
the river, his world remained unchanged.
But by the next sunrise, the sails of a
Spanish galleon would break the horizon, hile it’s speculative whether
Cabrillo or Vizcaíno drank the
bringing with it a force that would forever W first wine in California, we do
alter his people’s way of life. Juan Ro-
dríguez Cabrillo’s arrival would mark the know that the first European vines were
beginning of profound transformation— planted in San Diego in 1769, coinciding
one that, centuries later, would introduce with the arrival of Spanish missions.
the art of winemaking to the sun-kissed Large quantities of wine were already
hills of San Diego. being produced in Baja California (then
part of New Spain). The vines had been
brought to the New World by Hernán
Chapter Two Cortés in the 1520s. Under his orders, vine-
The Explorers
yards were planted and later grafted onto
wild native grape rootstocks.
hey came in ships smaller and more With England and Russia exploring the
fragile than the standard Spanish Pacific Coast, Spain responded by dis-
T galleons—the San Salvador and the patching soldiers and Franciscan mission-
Victoria. aries to colonize and hold Alta California.
The crews consisted mostly of con- The first expedition was successful—
scripts and native “Mexicans.” With a com- but costly. In a letter dated July 16, 1769,
bination of fear and bravery, they sailed Padre Junípero Serra wrote to historian
100 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2025
