Marcia Ehinger is a retired physician who writes in many genres, poetry and prose. A member of the Sacramento Branch of the California Writers Club, she has had poems and short stories published in several CWC anthologies and the regional medical society journal.
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Early European Settlers in California Part 4 continued from Part 3
Roots of Winemaking in Sonoma — Vallejo and Haraszthy
Early European Settlers in California Part 4 continued from Part 3
Roots of Winemaking in Sonoma — Vallejo and Haraszthy
Many of us have enjoyed a glass of California wine. Our wines are known throughout the world because of two men who preserved the legacy of turning grapes into wine and continually improved the process. Today, the University of California, Davis carries on that tradition with a department specializing in viticulture (growing grapes) and enology (making wine).
The growing of grapes and production of wine began when Europeans settled in California. The Franciscan Fathers brought grapevines to the missions they founded—beginning with San Diego in 1769 and ending with San Francisco Solano in present-day Sonoma in 1823. These early “mission grapes” were later replaced by European varieties imported by settlers. The pioneers of modern California winemaking were General Mariano Vallejo and Count—or Colonel, in Wild West lingo—Agoston Haraszthy.
Mariano Vallejo: A Californio Leader
Mariano Vallejo was a Californio—a native-born Californian—who witnessed a pirate attack on his hometown of Spanish Monterey, was tutored by an English immigrant, served in the military of Mexican California, and was later elected State Senator after California joined the United States. He collected early writings on California history and authored a five-volume account of the Spanish and Mexican periods.
Born in 1807, Vallejo followed his father into military service. When Mexico gained independence from Spain, the government began to secularize the missions and confiscate their property. In 1835, Vallejo was authorized to construct a military post and lay out the city of Sonoma near Mission San Francisco de Solano. He was also granted land for a family home, where he planted mission grapes and initiated commercial winemaking in California.
Agoston Haraszthy: A Visionary Immigrant
Agoston Haraszthy was a Hungarian nobleman who first visited the United States, then returned to bring his family and establish a city and winery in Wisconsin. He came to California during the Gold Rush, helped develop part of San Diego, served as sheriff, and was elected to the California Assembly.
After meeting Vallejo, Haraszthy brought his lifetime knowledge of European grape growing and winemaking to Sonoma. He wrote both a Hungarian guide to the United States and the first treatise on viticulture and winemaking published in California.
In 1857, Haraszthy visited Vallejo’s estate in Sonoma, which reminded him of his Hungarian homeland. After years of searching for the ideal site for European-style viticulture, he moved his vines to Sonoma and founded Buena Vista Winery. He dug into the hillside to create stone cellars and took on Prussian immigrant Charles Krug as an apprentice winemaker. Krug later developed the wine industry in Napa and married a niece of General Vallejo.
In 1863, Haraszthy’s sons, Attila and Árpád, were married in a double ceremony to Vallejo’s daughters, Natalie and Jovita.
Decline and Disappearance
Tragically, Haraszthy overextended himself financially. By the mid-1860s, his vines were turning brown, and critics blamed his experimental growing methods. Unknown to them, a small insect called Phylloxera was beginning to spread throughout California—an infestation that would later devastate vineyards worldwide.
Haraszthy was forced out of the viticultural society. He left Buena Vista and filed for bankruptcy.
In 1868, he departed for Nicaragua, where he formed a partnership to establish a large sugar plantation, intending to produce rum for American markets. In July 1869, he disappeared while crossing a river on his property. His body was never found, and his family believed he was dragged under by alligators.* The Father of California Viticulture was gone at 56 years of age.
(*Note: There are no alligators in Nicaragua—only crocodiles and caimans.)
~ Marcia Ehinger
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