California wine is wine made in the U.S. state of California. Nearly three-quarters the size of France, California accounts for nearly 90 percent of entire American wine production. The production in California alone is one third larger than that of Australia. If California were a separate country, it would be the world's fourth-largest wine producer.
The state's viticultural history dates back to the 18th century when Spanish missionaries planted the first vineyards to produce wine for Mass.
Today there are more than 1,200 wineries in the state, ranging from small boutique wineries to large corporations like E & J Gallo Winery with distribution across the globe.
Read more about California Wine: History, Climate and Geography, Wine Regions, Grapes and Wines
Famous quotes containing the words california and/or wine:
“The California fever is not likely to take us off.... There is neither romance nor glory in digging for gold after the manner of the pictures in the geography of diamond washing in Brazil.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“Even now she does the snake-hips with a hiss,
Slops the bad wine across her shantung, talks
Of pregnancy, guitars and bridgework, walks
In parks or alleys, comes haply on the verge
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—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)