California winemaking actually began in Mission Valley

Few San Diego wine aficionados know that the first vineyards planted for winemaking in the western United States were located in Mission Valley. In fact, those first vines were hand-carried into California by Franciscan Friar Junipero Serra in 1779, and were planted at the first San Diego Mission site along the river. The early pioneering Franciscans planted grapes to make wine for church services, and planted Mission olives and figs around the church properties as well. The Mission grapes were first brought into Mexico by the Spaniards in 1521, and from these early vineyards Jesuit missionaries spread those European vitis viniferra grape cuttings to South America and eventually into San Diego. The Mission Valley vineyards were the original source of grapes that sparked the beginning of the California wine industry as vineyards were planted at all the Mission sites from San Diego to Sonoma. Most likely, the friars had no idea that California would become one of the most famed wine regions in the world.

Although San Diego isn’t considered a premier wine region as yet, many grape growers and winemakers have met with great success here. The late Leon Santoro, winemaker for Orfila winery near the San Diego Wild Animal Park (and in Julian), proved to the wine world and critics that this region can produce “world class” wines by receiving over 100 gold awards for San Diego County wines.

Want to try making your own wine? Expert tools and advice are close at hand. Serous wine drinkers are trying their skills at making their own wine these days with the aid of winemaking kits, custom crushes, and home style operations. Mission Valley residents have the benefit of Home Brew, a wine and beer making supply center located at 5401 Linda Vista Road (619) 295-2337 near the south entrance to USD. Home Brew sells all necessary winemaking supplies, fermenters, bottles, corks, yeast, how-to-books, and many other essentials.

One book they sell, From Vines to Wines by Jeff Cox is an excellent guide for anyone considering making their own wines. Another nice publication, written by Alyson Crowe, called The Winemakers Answer Book is loaded with solutions to every possible problem associated with the winemaking process. And, Winemaker magazine is dedicated to hobbyists with many interesting articles, offering access to abundant winemaking supplies.

For those who prefer catalogs and/or want to investigate the process, Northern Brewer offers a home brew catalog featuring all the tools needed to make wine, and they sell a wide variety of wine kits that have all the essential ingredients for you to make your first wine. Making your own wine will deepen your knowledge of wine, and give you a perspective of looking from “inside the bottle outward, rather than from the outside looking in.” Winemaking can be a very rewarding experience with great benefits. In reality, all famous winemakers started wine-related careers with their first attempt in the winemaking process, so this is your opportunity.
Best advice: start with a simple wine kit.

The easiest way to get started is to buy a simple wine kit. Home Brew in Linda Vista and Northern Brewer offer many kits, with a large selection of grape varietals to choose from. Winexpert is a leading wine kit manufacturer of quality products. Their premium winemaking kits contain concentrated juice from many optional varietals and sources, containing 16 liters, yielding six gallons of wine that can be bottled in six weeks. Kit prices vary, but generally cost between $60 and $150 per kit.

Wine kits are a great way to begin the learning process. But once you’ve nailed down that simple process, you can move to the next level, by purchasing your own grapes locally. This will get you involved in the regional agricultural industry, and put you in touch with many interesting San Diego County grape growers.

Home Brew of Linda Vista has all the tools needed, as they sell starter kits with everything you need to get going, except the grapes. These kits cost about $120 for the basics, up to $200 for the deluxe set. Once you gather “the tools of the trade” you’ll learn basic chemistry, sanitation guidelines, precise measurements and weights, recipe reading, yeast types, aromatic and tasting techniques. In fact, you may discover a new passion in the art form of making wine.

Thanks to the late Bob and Lila Knapp of E.D.I.T.S Publishing in Ocean Beach, I learned about the wine culture in the 1980’s while working for them at Deer Park winery in Escondido and St. Helena. Today, I grow Nebbiolo grapes in the premier wine country of Baja California near Ensenada where I make my own wine. But, growing grapes for your own wine is a major step, taking much work and dedication, not to mention the economic factors and risks of farming. Thankfully, San Diego County has some excellent fruit available at local vineyards.

Visit this winery in Old Town and learn all about winemaking while sampling great wines. William Holzhauser of Hacienda de las Rosas Winery in Old Town State Park can guide you to some sources of local grapes. His winery is actually in Ramona, but this unique tasting room is located near at the Fiesta de Reyes (the old Bazaar del Mundo) at 2745 Calhoun Street, open daily from 11:30 to 8 p.m., 9 p.m on Fridays and Saturdays, (619) 840-579 or haciendawine@aol.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . If you’re thinking about making wine and purchasing local grapes, you should visit and talk with this dynamic character, and sample his wines while learning about Old Town history. In addition, William is a leading wine and vineyard consultant for San Diego County.

Today, San Diego has about twenty wineries spread out from Carlsbad to Escondido, Ramona to Julian. As far as I know there are no vineyards at this time in Mission Valley, so if you have a patio or deck in the valley, plant two vines and you’ll be a modem pioneer. Due to the blessings of the Internet, proximity to Home Brew in Linda Vista, simple winemaking kits, and living in California’s first wine region, now is the perfect time to attempt making your own wine…