![Mission grapes, by Hayward & Muzzall](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Mission_grapes%2C_by_Hayward_%26_Muzzall.jpg)
Mission grapes are a variety of ''
Vitis vinifera
''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are curre ...
'' introduced from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
to the western coasts of
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
by
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
New World missionaries for use in making
sacrament
A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...
al, table, and fortified
wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
s. It is grown in South America, particularly in Chile and Peru, under then names ''
Criolla
Criolla is a genre of Cuban music which is closely related to the music of the Cuban Coros de Clave and a genre of Cuban popular music called Clave.
The Clave became a very popular genre in the Cuban vernacular theater and was created by compose ...
'' and ''
Pais
:
Pais is a red wine grape that has played a prominent role in the Chilean wine industry. Up until the turn of the 21st century, it was Chile's most planted variety until it was overtaken by Cabernet Sauvignon. Today it is most commonly used in t ...
''.
During the 19th century, the grape was known by several other names, including the Los Angeles grape,
and the California grape.
History
The original European strain, until recently, had been lost, thus the grapes' being named "Mission grapes" since they were generally grown in Spanish missions. Prior to 1522, wine was made from grapes native to the area around Mexico City. However, finding the wine produced lacking, it was decreed by
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...
that sacramental wine was to be made using grapes grown from cuttings from the Old World, and that the grape was to be planted in every Spanish settlement in the New World.
Originally brought to Mexico from Spain in the 16th century, they were planted in New Mexico during the early 17th century.
Several decades later wine was introduced to present-day
Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
with the establishment of
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó
Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó, or Mission Loreto, was founded on October 25, 1697, at the Monqui Native American (Indian) settlement of Conchó in the city of Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Established by the Catholic Churc ...
in 1697 by Jesuit priest
Juan de Ugarte
Juan de Ugarte, S.J., (1662–1730) was a Jesuit missionary and explorer in Baja California Sur, New Spain, and the successor to Juan María de Salvatierra as head of the peninsula's missions.
Ugarte was born in Tegucigalpa, then in the Ki ...
. While two grape varieties were native to California,
Vitis californica
''Vitis californica'', with common names California wild grape, Northern California grape, and Pacific grape, is a wild grape species widespread across much of California as well as southwestern Oregon.Jepson Flora''Vitis californica''/ref>
The ...
, and
Vitis girdiana
''Vitis girdiana'' is as species of wild grape known as the desert wild grape, coyote grape, or valley grape. It is native to southern California in the United States and to Baja California in Mexico.[Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...]
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
;
the first planting of the grape in present-day California was done by
Junipero Serra at
Mission San Diego de Alcalá
Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá ( es, Misión San Diego de Alcalá) was the second Franciscan founded mission in The Californias (after San Fernando de Velicata), a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, California, it w ...
in 1769.
The next vines to be planted in present-day California were at
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel ( es, Misión de San Gabriel Arcángel) is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by Spaniards of the Franciscan order on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," September ...
in 1771, cuttings from this vine would be used to start new vines at
Pueblo de Los Ángeles
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles (English language, English: ''The town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels''), shortened to Pueblo de los Ángeles, was the Spanish civilian ''Municipality, pueblo'' settled in 1781, which ...
around 1786. Eventually vineyards and wine making expanded to each of the
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California ( es, Misiones españolas en California) comprise a
series of 21 religious outposts or missions established between 1769 and 1833 in what is now the U.S. state of California. Founded by Catholic priests o ...
.
By the last decade of the 18th century, Mission San Gabriel Arcángel was making of wine.
In 1820, the wine made from Mission grapes began to be exported overseas.
A dessert wine made from the Mission grapes of the missions gained a reputation of quality in Europe.
Making wine was a leading source of revenue for the missions, but ceased after
secularization in the 1830s;
eventually the vineyards of the missions began to be abandoned.
Until about 1865, Mission grapes represented the entirety of
viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
in
California wine
California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when
Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. I ...
s.
In 1870, Mission grapes were still described as universal; when eaten as fruit they were "pleasant, and agreeable;". As late as 1888, of
Napa Valley
Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...
were used to grow Mission grapes.
Yet, back in Spain, the vines which the Mission grapes had descended from, were wiped out by
phylloxera
Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belong to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs ...
in all areas except the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
.
From 1880, to 1920, the amount of land which Mission grapes were grown on reduced from to . During the
Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
era, the grape largely disappeared from California, with wine made in Mexico smuggled into the United States.
One vineyard in
Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria.
Santa Barba ...
had sagebrush grown over it, to hide it from being ripped out by prohibitionists;
while others were just abandoned. Afterwards it has largely been replaced by
noble grape varieties.
Niche resurgence
, the oldest surviving living vine of Mission grape exists at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, with the oldest vine still bearing fruit being at
Avila Adobe
The Ávila Adobe, built in 1818 by Francisco Ávila, is the oldest standing residence in the city of Los Angeles, California. Avila Adobe is located in the ''paseo'' of historic Olvera Street, a part of the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District, a ...
. In 2017, most of the state's remaining plantings of the Mission grapes are in the
Gold Country
The Gold Country (also known as Mother Lode Country) is a historic region in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, that is primarily on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. It is famed for the mineral deposits and gold mines ...
, growing in about total .
By 2019, the
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...
estimated that Mission grapes are grown on about in California.
Cultivation has also begun in
Baja California
Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...
, Mexico, where of century old vines are harvested near
Tecate
Tecate () is a city in Tecate Municipality, Baja California. It is across the Mexico-US border from Tecate, California. As of 2019, the city had a population of 108,860 inhabitants, while the metropolitan area has a population of 132,406 inha ...
.
Wines
Early accounts of alcoholic beverages made using the Mission grape recall the use of simplistic methods utilizing cowhides,
grape treading
Grape-treading or grape-stomping is part of the method of maceration used in traditional wine-making.Clarke, Oz (2009). ''Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide 2010.'' Sterling Publishing Company, Cheap, BA (2010). ''Mr. Cheap's Guide to Wine.'' Adams Me ...
, and leather bags. The first pressing, producing white wine, later pressings producing red wine, and
brandy
Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...
distilled from the remaining residue.
During the 19th century, the Mission grape was used to make strong wines similar to
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
and
sherry
Sherry ( es, jerez ) is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the city of Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. Sherry is produced in a variety of styles made primarily from the Palomino grape, ranging from light versi ...
.
The wine produced by the mission grape was described by Julius Dresel as having "a marked Burgundy flavor,".
Yet, that opinion of the wine's taste wasn't shared by all, and it also received negative and unflattering descriptions.
The vine has a twisting thick trunk, looking more like a small tree rather than other types of vines. When fruiting, the vines produce "big, heavy, deep-red grape clusters,".
It was also written that the grapes of this variety grown in Northern California were called ''Sonoma grape'', while grapes of this variety grown in Southern California were called ''Los Angeles Grape'', with each imparting a distinct flavor compared to the other; elsewhere they were called ''California grape''.
Recently, it has been proposed that the ''Sonoma grape'' was brought to Northern California from Peru by Russian settlers of Fort Ross in 1817.
Historically, four types of wines were made from this variety:
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, a dry red, a sweet red, and a sweet brandy fortified wine.
These historic wines did not age well, and would sour after three years. In the 21st century, the mission variety is grown in
Amador,
Calaveras, and Santa Barbara counties, as well as in
Lodi in San Joaquin County.
From these growers, they have produced
angelica
''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They grow t ...
,
dry, and
table wine
Table wine (rarely abbreviated TW) is a wine term with two different meanings: a style of wine and a quality level within wine classification.
In the United States, the term primarily designates a wine style: an ordinary wine which is not fortif ...
s.
Other wines made from this variety are
natural
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are p ...
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
, port,
sacramental
A sacramental in Christianity is a material object or action (in Latin ''sacramentalia'') ritually blessed by a priest to signal its association with the sacraments and so to incite reverence during acts of worship. They are recognised by the Cat ...
, and sherry.
When made into a table wine, it creates a wine described as "very light boddied, yet extremely tannic, often indistinguishable in color from a dark rose, tasting of bitter orange peel and light red fruits, like rhubarb and strawberry.".
Angelica made from mission grapes has been described as "unusually sweet,"
with notes "reminiscent of molasses, dried figs, caramel, nuts and toffee.". Sacramental wine made from this variety has been described as "sickly sweet, with almost no acid to speak".
Though Mission grape vines are heavy producers and can adapt to a variety of climates, table wine made from the fruit tends to be rather characterless, and thus its use in wine making has diminished in modern times.
However, as both contemporary accounts and those of the last two centuries attest, angelica, the fortified wine made from the grape, is sometimes a wine of note and distinction;
in its angelica form, it has been described as having similar regional importance as port to Portugal, sherry to Spain, and
marsala
Marsala (, local ; la, Lilybaeum) is an Italian town located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth in Sicily.
The town is famous for the docking of Gius ...
to Sicily.
The Mission grape is related to the pink Criolla grape of Argentina, and the red País grape of Chile.
Despite being almost extinct in California after a century of being maligned and put down as an inferior grape, recently interest has increased in Mission again. A lot of smaller producers are embracing its long history and the very few plantings still left in the state.
It is a
drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
resistant plant.
European antecedent
In December 2006, Spanish scholars from the Centro Nacional de Biotecnología in Madrid uncovered the name and origin of the mysterious Mission grape, as well as which were the earliest European vines grown in the Americas.
Their findings are due to appear in the journal of the American Society of Enology and Viticulture.
The scholars determined that the Mission grape's DNA matched a little-known Spanish variety called
Listan Prieto.
''Listan'' is another name for Palomino, although not related to the white grape
Palomino Fino used to make Sherry.
See also
*
History of California wine
California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% (by some estimates) of American wine is p ...
Footnotes
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mission (Grape)
California wine
New Spain
Pre-statehood history of California
Red wine grape varieties
Grape varieties of Spain