Destination Nevada County

Sniff,
Swirl,
Sip &
Savor
no Bay Bridge. Many took the southern trek around the
Bay. One of the places they passed through was Mission
San Jose. It became a common sight to see intrepid miners
heading east with cuttings of Mission vines sticking out of
their saddlebags. Another favorite spot was a nursery in
Sacramento where they picked up Zinfandel cuttings. That
was how both Mission and Zinfandel grapes dominated
the early Nevada County vineyards.
Nevada County’s first vineyard was planted in 1852, but
there are few wine references to grapes or wine in the
1850’s. But by l862 a saloon owner on Broad Street was
serving Nevada County wine by the glass, and the barrels
started rolling. From that time on there are numerous
references to grape growers, even records of the numbers
of vines planted. In 1869 Frank Siebert of Nevada City
produced a Zinfandel that was one of the first wines
ever to win a medal in a California wine competition. By
1870 there were 450,000 vines in the county representing
several hundred acres of grapes. But throughout time,
the wine industry has been a cycle of boom and bust, and
the 1870’s were one of the busts. There was an economic
downturn creating a depression in the post Civil War
years. In Nevada County, there was simply a surplus of
grapes. In 1871 the county’s seven distilleries produced
a record 4,000 gallons of brandy. Four times as much
fruit went unpicked and growers couldn’t sell all the wine
they produced. It was around this time that Nevada City
Winery first appeared, operating as a cooperative, taking
in grapes from many local growers who were having
difficulty on their own. But then came the vineyard boom
of the 1880’s. There was an economic upturn. It became
fashionable to grow grapes. It was a time of the gentleman
farmer where landowners planted vineyards. It was at this
time that, E.G. White was quoted as saying that someday,
“Nevada County’s wine would become more valuable than
gold.” In 1887 Nevada County contained seventeen grape
growers, ten of whom made wine. There were 220 acres
of grapes. In 1889 Nevada City Winery produced 8,000
gallons of wine.
48 DESTINATION Nevada County
Photo credit: Erin Thiem, outsideinn.com
Boom and bust. The high times of the 1880’s were quickly
followed by a very severe depression in the mid-1890’s.
The bottom fell out. The price of both grapes and wine
shrunk to nothing. It was here the trail turned cold. All
the records disappear, and there is no further mention of
anything grape related including Nevada City Winery. If
wine was being produced it wasn’t recorded; it was either
being sold to the neighbor next door or the fruit packing
plant in Newcastle. What happened?
We’ll follow the trail in the next issue. To be continued. . .