L.A. History
Our Roots Are in the Vines
Our History
When the Spanish settlers first arrived in Los Angeles, they found native grapes growing in abundance. They already knew from their experience in northern Baja, Mexico, where the same native grape also grew, that it was not suitable for making wine. But they took the vigor of the vines as a promising indicator that their own winemaking grapes would thrive. This promise was fulfilled in spectacular fashion and soon there were vineyards growing everywhere — in the foothills, in the flatlands and along the L.A. river, all the way down to Long Beach.
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Los Angeles quickly became the epi-center of winemaking in California, a distinction it held for over a century. But during this period of rapid cultural and economic change, the native grape and the Spanish grape hybridized with each other. It is not known if this hybridization occurred naturally or was the result of human ingenuity. But the creation of the grape was auspicious for it provided abundant fruit and shade and became a favorite among gardeners and landscapers throughout the region.
While it was not used to make
wine, the native grape was part
of the foodways of the Indigenous people of the area
The Indigenous people of the area also used the vines for construction, along with tule and willow
The Indigenous people of the area had their own native grape precolonization
Indigenous Era
1769
St. Junipero
Serra brings
first winemaking
grape cuttings to
Alta California
1783
First vintage of Los Angeles
wine produced by San
Gabriel Mission
1809
Californio Antonio Lugo
plants the first documented secular vineyard in L.A.
1831
French winemaker Jean-Louis Vignes comes to Los Angeles
500 AD -1769
Mexican Era
1821 - 1848
Spanish Era
1769 - 1821
American Era
starts in 1848
1849
Discovery of gold in northern California spurs explosive
growth in L.A. winemaking,
and harsher laws to coerce Indigenous labor
1876
Transcontinental Railroad reaches Los Angeles,
marking the beginning of industrialization and the
end of L.A. winemaking
Our Story
In 2014, building on the pioneering work of grape geneticist Carole P. Meredith, scientists from UC Davis examined the Vina Madre, the oldest living grapevine in the city. They discovered that the vine, long thought to be of the Spanish winemaking variety, was actually instead a hybrid of the Spanish and the native from the late 1800s that was used mostly for landscaping. The discovery disrupted the long-held romantic notion that the Vina Madre was a direct link to our winemaking past. But it replaced that notion with one that is more culturally diverse, one of decolonization, that connects us to the Indigenous past.
Plant the Vine extrapolates from this discovery a unique chronological sequence of grapes -- the native, the Spanish and the hybrid. It uses this sequence in designing community vineyards that it plants in parts of the city where vineyards once grew. Through interpretive programs designed around these vineyards, Plant the Vine teaches a history and a science that catalyze change in how communities see the city, and see their role in shaping its future.
Our Mission
Plant the Vine works with at-risk youth to plant native and historic vines in parts of the city where vineyards once grew. The vineyards become both classroom and sites of memory, connecting young people to the science of viticulture and the history of those who were forced to plant the first vineyards. By seeing themselves reflected in that history, they take ownership of it, and see that they have a role to play in shaping the future.
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Our Vision
Plant the Vine envisions a city of communities who, with knowledge of the city's grape-growing past, see themselves reflected in that history, and can imagine a greener, environmentally more just Los Angeles.
