370 Appendices 



*' The oldest regular Mission vineyard known tome is about 

 ten acres, planted in 1847 by the pioneer, Peter Lassen, on 

 what is now the Stanford ranch at Vina, and it is more vigor- 

 ous and prolific than some of the young vineyards of more 

 popular varieties." 



In 1880 more than 80 per cent of the 35,000 acres of 

 vineyard in the State were of this quality-lacking variety ; 

 but to-day, out of 150,000 acres of vineyards, more than 

 60 per cent of the red wine is made from the Zinfandel 

 grape. However, as the Secretary of the Italian-Swiss 

 colony well points out, the Zinfandel can hardly be 

 considered as one grade, because it varies according to the 

 location and the soil in which it is grown. 



The disappointment of which I have spoken overtook 

 the men who, recognising the possibility of making wines 

 of a high commercial standard, staked their time and 

 money and special knowledge against the ignorance and 

 prejudice of their fellow-citizens. The claret made from 

 " quality " grapes came into competition with the rough 

 red wines expressed from grapes that yielded five or more 

 tons to the acre. The public generally were not able to 

 discriminate between what was wine and what was not ; 

 in the East, those who did know the difference bought 

 up the best wine at a price far below its value, and sold 

 it under French labels, at an exorbitant profit, to the rich 

 Californians. Many of the wine-makers were ruined, and 

 the State as a wine-producing State was condemned, 

 because only the worst wines were sold as Californian. 

 This state of affairs was bad enough ; worse followed. 

 The phylloxera attacked the vineyards, and destroyed 

 millions of vines. Then, when a brighter day seemed 

 about to dawn, when resistant varieties were coming into 

 bearing, when the public was just beginning to recognise 

 the merits of the best Californian wine, when, in short, 

 it seemed to the most conservative that the wine industry 



