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History
of the Wines of Baja California
Mexico
In 1524,
Hernán
Cortés, Spain’s then appointed
governor of “New Spain”
(modern-day Mexico), ordered
every Spaniard that held a land
grant to plant grapevines every
year for 5 years straight. The
resulting species of grapes came
to be called “criolla”. These
are the grapes that were used
for Mexico’s first wine
production.
Winegrowing had
become well established by 1554
in Mexican haciendas. By 1593,
the first commercial vineyard
was planted in Parras de la
Fuente in the state of Coahuila,
the oldest town in northern
Mexico. Bodega Marqués de
Aguayo was founded in 1597 and
is the oldest surviving
continuously operating winery
in Mexico.
During the
sixteenth century, with the help
of Jesuit missionaries,
winemaking reportedly spread
from Mexico into other parts of
the America’s including Peru,
Chile and Argentina. By the
eighteenth century it also
spread into Baja
California and into parts of
western United States.
In 1697, the
first Baja mission
was founded in the Southern Baja
California town of Loreto.
Father Ugarte planted the first
vineyard there around 1701. In
1888, the Bodegas de Santo Tomás
winery was established in
Northern Baja and today
remains the oldest continually
operating winery in Baja
California.
More
Baja Wine History!
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TM
Baja California
Wines and more!
