In 1796 George Washington, the first president of United States, served champagne at a state dinner: champagne consumption was no longer just for the titled aristocracy.
The first winery in the United States to be recognized as a commercial winery was the Hammondsport and Pleasant Valley Wine Company, incorporated as US Bonded Winery #1 in 1960. The company was founded in 1860.
The land owner, recognizing the cooler climate of the region and its advantages for making sparkling wine, made the calculated decision to focus on producing champagne made from the Native American grapes.
The high acid and low sugars of the Native American grapes were an asset and champagne for the East, particularly from Finger Lakes, had dominated the domestic market in the years before Prohibition.
As early as 1857, there was an attempt by Sainsevain brothers in San Francisco to produce sparkling wine.
The Eclipse champagne of Arpad Haraszthy had been one of California’s celebrated wines in the nineteenth century, as had the sparkling wines of Paul Masson and others in later year.
Since the end of Prohibition in 1933 and until 1997, the American wine industry was built on popular, mostly drinkable, inexpensive wines with generic labels.
Champagne in United States
