Jerry Brown offers history lesson on California wine
Gov. Jerry Brown dug deep into state vinicultural history for his two-page treatise declaring September to be California Wine Month.
The proclamation was typical of those that emerge from the governor’s office, where even the most pedestrian of state actions becomes an opportunity to issue a soliloquy on some arcane piece of California history.
Brown traces the history of wine in Spanish California to an Italian Jesuit priest in the late 1600s. He touches on King Carlos III, Father Junipero Serra and the “good pirate” Joseph Chapman before fast-forwarding to the 19th century.
“The first cultivated grapevines in Napa Valley are thought to have been planted in 1836 by the early settler George Calvert Yount,” for whom the town of Yountville in Napa is named, the statement says.
The resolution goes on to discuss the Gold Rush, Prohibition and Robert Mondavi before closing with a toast. “I hope that many Californians will join me in raising a glass to the pioneers, beginning with Padre Kino, who helped bring this amazing bounty to California.”
You can read the proclamation here.
At GOP fundraiser, a desire to work with Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown gets assist from Yao Ming during Shanghai river cruise
Business leaders joining Jerry Brown in China hope he can open doors
Twitter: @anthonyyorklat
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
