Grapevine Production in California

By the time of the Gold Rush, the vineyard area had reached a few hundred acres and grapes were sold to high prices in Los Angeles and San Francisco [3, 10] . As a consequence of the lucrative prices, many vineyards were planted and the area reached 56,000 acres in 1880 [10] . However, due to Pierce’s Disease in the 1880s, areas in the south became unsuitable to vines and the industry was forced to move to central and northern California [10] .