Angeleno Wine Company produces a diversity of unique for contemporary California varieties, focusing on grapes grown in Los Angeles County from small family owned vineyards. For reference, commercial winegrowing began in California in Los Angeles starting in 1833 and then eventually shifted to other parts of the state as urban sprawl replaced vineyards. Vineyards dominated parts of Los Angeles including what is now the arts district and along the Los Angeles River in Burbank near the offices of a number of present day film studios. And numerous wineries were located in the city, primarily south of downtown. One of the few remaining producers there is San Antonio Winery, established in 1917.
Angeleno Wine Company crafts an extremely limited number (as in merely 336, 375ml bottles) of one of the rarest wines on the planet from grapes from the Ramona Vine planted in 1774 growing at Mission San Gabriel. This is the largest grapevine we have seen in our travels, with a trunk the size of a tree and its canopy trained across a sizable arbor. This wine was made primarily with grapes from 2020 along with 2021. We had to have a bottle of what is probably wine from the oldest now commercially producing vine in the entire country.
Those looking for an in depth read of Los Angeles winemaking history can read: Los Angeles Wine, A History from the Mission Era to the Present.
Angeleno Wine Company maintains a winery and a tasting room near Chinatown, a short drive from downtown Los Angeles. For more information or to purchase wine, visit: www.angelenowine.com
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