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Category: Wine Articles – Overview

Wine History

Collecting, preserving and sharing the story of wine in SLO County.

19th Century History

Introduction To The Rancho Era

The area now known as San Luis Obispo County had far fewer residents during the Golden Era of the Rancho Period than most other areas in Mexican California. The Mexicans fought to free their people and lands from Spanish rule and celebrated this freedom from 1832 by creating Ranchos, which became the dominant institution of Mexican California. Rancho is a Mexican word that describes a tract of land used for raising cattle, sheep and horses.

  • Wine - 1900s & 1910s History
  • Wine - 1920s & 1930s History
  • Wine - 1940s & 1950s History

The Gold Rush, Restaurants, Grapes And Prohibition

Located near the northeastern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, between the Presidio of San Francisco and the Mission San Francisco de Asis, was a Spanish settlement, Yerba Buena. This settlement was originally established as a trading post for ships visiting the Bay area. Yerba Buena grew to become the great city of San Francisco. The Alcalde or mayor of Yerba Buena issued a proclamation renaming the town San Francisco on January 30, 1847. In 1848 the population of the newly-named town of San Francisco was about 1,000.

  • Wine - 1960s History
  • Wine - 1970s History
  • Wine - 1980s History

21st Century History

AFT Records For 2025

The Department of the Treasury, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is required to make available to the public, records by way of publishing a list of alcohol industry members who hold permits, as required under the Federal Alcohol Administration Act. These permits allow legal production, bottling, importation, or distribution of beverage alcohol products. Updates to these different listings are produced weekly by the federal government. The particular listing, an important document to the Wine History Project and the historical information we collect in our archives, lists the wine producers and blenders of San Luis Obispo County.