The Wine History Project of SLO County preserves and presents two centuries of local viticulture through research, interviews, exhibitions, publications, talks and tastings. We work with local museums, galleries, archives, and wineries to organize events and exhibitions in venues throughout the county.
Together We Can Preserve the Story of Central Coast Winemaking
3592 Broad Street,
Suite 104,
San Luis Obispo,
CA 93401
(805) 439-4647
libbie@winehistoryproject.org
By Appointment
KCBX, the local public radio, began its first broadcast on July 25, 1975. At that time a non-profit, non-commercial community radio was a new concept. It was questionable how an area the size of San Luis Obispo County would be able to give support to a public radio station. The station eventually became part of the nationwide network of National Public Radio and built a strong listenership.
The Wine History Project honors Karen MacNeil as the most influential wine educator and writer in the United States. She not only produced the most comprehensive and accessible “Bible” on viticulture, wine history and wine culture throughout the world, but continues to make wine accessible to everyone through her blogs, wine quizzes, seminars, films, special events and wine tastings. She is always available to educate you with delight and passion.
In 1996, Brian Talley, commemorating the tenth anniversary of Talley Vineyards, hosted the first livestream dual blind wine tasting event in the United States. Stephen Tanzier, the author of the International Wine Cellar, hosted several of New York’s finest restaurant wine directors to taste the wines in front of a large television screen.
Archie McLaren is the man remembered for creating and sustaining the Central Coast Wine Classic, the top regional wine event, for over three decades. Over the years, this wine event raised over $3.2 million to support philanthropy for public radio station KCBX, the Healing Arts, Performing Arts and Studio Arts in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties.
The Suscol Hills to the east of Napa Valley constitute a natural boundary between Napa and Solano County. About five miles south of the city of Napa, Jameson Canyon forms a break in the hills and leads into the lower end of Solano County’s Green Valley, so named by early settlers for the abundance of a wild grass that remained green throughout the dry summers.
A History of California Wine: The David and Judy Breitstein Collection is the first, major educational exhibit to document the rich history of the California wine industry, told through actual unopened bottles.
Directly in the middle of the vast Central Valley is the San Joaquin Valley, a viticultural wonderland for growing and the production of raisins, or dried grapes. Today, on almost 100,000 acres in an area within a 60-mile radius of Fresno, raisin growers produce 100% of the U.S. raisins. Our postcard story is set here in Fresno — a major city and economic hub in the San Joaquin Valley, the largest city in the greater Central Valley, and “The Raisin Capital of the World.” Many of the following accounts of our postcard storytellers are borrowed from the 1891 published jewel, California Homes & Industries. Fresno Illustrated.
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.
In 1981, Justin Baldwin purchased 160 acres of farmland from Gary and Marian Conway in a remote area west of Paso Robles known as Adelaida. His dream was to produce world-class Bordeaux wines.
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.
New Exhibition, Dog Boats and Rum Runners in State Parks – San Luis Obispo County in the Prohibition Era at the historic Spooner House in Montana de Oro State Park, on display until June 2022.
The exhibit Celebrating Amphorae: 6,000 Years of Winemaking in Amphorae and the Local Winemakers Who Continue the Ancient Tradition is on display at the Paso Robles History Museum in Paso Robles City Park through February 2022.
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