Sure, the United States hasn’t been making wine since ancient times from vineyards studiously plotted out over the centuries by monks. But the country has packed plenty of wine accomplishments into its 250 years of existence, thanks to all the European settlers who couldn’t tolerate life in the New World without a good drink.
From the earliest explorers to more recent immigrants, people have turned to both native grapes and imported European varieties to see which can make the best wines ‘from California to the New York island’.
While the most important events in the founding of our country were fuelled by imported wine, American winemakers and viticulturists have since proven sceptics wrong, shocked French wine judges, resurrected near-dead wineries and lured prestigious European wine companies into expanding to the States.
How much do you know about US wine history, from the colonial era up to the early 1990s? Find out with our 14-question challenge.
