The wine of San Mateo County

He was originally from a wine-producing region of France and he became the first wine businessman in California. A man named William Wolfskill and his brother also began experimenting with their vineyards. Then the Gold Rush provided a real stimulus for wine production, especially in Northern California.

It was a Hungarian, Agostin Haraszthy, who really started the modern wine industry. Haraszthy was a count in his native land. As was customary for a country squire, he became involved with producing wine as well as other things on his estate. He was also a liberal interested in democracy. This did not endear him with the Hungarian imperial government. He and his family left Hungary.

The count was an enthusiastic admirer of the United States and he came here. He originally settled in Wisconsin. His family relocated to California, going first to the San Diego area.

He became a sheriff and then marshall, and even served in the California Assembly. He was an active man in his adopted country.

He planted orchards and a vineyard, but he soon discovered that the weather was too uniformly warm for the vines in San Diego. Haraszthy bought land here at Crystal Springs. He also bought some land near Mission Dolores in San Francisco. By 1953, he had planted orchards and vineyards on his land.

He imported cuttings of European varieties of grapes and experimented with them at Crystal Springs.

Haraszthy had also become assayer of the U.S. Mint in San Francisco. He ran into some legal problems over this, and he put up his land as security in escrow. During this time, squatters encroached on his territory. By the time he eventually had his title cleared, he realized that the fog in San Francisco prevented his grapes there from ripening properly.

In 1857, he bought more land in Sonoma where General Vallejo had already had some success with grapes. In 1861 he sold his land at Crystal Springs. The rest, as we say, is history. Agostin founded the California Viticultural Society and wrote a Report on Grapes and Wines in California that became the authoritative source of information on the subject.

Haraszthy eventually left California for Nicaragua where he went into business on a sugar plantation. He disappeared one day, presumably killed by an alligator while inspecting a new boat landing.

San Mateo County wine making did not die when Haraszthy left for Sonoma. After the lumber industry denuded the hills on the south side of Woodside, growers found the terrain and soil of the bare hills well suited for grapes.

By 1890, there were 800 acres of vineyards in the vicinity of Woodside, Searsville and Portola Valley. Our old friend Robert O. Tripp sold his own wine from his 5-acre vineyard at his Woodside Store.

Several wineries have continued over the years here on the Peninsula. It has never been a major wine-producing region, but the quality of what is produced here is considered excellent.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal. For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County History Museum, 777 Hamilton St., Redwood City.