Cucamonga Winery

Cucamonga Winery. . , Established by Tiburcio Tapia, to whom the Cucamonga Rancho was granted March 3, 1839 by Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado of Mexico. , , text on the interpretive sign: , The Thomas Winery . . . More than a century of service. , This was California's oldest commercial winery. The winery's two 1400 gallon oak aging casks were not "coopered" locally, but were carried "around the Horn" on a clipper ship! , , Missionaries brought grape vines to Mexico and California in the late 1700s to provide sacramental wines. In fact, the Mission San Gabriel vineyard provided the Black Mission Grape cuttings used by Tapia to establish his Mother Vineyard in 1839: twelve rows each with forty-seven plants. Six years later, his 13,000-acre property contained more than 3400 vines. , , Thomas Vineyard's grape wines were complemented by a wide variety of other fruit base wines including cherry, red currant, raspberry, blackberry, loganberry, apple (hard cider) and apricot. At its peak, the winery's extensive offerings were enjoyed both by local residents and Route 66 travelers.