From Vineyards to Cities

From Vineyards to Cities. . The post-war migration to Southern California from all parts of the country, when combined with other key factors, eroded the Cucamonga Valley viticulture industry irreparably. Starting in 1942 with Kaiser's mammoth steel plant in Fontana, which destroyed over 2,000 vineyard acres, decades-old vines were ripped out for new industry and housing tracts. The years after World War II also brought about a change in palate for many Americans, who unlike immigrants earlier in the century, preferred drier varietals to the Valley's specialty sweet wines. Locally, vineyard planting shifted to Temecula Valley, where the first vineyards were planted from Cucamonga cuttings. Residential and commercial development in the 1950s and 1960s also increased dramatically the price of land, and many vintners deemed it wiser to sell than to continue to farm. A new law in the early 1970s legalized the sale of wine in grocery stores, so no longer were the many tasting and sale rooms as big of a draw. As of this writing, approximately 1,200 acres remain in wine grape cultivation in the Cucamonga Valley. Three wineries, the Filippi Winery, the Galleano Winery, and the Rancho de Philo Winery still produce a wide variety of wines and wine-related products. Interestingly, all three of these wineries are run by the descendants of early valley vintners, and represent many generations of winemaking families.