Chinese Workmen at Buena Vista

Chinese Workmen at Buena Vista. . As an immigrant himself, our Count Haraszthy was a tireless supporter of another immigrant group to America: the Chinese. He believed them to be hard-working and honest. When he began Buena Vista Winery he employed 150 Chinese workmen to do all the work. They dug three wine caves into the hillside, and the first stone winery buildings in front of the caves. , Buena Vista's Chinese workmen were provided by Ho Po, a San Francisco labor contractor. They plowed the soil, and planted for 40,000 new grapevines a year for 8 years. , So important was the role of Chinese workers in California in the 1860's that some contemporaries credited them with making possible "California's rapid transition from a mining stronghold to an agricultural leader. Without these useful workers, California would at this day be scarcely more than Nevada-a great mining ground, whose wealth all flows away." Charles L. Brace in the magazine New West wrote: "with Chinese labor and the immeasurable advantages of climate, the California farmer is able now to compete in the markets of the world with the farmers of Illinois and Indiana, and the peasants of the Black Sea." , We at Buena Vista are proud of our Count's support of California's Chinese immigrants without their invaluable assistance Chateau Buena Vista would not have become the first great American wine estate., California’s First Premium Winery , ~1857~.