Long history behind Marin?s vineyards

In the late 19th century there were 400 to 500 acres of vineyards in Marin County, most planted on large country estates around San Rafael and Larkspur.

Grapevines first arrived in Marin County in 1817, when Catholic padres established the San Rafael Mission. The success of the mission grapes led to other vineyard plantings on the estates of the wealthy San Franciscans who had country places north of the bay.

?There is a vineyard connected with almost every estate in the county of any size all over San Rafael and in the outskirts are vineyards of the choicest variety of grapes. Every dweller who owns a lot of half an acre, has his own little vineyard,? reads a Marin County souvenir booklet from 1893.

But Prohibition, which started in 1920 and ended in 1933, completely wiped out the vineyards in Marin County. Vineyards reappeared during the wine boom of the 1970s, when neighboring Napa and Sonoma counties exploded in vines. Marin landowners looking for alternate crops began planting vineyards, especially in the vast expanse of West Marin farmland.

Today there are 150 acres of vineyards in Marin County, with another 50 acres going in the ground over the next year.