In 1880, California was divided into seven geographic viticultural districts by the State Legislature. Wine historian Ernest Peninou used these designated districts to compile a descriptive and statistical review of California's wine industry: The History of the Viticultural Districts of California and A Statistical History of Wine Grape Acreage in California, 1856-1992.

In 1998, Nomis Press published volume one, A History of the Sonoma Viticultural District (by Ernest P. Peninou, assisted by Gail Unzelman and Michael Anderson, 456pp, hardbound). When Mr. Peninou died in October 2002, I sorted through his countless crates of manuscript papers to assemble the six remaining histories of this seven-volume series, along with the grape acreage statistical history. These histories – covering the El Dorado Viticultural District, Los Angeles Viticultural District, Napa Viticultural District, Sacramento Viticultural District, San Francisco Viticultural District, San Joaquin Viticultural District, and the State's grape acreage figures – are available.

Following the format of The Sonoma Viticultural District, each viticultural district history includes • descriptive text (from the beginnings to c1960) • grape acreage statistics (1856-1992) with county, district, and state totals • directories of grape growers (1860-1900) • illustrations and index. Many of the illustrations are photographs taken by Mr. Peninou during his wine country researches in the 1950s, and have not been previously printed.
These seven volumes are chock-full of California wine industry information and will be an invaluable asset to any student, librarian, or researcher of California wine history.

Download A History of the El Dorado Viticultural District
(Alpine, Amador, Calaveras, El Dorado, Inyo, Lassen, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Tuolumne, and Yuba counties). 203pp, 17 illustrations.

Download A History of the Los Angeles Viticultural District
(Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and
Ventura counties). 255pp, 14 illustrations.

Download A History of the Napa Viticultural District
(Napa, Solano, and Contra Costa counties). 345pp, 39 illustrations.

Download A History of the Sacramento Viticultural District
(Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sacramento, Shasta, Sutter, Tehama, and Yolo counties). 173pp, 10 illustrations.

Download A History of the San Francisco Viticultural District
(Alameda, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties).
332pp, 31 illustrations.

Download A History of the San Joaquin Viticultural District
(San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, and Kern counties). 171pp, 19 illustrations.

VALUABLE COMPANION VOLUME:
Download A Statistical History of Wine Grape Acreage in California, 1856-1992.
212pp. This statistical history, based on the seven viticultural districts as designated in 1880, combines the California grape acreage figures into one volume. Following a brief description of the viticultural districts, the acreage listings are presented in three different sections: by district (with totals for the state), alphabetically by county, and
chronologically by year. This substantial reference complements the above histories.