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Haraszthy, Agoston
[AG-goo-stawn HAH-rahs-th'ee]

A colorful man who played an important part in California’s viticultural history. Agoston Haraszthy, sometimes called Count and other times Colonel, was a Hungarian who arrived in California in the mid-1800s. Although he’s often called the father of California viticulture, he wasn’t the first to bring the VITIS VINIFERA species to the state. He did, however, significantly influence the course of the California wine industry. In 1851, he successfully planted a small sampling of Vitis vinifera vines and CUTTINGS in SONOMA COUNTY. Ten years later, he made a trip to Europe and returned with over 100,000 cuttings of 300 different varieties. Some of them were planted at the Buena Vista Winery that he founded in 1857 in Sonoma; others were sold to growers around the state. The large number of cuttings significantly elevated the state’s grape-growing and wine-producing industries. In addition to the grape varieties that he brought back, Haraszthy wrote a book, Grape Culture, Wines and Wine Making, which contributed immensely to the local knowledge pool. His Buena Vista Winery is also thought to have produced California’s first SPARKLING WINE, called Eclipse. Unfortunately, Haraszthy was beset with a string of misfortunes, including the loss of financial backing for his Buena Vista Winery. He eventually moved to Nicaragua where, in 1869, he supposedly was eaten by alligators near the plantation on which he lived. Agoston Haraszthy’s son, Arpad, in an attempt to increase his own value, made claims about his father that are unsubstantiated and which have, in the long term, damaged the contribution that his father made.
Related Links: Vitis vinifera, cutting(s), Sonoma County Green Valley AVA, sparkling wine, California
© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc.
1995 based on THE WINE LOVER'S COMPANION,
by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst.

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