Born out of our love of fine wines and history, Brooking Vineyards embarked on an adventure of discovery.

Before Napa Valley became California’s wine center, Southern California was the hub of viticulture in the US. Vista in particular had a unique Mediterranean climate that produced some of the best fortified style wines in the world.

Only one-half mile from the Brooking Vineyards estate was San Diego County’s most successful winery and vineyards which produced 200,000 gallons of wine a year, mostly in the fortified style. Fortification is a method of wine production where grapes grown in a warm Mediterranean climate are fermented to a certain point at which time grape brandy is added to stop fermentation, thus retaining some of the natural sugars. But Prohibition and a change in public taste vanquished our local tradition to the dusty pages of history. With the recent interest in these styles of wine, such as Port and Sherry, Brooking Vineyards is leading the renaissance of our own local Angelicas.

Sit back, open a bottle and sip the history…