(WB) - Few people realize that California’s first commercially bottled Cabernet Sauvignon was actually produced in Sonoma County. According to viticulture historian William Heintz, it was introduced in 1884 by John Drummond at Dunfillan Winery in Sonoma Valley. Today this property is part of the Kunde Family Winery.

A contemporary of Jack London, John Drummond was born in Ireland and arrived in Sonoma Valley in the late 1800’s with his wife and baby daughter. He purchased property and planted vineyards, importing Cabernet Sauvignon cuttings from such famous Bordeaux estates as Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Margaux. Wine historian, Charles Sullivan, referred to this as the “first plot of useful Bordeaux vines in the North Coast.”