The Mission Grape: The Vine That Crossed Oceans and Rooted itself in the Americas
When we think of wine from the Americas, we often imagine modern names: Napa Valley, Mendoza, Valle de Guadalupe. However, long before these regions existed, a traveling vine had already crossed the ocean, planted roots in the desert, the mountains, and coastal soils, survived wars, migrations, and a devestating plague. That vine was the Mission grape, known in Spain as Listán Prieto, the same variety that remains the staple red grape of the Canary Islands and is still being used to make wines in the Americas.
It wasn't originally a noble grape, nor did it claim to be. It traveled because it was resilient, fertile, and abundant. But on that journey, it left a mark that goes beyond the agricultural aspect: it is the first grape variety to produce wine on the American continent and accompanied the spiritual, cultural, and social construction of New Spain and beyond.
La Viña Grande - A vigorous Mission grape planted circa 1840 in Carpinteria, California. Source - https://digitallibrary.usc.edu/
From Castile and the Canary Islands to the Indies
The Listán Prieto variety originated in Castile and was cultivated in the Canary Islands, which during the 16th century were a connecting point between Europe, Africa, and America. From there, ships loaded with settlers, animals, seeds, and vines departed. Among them was the Misión, along with its companion, Listán Blanco (Palomino).
These grapes crossed the Atlantic because they fulfilled a practical purpose: they were hardy, produced good yields, and ensured enough wine for Mass and for the daily consumption of the inhabitants. Thus, the vine first arrived in Mexico in the 1520s and then in Peru, Chile, and California. Although some say the first vineyard was in Peru in 1540, there are references to vines planted in Mexico specifically for use in Mass since 1524.
The Canary Islanders and the Border
In the 18th century, to populate and protect Mexico's northern border, the Crown granted land grants to settlers who agreed to establish themselves in risky areas. Among them were Canarian families, known as "islanders."
They settled in various places along the border and in the mountains, especially in Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, and Texas. In 1731, for example, sixteen island families founded San Fernando de Béxar (today San Antonio, Texas). They received land and water and began farming, including mission vineyards. But their life was not easy: they were in the middle of a territory inhabited by Native Americans who did not share the European vision of land as property.
For settlers, the vineyard was a symbol of permanence. For indigenous peoples, it represented an intrusion into a space of transit, hunting, and shared life.
Before and After The Comanches
Before the Comanches dominated the plains, the north was inhabited by Apaches, Coahuiltecos, Jumanos, and many others. Each had distinct ways of life: some more agricultural, others nomadic hunter-gatherers.
At the end of the 17th century, an unexpected change transformed everything: the introduction of the horse. The Spanish brought it as a tool of conquest and transportation, but as it spread among the Native Americans, it became a revolutionary factor.
The Comanches, native to the Rocky Mountains and related to the Shoshone, embraced the horse like no other. They became the most feared horsemen of the plains. In the mid-18th century, they drove the Apaches south and established the vast Comancheria, stretching from Colorado to Coahuila.
The settlers, ironically, found themselves fighting a strengthened Native American power with the very animal they had introduced. Comanche attacks were swift and devastating: they stole horses, destroyed ranches and families, and razed vineyards.
The Shelter of Parras
Casa Madero, Parras, Coahuila. Source: https://www.inspiracionmerche.com/
Amidst this unstable border, the Parras Valley was an exception. Its isolated geography, surrounded by mountains and springs, protected it from rapid incursions. It was better fortified than other towns, with garrisons and a stable population. And its wine-growing prosperity justified investing in its defense.
So, while many vineyards in Texas, Chihuahua, and Nuevo León were devastated, in Parras the vines survived and took root. There, the Mission grape found its true home in the north, and so did the first winery in the Americas.
In 1597, the friars founded the Mission of Santa Maria de las Parras, where the Casa Madero winery now stands. In the middle of the desert, they saw a valley filled with springs and wild vines with calcareous soils, where they planted the Mission grape. From this oasis, viticulture expanded to the Bajío region, Puebla, Querétaro, and the north, reaching Baja California and Texas.
The vine was indispensable for religious worship: without wine, there was no sacrament. But it also became a part of the colonists' daily life. The vineyards of New Spain prospered so well that they soon began to be exported to the motherland where American wine was so popular that King Philip II decreed restrictions on the planting of new vineyards in Mexico and taxes to protect peninsular wines. That decision, although motivated by economic reasons, left an echo that still resonates: to this day, Mexico maintains relatively high taxes on wine, as if it were still a luxury rather than an everyday product.
One Grape, Many Terroirs
Mission Grape - Source: https://www.lodiwine.com/blog/Mission
The fascinating thing about the Mission is not so much its flavor—light, earthy, rustic—but how it reflects each land it sets foot on.
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Mexico (Parras and Baja California): rustic wines with ripe fruit and a saline hint of the desert.
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California (Sonoma, Lodi, Santa Barbara): Light expressions on sand, tighter and more acidic on coastal calcareous soils.
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Chile (Itata and Maule): under the name País, vibrant and fresh, with chalky tannin and country notes.
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Bolivia (Cinti, Tarija): fragrant and light, shaped by the extreme altitude.
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Peru (Ica): base of pisco, with notes of raisins and white flowers under the desert sun.
Fragile Vines, Profound Memories
The history of the Mission grape in America is not just a history of wine. It is a history of encounters and disagreements, of religions and cultures, of horses and vineyards, of deserts and oases.
These are not heroes or villains, but human beings seeking to live and prosper in a shared territory, sometimes in harmony, sometimes in conflict. The friars sought wine for their chalices, the settlers sought permanence on the frontier, the indigenous peoples sought to maintain their way of life. And in the midst of them all, the vine grew, fragile yet resilient.
Today, when we drink a glass of Misión—whether in Mexico, Chile, California, or Bolivia—we're not just tasting a wine. We're tasting the memory of a continent in transformation, a living testament to how land, history, and people intertwined in the first vine in the Americas.
