Around the turn of the century, the Los Angeles winemaking community thrived. There were more than 100 wineries in LA County alone. With more than 40,000 acres of local vineyards, Los Angeles produced more than half of the state's wine supply.
One of those productive wineries was the San Antonio Winery, established in 1917. Its wines have survived the test of time and today the winery is a Los Angeles landmark. During Prohibition, most of the other area wineries went out of business. But the San Antonio Winery survived by producing sacramental wines for Christian churches. Today the winery offers 8 "altar" wines that vary in sweetness, color and alcohol content.

In a future episode of California Heartland we'll tell you more about this historic winery.