Sí se puede: the enduring legacy of Mexico on wine and politics

The wild grapevine species (Vitis spp.) that comprise the pedigrees of rootstocks, the Americas as the source (and solution) to the Phylloxera crisis that decimated European vineyards, and California as a premier wine growing region are the topics that usually frame the history of grapes in North America. This Anglo-American perspective ignores that domesticated grape varieties were first introduced to North America in what is now Mexico, and the singular contributions of Mexican labor to the California wine economy that continue to influence politics. Here, we highlight the neglected history of grapevines in Mexico and argue that the politics of labor that played out during the Conquest never ceased and still shape debates surrounding immigration. Beginning with Hernán Cortés, Indigenous peoples were forced to plant grapevines and when they were successful, they were abruptly forbidden by Spain to grow grapes. This interference influenced Miguel Hidalgo, who taught the poor viticulture as a trade and who would lead the Mexican War of Independence and pay with his life. The grapevine continued its journey north to California, where Jesuits established the missions and cultivated the Mission grapes, which had lasting impacts on the genetics of grapevine varieties. Finally, it was the Delano grape strike that coalesced Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers to demand justice for Mexican labor that is the foundation of the California wine economy and still shapes the current political debate of immigration, labor, and human rights between the United States and Mexico.