I'll drink to that where we get behind the scenes of the beverage business.

I'm Levy Dalton.

I'm Erin Scala and here's our show today. Oh, Over the last couple decades Italian varieties have become more popular in California. They have such momentum now that several

up-and-coming producers have been able to stake much or all of their production on

Italian varieties. Italians and thus echoes of Italy's wine culture have been a part of California for quite some time

an Italian influence gained serious momentum during the California Gold Rush.

In a period of less than a decade, the Gold Rush

brought thousands of 49ers from around the globe,

and San Francisco grew from a town of 200

to a city of over 35,000 people.

This growth brought infrastructure, trade routes, and a market for California's early

wine trade. It also helped create an environment of cultural exchange.

After the 1906 earthquake and amidst heavy looting, the Italian founder of the Bank of Italy, which is

now Bank of America,

hit the money in his bank under trash and vegetables

and spirited it away to a safer location.

At a strategic wharf, he set up an office,

made of a plank laid over two barrels, might they have been

wine barrels, and from this office he made some of the first loans that helped rebuild the city

after the earthquake disaster.

The San Francisco Opera was founded by an Italian who originally helped produce traveling

shows for San Francisco's post-Gold Rush population. And of course, all those 49ers needed

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