Backroads of the California Wine Country: Your Guide to the Wine Country's Most Scenic Backroad Adventures (Backroads of ...) Wine Grapes have been cultivated in California’s verdant valleys since the days of the Spanish missions in the eighteenth century. Since the 1970s, the California wine country has been among the world’s premier wine-growing regions, and California wines hold their own against the best of Europe and elsewhere. Beyond the well-known vintners of the Sonoma and Napa valleys, the Golden State is home to quality wine producers from Mendocino to Santa Barbara. The temperate climate and lush