from California will be made in the northern part of the State; the grapes grown there seem to be better adapted to the purpose than those raised in Los Angeles.  There is no doubt, too, that the foreign grape will be used for this branch of the business, rather than the Los Angeles variety.  All that is required to obtain many other varieties of wine, including brands similar to Sherry and Claret, is time to find a proper grape, and to select a suitable soil for its culture.  Considering the short time which has elapsed since the business was commenced, wonders have been accomplished.  It has taken Ohio thirty years to furnish us two varieties of wine, while in less than one-third that time California has produced six varieties, four of which are of a very superior quality, and have already taken a prominent position in the estimation of the best tastes in the country.

In 1854, Messrs. Koehler and Froehling commenced business in Los Angeles, and shortly after opened a house in San Francisco.  They were assisted by Charles Stern, who had enjoyed a long and valuable experience in the wine-business upon the Rhine.  The vintage was very small and inferior in quality, as they had had no experience in making wine from such a grape as California produced.  Numberless difficulties were met with, and it was only the indomitable energy of the gentlemen engaged in the enterprise, sustained by a firm faith in its ultimate success, which brought them triumphantly out of the slough of despond that seemed at times almost to overwhelm them.  They have to-day the satisfaction of being the pioneers in what is soon to be one of the most important branches of industry in California.  They own one of the finest vineyards in the State, from which some magnificent wine has been produced.  They have contracts with owners of other vineyards; and after making the wine in their own, the men and machinery are moved into these, the grapes pressed, and the juice at once conveyed to their cellars, they paying the producers of the grapes a stipulated price per ton on the vines.  The vintage commences about the first of October, and generally continues into November.  The labor employed in gathering the grapes and in the work of the press is mostly performed by Indians.  It is a novel and interesting sight to see them filing up to the press, each one bearing on his head about fifty pounds of the delicious fruit, which is soon to be reduced to an unseemly mass, and yield up its purple life-blood for the benefit of man.  Some of the best wine made in the State is from the “Asuza” and “Sunny Slope” vineyards, both of which lie directly at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  From a small beginning Messrs. Koehler and Froehling have steadily progressed, till at this time their position is a very enviable one.  Their cellars, occupying the basement of Montgomery Block, excite the admiration of all who visit them, and their wines are more favorably known than those of any other vintners.