Jasper Dickson's guest appearances

Jasper Dickson

LA Drinks

Wine Soundtrack - USA

Laura Barrett

Rachel Martin

Andrew Jones

David Ramey

Matt Iaconis

Patrick Comiskey

Alan Baker

Alloro Vineyard

Joe Wright

Remi Cohen

Tom Hunter

Dan Fishman

Erica Crawford

William Allen

Jason Martin

OwlTail

Amy Luftig Viste

Angeleno Wine Company is wine grown in Los Angeles, and made in Los Angeles. It is a little known fact that California winemaking began in Los Angeles, not in Napa or Sonoma.  The state's first original winemakers made and grew their wines where our winery sits today.  At its height of production in the mid-1800's, Angelenos were making 2 million bottles of wine, several years before Napa even had their first commercial winery.  It used to be that when San Franciscans and New Yorkers saw 'California Wine' on a label, they knew it came from L.A..Our pride and joy is a small vineyard about an hour north of Los Angeles outside a little town called Agua Dulce. It is farmed by Juan Alonso, a visionary who planted an array of lesser known Spanish grape varietals from his native Galicia.   Tannat, Graciano, Godello, Loureiro, and Treixadura are some of the unique varietals that Angeleno makes into wine every year. For us, Juan is the heart and soul of Angeleno. As "natural" winemakers, we use all native yeasts and don't add chemicals, proteins, colors or flavors to our wine. We harvest early to preserve natural acidity in the fruit. We strive to make wines that truly showcase Los Angeles fruit with our wines.  For this reason, we consider Juan Alonso the true winemaker of Angeleno, as it is the character of his vineyard that shines through in our wines.

Angeleno Wine Company is wine grown in Los Angeles, and made in Los Angeles. It is a little known fact that California winemaking began in Los Angeles, not in Napa or Sonoma. The state's first original winemakers made and grew their wines where our winery sits today. At its height of production in the mid-1800's, Angelenos were making 2 million bottles of wine, several years before Napa even had their first commercial winery. It used to be that when San Franciscans and New Yorkers saw 'California Wine' on a label, they knew it came from L.A.. Our pride and joy is a small vineyard about an hour north of Los Angeles outside a little town called Agua Dulce. It is farmed by Juan Alonso, a visionary who planted an array of lesser known Spanish grape varietals from his native Galicia. Tannat, Graciano, Godello, Loureiro, and Treixadura are some of the unique varietals that Angeleno makes into wine every year. For us, Juan is the heart and soul of Angeleno. As "natural" winemakers, we use all native yeasts and don't add chemicals, proteins, colors or flavors to our wine. We harvest early to preserve natural acidity in the fruit. We strive to make wines that truly showcase Los Angeles fruit with our wines. For this reason, we consider Juan Alonso the true winemaker of Angeleno, as it is the character of his vineyard that shines through in our wines.

Angeleno Wine Co - Amy Luftig Viste and Jasper Dickson

The idea of starting a Los Angeles winery is a compelling narrative.  Who doesn’t want to drink local wine?  Apart from the touristy San Antonio winery and Rupert Murdoch’s Bel Air vanity project Moraga, Angeleno Wines is the sole commercial winery in the city of Los Angeles or its immediate environs.  Jasper Dickson’s motivation in his local winemaking concept should probably be looked at foremost in terms of utilitarian convenience: If you live in a place and make wine, its easier to make wine from that place.  Still, he’s obviously on to something bigger.  Jasper has drawn on an opportunity to stake out a claim to the revived legacy of Los Angeles wine production.  This revival is necessarly linked with but happening at a delay from the locavore movement in food and drink that has been the norm in Los Angeles for years now.  Why is this?Well, the reason that there is no longer a wine industry in Los Angeles is because land for homes and office buildings is worth more than for grape vines.  So, winemakers have gone elsewhere.  But, if one is determined to find grapes, one can. Jasper found his grapes in Agua Dulce, about an hour outside of L. A. proper and at first, he brought them north to a crushpad in San Benito county, all the while with his eye out for a place in L. A. to make his wine.  That reality happened in time for the 2018 vintage and Angeleno Wine currently is located north of Chinatown.Having points of civic pride like the Dodgers or the Walk of Fame are endemic to the allure of a city and for all the regionalities of Los Angeles, there are a multitude of these points. The history of Los Angeles is short by some measure, but the legacy of the Los Angeles wine industry goes back to its beginnings as a post-mission settlement.  Angeleno Wine will qualify as a point of pride and most likely a successful business: a quality wine producer steeped in the history of the city. Incidentally, the facility and wine bar is pretty much at ground zero to L. A.’s original vine plantings.  

The idea of starting a Los Angeles winery is a compelling narrative.  Who doesn’t want to drink local wine?  Apart from the touristy San Antonio winery and Rupert Murdoch’s Bel Air vanity project Moraga, Angeleno Wines is the sole commercial winery in the city of Los Angeles or its immediate environs.  Jasper Dickson’s motivation in his local winemaking concept should probably be looked at foremost in terms of utilitarian convenience: If you live in a place and make wine, its easier to make wine from that place.  Still, he’s obviously on to something bigger.  Jasper has drawn on an opportunity to stake out a claim to the revived legacy of Los Angeles wine production.  This revival is necessarly linked with but happening at a delay from the locavore movement in food and drink that has been the norm in Los Angeles for years now.  Why is this?Well, the reason that there is no longer a wine industry in Los Angeles is because land for homes and office buildings is worth more than for grape vines.  So, winemakers have gone elsewhere.  But, if one is determined to find grapes, one can. Jasper found his grapes in Agua Dulce, about an hour outside of L. A. proper and at first, he brought them north to a crushpad in San Benito county, all the while with his eye out for a place in L. A. to make his wine.  That reality happened in time for the 2018 vintage and Angeleno Wine currently is located north of Chinatown.Having points of civic pride like the Dodgers or the Walk of Fame are endemic to the allure of a city and for all the regionalities of Los Angeles, there are a multitude of these points. The history of Los Angeles is short by some measure, but the legacy of the Los Angeles wine industry goes back to its beginnings as a post-mission settlement.  Angeleno Wine will qualify as a point of pride and most likely a successful business: a quality wine producer steeped in the history of the city. Incidentally, the facility and wine bar is pretty much at ground zero to L. A.’s original vine plantings.

Jasper Dickson- Méthode Dicksonoise: Rediscovering Los Angeles Wine