Galleano Winery

In 1920 the Cucamonga Valley grew more wine grapes than Napa and Sonoma combined. Today about 400 acres of those vines survive, and one family farms roughly 96% of them. This is that family's winery: Galleano, established 1927, on the National Register of Historic Places, still selling wine out of a property that looks — in the best way — like nobody consulted a brand agency.

The tasting room pours the valley's history: old-vine Zinfandel from dry-farmed, own-rooted vines sunk into sandy soil that phylloxera never conquered, and the fortified wines the region was famous for. Their Three Friends Port has taken more international gold medals than any tawny port in America — a fact that would be marketing copy anywhere else and is just Tuesday here.

The address is Mira Loma, a short drive south of Rancho Cucamonga, and it's the essential first stop for anyone chasing the valley's wine story. Call ahead for current tasting hours.