From "AAA World" magazine july/August 2005 edition:

"... in 1619, America's first legislature, the House of Burgesses, formed at
Jamestown Colony, required every male over 20 to plant at least 10 grape
vines. That started America's industrial wine production with a 200-year
head start on California. What's really odd is that the East Coast wines
ever got so far behind."