1977 Signed Titus Map and Vignettes of Napa Valley Wineries, California

A signed 1977 edition of the Sebastian Titus map of the Napa Valley wine region, California, surrounded by vignettes of the wineries. The map appeared as California wines were gaining international recognition, having beaten French wines in a blind taste test for the first time just the previous year.

A Closer Look

At the center of the sheet is a tall map, oriented towards the northwest, covering from Mount Saint Helena and Calistoga in the north to Napa in the south. Running roughly parallel north-south through the valley are Highway (State Route) 29, the Napa River, and the Silverado Trail. Towns and roads are labeled, along with the location of some 45 wineries, including Charles Krug, Robert Mondavi, Beringer, and Stag's Leap (today, there are more than 400 wineries in Napa Valley). These are illustrated in charming vignettes along the sides, top, and bottom of the map.

A Brief History of Northern California's Wine Industry

The history of California's wine industry dates to Spanish missionaries, who cultivated grapes for sacramental wine. Following the Gold Rush, new arrivals to Northern California, many of them from Europe, recognized the suitability of the climate and soil for grape cultivation and built a thriving wine industry. However, this first fluorescence was brought to an abrupt end by Prohibition in 1919. A small handful of wineries (including Beringer) were allowed to continue operating to provide churches with sacramental wine, though they typically sold wine illicitly as well. After Prohibition was repealed, a long, slow recovery began, led by academics and dedicated viticulturists. A full-scale renaissance was underway by the 1960s, and by the mid-1970s, California wines were beating French wines in blind taste tests, most notably at a legendary 1976 blind taste test in Paris dubbed the 'Judgment of Paris'. Today, California wines from the area seen here, as well as Paso Robles and other small centers of production, are celebrated worldwide for their quality.

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared by local artist Sebastian Titus, about whom little is known (the artist maintains a spare website with images of his art, and little else), and published by Vintage Image in 1977. There is at least one other edition of the map, dated 1987. Titus here signs his name at the bottom-right. Titus and Vintage Image collaborated on several publications related to Napa wineries and other wine-producing regions in California (e.g., OCLC 1042169324), one of which is this map without the vignette illustrations. In any event, no examples of this work with the vignettes is cataloged in any institutional holdings, and it only occasionally comes to market.