There are not many historical sources of information concerning whereabouts of John Baptist. Of these, Gospels, especially St. Luke, give us most accurate information. Another source may be "the Antiquities of Jews" by Josephus Flavius.

St. Luke tells us that Zachary, father of John, was a priest, who lived with John's mother Elisabeth in "a city of Judah" in "the hill country". No source tells us exactly where it was. But we should assume that people live near their work place. If so, that city was situated in vicinity of Jerusalem, because priests worked in Temple. Traditionally, it is believed that Zachary and Elisabeth lived in Ein Kerem, a small town near Jerusalem, but there are no archaeological findings which can prove it.

Some churches have been built in Ein Kerem since Byzantine era, though we do not know if earlier churches were dedicated to John Baptist or related to him. The first ones who did associate Ein Kerem to John were Crusaders, but it must be emphasized that those Christian conquerors of Holy land used to adapt Holy sites to area they ruled.

When Crusaders controlled way to Jerusalem, they said that village of Emmaus was situated in village of Abu Ghosh, and built there a beautiful church. A hundred years later, after they were driven away by Moslems from there, they did not hesitate to identify Kubeiba as one and only Emmaus. Also there they built a church, a monastery and fortress.

Actually there has been always a town called Emmaus. It is located in Ayalon valley. The early Christians believed that this is real Emmaus, mentioned in Gospels, and magnificent churches were built there during Byzantine era, 1500 years ago. The problem with this identification was that place is located more than 30 kilometers from Jerusalem, while according to St. Luke distance was only 11 kilometers.

Back to John Baptist. We have already considered location of his birth place. And now let us ask ourselves: where did he preach and baptize? The Gospels tell us mainly two geographical facts. That he did his preaching and religious rituals in Judea desert, and that he baptized people who came to him from Judea and Jerusalem, in Jordan River.

History

The history of viticulture in Sonoma Valley began when a Franciscan Padre named Jose Altimira established Sonoma Mission in 1823. This was last, and northernmost Spanish Mission built in California. Altimira established first of Sonoma Valley Wineries, and simple wines were produced for ecclesiastical purposes.

After Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1835, General Vallejo was sent by new government to secularize Sonoma Mission and its surrounding properties. The Bear Flag Revolt occured 11 years later, and authority shifted to United States Government shortly thereafter.

Agaston Harazsthy founded first commercial Sonoma Valley Winery in 1857. Harazsthy experimented with different vitis vinifera varietals and greatly increased perception of Sonoma Valley as a quality wine region. Although Harazsthy's winery ultimately went bankrupt, it laid foundation for future wine producers. Because of his contributions to Sonoma viticulture, Harazsthy is known as "Father of California Wine Industry".

The combined devastation of Phylloxera and Prohibition eliminated all but most hearty and innovative Sonoma Valley Wineries. Sebastiani was able to persevere due to a contract with Church to make wine. However, most vineyards were converted to other crops or used to raise livestock.

Despite fact that Sonoma Valley AVA has a long history of winemaking, it was not until 1970s that quality wine production became widespread. The legacy of Phylloxera and Prohibition caused region to stagnate for over a generation. Between repeal of Prohibition and renaissance of 1970s, Sonoma Valley Wineries primarily produced jug wine.