During the last two decades of the 19th century, all of the important California wine merchants were located in San Francisco, which was close to many of the major producers. The California Wine Association (CWA) incorporated in 1894, with six of the major wine houses:

Kohler & Frohling, C. Carpy & Co., Napa Valley Wine Co., S. Lachman Co., B. Dreyfus & Co., and Kohler & Van Bergen.

By the time Prohibition stopped the industry in its tracks in 1920, the CWA had all major San Francisco wine houses under its control, and was responsible
for over 80% of all California wine production.

The illustrations that follow exemplify the substantial scale of the
pre-Prohibition wine merchants before or during the reign of the CWA.