The first wine grapes were planted in the mid-nineteenth century and achieved some renown when Dorland Nixon was awarded a gold medal for his wine at the 1876 Philadelphia Exposition. The modern era began when Phil Matheson planted an experimental vineyard with vinifera grapes in the 1980s while Ed Neuser and Rita Kaimins established the first commercial vinifera vineyard for their Waupoos Estates Winery in 1993. They were granted the second winery licence in the County (after Grant Howes and the County Cider Company in 1996) and opened their winery in 2001. During the first decade of the twenty-first century, new wineries have emerged at a furious pace, with approximately 30 in operation in 2010.