Wine at Thanksgiving

At the first Thanksgiving, there was probably no wine. It took centuries before winemakers discovered how to grow Vinifera grapes in the New World, and Labrusca grapes had yet to be discovered growing wild. The Pilgrims grew barley as one of their first crops, but it's difficult to know if they had managed to brew their first beer in time for the feast. As the colonies became more settled, they began to ship over wine as a luxury good, but the tradition of sharing a bottle over Thanksgiving dinner is as new as the actual holiday itself.