however, the discovery in 1802 of the native catawba grape led to very successful wine-making in ohio. by 1842 nicholas longworth was growing of catawba grapes and making the country's first sparkling wine. in 1858, "the illustrated london news" described catawba as "a finer wine of the hock species and flavor than any hock that comes from the rhine" and wrote that sparkling catawba "transcends the champagne of france." but the successful operations in ohio ceased when fungus disease destroyed the vineyards. some growers responded by moving north to the shores of lake erie and its islands, where mildew was not a problem. the finger lakes region of new york state developed a successful wine-making industry beginning in the early 1860s when the pleasant valley wine company began using carefully selected derivatives of native grapes to produce wine. in 1865 the urbana wine company (which marketed its wine under the gold seal label) was established. in 1872, o-neh-da vineyard was established by the late bishop bernard mcquaid, on the shores of hemlock lake, to make pure grape wine for his churches. 1880 saw the establishment of the taylor wine company. by the late 19th century, wines from the finger lakes were winning prizes at wine tastings in europe.