Geyser Peak was the 29th bonded winery in the state when it started up in 1880. That's a seriously long time for a California winery to be around. In that long history there have been changes, of course, and not always for the best.
The winery sat along the main road (now US101) from 1880 until a few years ago. During the boom years of California wine growth in the last part of the 20th century Geyser Peak was under the steady hand of the local Trione family and had its best years. Henry Tione ran the winery from 1982 to 1998 (bought for $20m, sold for $100m). Trione made a big splash by bringing in an Australian winemaker from the highly-reguarded Penfolds winery and Geyser Peak's quality hit new heights.
Geyser Peak has since been through different corporate ownerships and has suffered. The original winery buildings were sold and now there's a tasting room near Healdsburg.
There's a new owner of the Geyser Peak brand now -- 2 Bears LLC out of Washington state. As I'm writing this I can't find a website for 2 Bears; I can't even get to Geyser Peak's website (maybe it's under construction by the new guys).
Possibly more than anything the old Geyser Peak was known for its ten buck Sauvignon Blanc. Word has it the previous owners pretty well tanked the quality of that wine. I don't know about the other wines as I haven't had a Geyser Peak wine in probably a couple decades.
The Trione family, btw, is still in the wine business with the nearby Trione Winery.
Let's hope the new owners are interested in bringing some quality back to the historic brand.
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