Napa's Oldest Continuously Operating Winery

Charles Krug is the oldest commercial winery in Napa, opening in 1861. Beringer Vineyards, est. 1876, is the oldest continuously operating winery. It's Beringer's 150th anniversary.

The oldest commercial wineries in Sonoma County are in the town of Sonoma. Buena Vista opened in 1857, and Gundlach Bundschu in 1858. Buena Vista is the oldest commercial winery in the state, but it has not been continuous. Wente Vineyards, founded 1883 in Livermore, is the longest continuously operating family winery.

  

Founders

Jacob Beringer came to America from Germany in 1868. Hearing about wine growing in Napa, he made his way West the next year securing employment with Charles Krug Winery. He and his older brother, Frederick, bought 215 acres in St. Helena in 1875. Frederick was the finance guy who traveled the U.S. and back home in Germany securing capital.

With Jacob as winemaker, their first harvest in 1876 produced 17,000 cases of wine. The Beringer Brothers Winery was off and running.

German immigrants Jacob and Frederick Beringer

Early Years

They were early pioneers in using gravity feed, relying on gravity to move the juice rather than pumps. This is something he learned in Germany. They were also among the first with a wine cave, dug by Chinese immigrants, and it took 15 years to complete. After Prohibition, they were the first to offer public tours.

Frederick built his home on the property, the Rhine House, completed 1884. Jacob lived in the more modest Hudson House, built in 1848.

Frederick passed away in 1901 and Jacob in 1915. Jacob's children took over control of the winery. During Prohibition Beringer stayed open by having a license to make sacramental wine and selling to home winemakers. 

The Rhine House

Later Years 

The family maintained control until 1971. It has passed through a few corporate owners since, now  Treasury Wine Estates. Due to the current downward trend in wine sales Treasury is looking at selling off part of all of its American wine holdings.

Beringer has had ten winemakers including family members Jacob, Jacob Jr, and Mark Beringer, a great-great-grandson of Jacob's. Ed Sbragia is another well-known winemaker of the late 20th century. Ed took over for their most famous winemaker, Myron Nightingale. He started in 1971 after the Beringer family sold the winery to Nestlé. It's said Myron and his wife, Alice, were both part of what Nightingale accomplished. One of the notable contributions was working with botrytis aka noble rot, to make some great dessert wines.
 

 

Now

Beringer farms vineyards in eight of Napa's sub-appellations and one just across the county line in Sonoma, Knights Valley. Beringer pioneered the remote Knights Valley for Cabernet. The first wine grapes were planted there by Thomas Knight, a Bear Flag Revolt veteran, after buying land in his namesake valley in the 1850s.

If you do go, I recommend skipping the base tasting of what I call their "tourist wines" and head for one of the reserve flights. You can tour and have a reserve wine tasting in the Rhine House. 
 

You may be wondering, but no, I did not get paid, trade for wine, etc. to write this.

Sources
beringer.com
vinepair.com