The Ghost Wineries of Napa Valley

The moral tsunami known as Prohibition hit California hard. There were 700 wineries in the state in 1919; 14 years later, on the day of Repeal, only 40 remained. Many of those properties survived by making sacramental wine (a lot of people experienced profound religious conversions during Prohibition).

Most of the early Napa wineries were constructed between 1860 and 1900, using stone from local quarries. Some are abandoned today, while others have been restored into working wine estates. Known as ghost wineries, few are haunted, except by echoes of the past: they serve as reminders of an era when Napa was a wilder but simpler place.

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Perhaps the most famous is Far Niente in Oakville, designed in 1885 by architect Hamden McIntyre, who also built the Gustav Niebaum Winery and the Christian Brothers Winery (now part of the Culinary Institute of America). The building was dormant from 1919 to 1979, when it was brought back to life by the late Gil Nickel. The building’s original frame remains and is included in the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to producing some of the valley’s most distinctive wines, Far Niente is a majestic monument to Napa’s first boom era.

Speaking of distinctive wines: Spottswoode Estate Vineyard and Winery was built in 1882 on the southern outskirts of St. Helena. The property was purchased in 1972 by the late Mary and Jack Novak, and the first modern vintage was released in 1982 to commemorate the winery’s centennial. Today, Spottswoode produces small amounts of Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon and is run by the Novaks’ daughters, CEO Beth Novak Milliken and her sister Linda, who serves as Marketing Ambassador. The wine is concentrated and balanced, a reminder of what Napa Cabernet used to be like before the “bigger is better” philosophy took hold. Spottswoode was the first winery in Napa to be certified organic, and the house is as elegant and charming as the sisters themselves.

The historic Dana Estates property was founded in 1883 by H.W. Helms, a German immigrant and viticulturist. It was revived in 1984 as Livingston Vineyards (later Livingston-Moffet) and purchased in 2005 by South Korean businessman Hi Sang Lee. The building was restored and renovated by noted Napa architect Howard Backen, who carefully blended modern design with the classic stone structure. Located on the Rutherford Bench, Dana’s wines are terroir-driven and “pursue the purest expression of place.”

La Jota Vineyard Co was established on Howell Mountain in 1898 by Frederick Hess, an immigrant from Switzerland, who built the stone winery from volcanic ash rock quarried on the property. The revived La Jota winery was bonded in 1982 and purchased by the late Jess Jackson and his wife, Barbara Banke, in 2005. Under the direction of superstar winemaker Chris Carpenter, the estate turns out concentrated and intense small lots of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay.

Freemark Abbey is the original site of Tychson Cellars, built in 1881 by Josephine Tychson, Napa’s first female winery owner. The property struggled through Prohibition and was bought in 1939 by the trio of Charles Freeman, Mark Foster and Albert “Abbey” Ahern (Freemark Abbey is an amalgam of the three names). The winery shot to prominence in the Judgement of Paris tasting of 1976, when the 1972 Freemark Chardonnay placed ahead of both Grand Cru and Premier Cru white Burgundy. Today, the hospitality center is in the old stone winery building.

No mention of the Judgement of Paris tasting would be complete without a nod to one of the winners. The 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, crafted by winemaker Mike Grgich, took first place over such lofty labels as Roulot’s Meursault Charmes, Drouhin’s Clos des Mouches Blanc, and the Puligny-Montrachet Pucelles of Domaine Leflaive. Alfred Tubbs built a wooden winery in Calistoga in 1885; after it burned down, he commissioned a stone building which was finished in 1888. The winery remains family-owned by the Barretts today, and the stone structure is carefully preserved.

Rather than a comprehensive list of Napa’s ghost wineries, this is a collection of personal favorites. If I’ve missed one of your fondest memories, feel free to chime in.

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