Napa County is a county north of San Pablo Bay in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 136,484. The county seat is the City of Napa. Napa County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county's territory were given to Lake County in 1861.
Robert Gerald Mondavi was an American winemaker. His technical and marketing strategies brought worldwide recognition for the wines of the Napa Valley in California. From an early period, Mondavi promoted labeling wines varietally rather than generically, which became the standard for New World wines. The Robert Mondavi Institute (RMI) for Wine and Food Science at the University of California, Davis opened in October 2008 in his honor.
The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone is a branch campus of the private culinary college the Culinary Institute of America. The Greystone campus, located on State Route 29/128 in St. Helena, California, offers associate degrees and two certificate programs in culinary arts and baking and pastry arts. The CIA at Greystone and the Culinary Institute of America at Copia make up the school's California branch.
Wente Vineyards is a winery in Livermore, California, that is "the oldest continuously operating, family-owned winery in the United States." The Wente Estate is registered as a California Historical Landmark #957.
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a winery founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970 and based in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California. The winery was sold to a joint venture by Chateau Ste. Michelle of Woodinville, Washington, and Marchesi Antinori Srl of Italy for $185 million in August 2007. It is 50% owned by the tobacco/food conglomerate Altria.
Chateau Montelena is a Napa Valley winery most famous for winning the white wine section of the historic "Judgment of Paris" wine competition. Chateau Montelena's Chardonnay was in competition with nine other wines from France and California under blind tasting. All 11 judges awarded their top scores to either the Chardonnays from Chateau Montelena or Chalone Winery, another California wine producer. A fictionalized version of Chateau Montelena's historic victory was featured in the 2008 film Bottle Shock.
California wine has a long and continuing history, and in the late twentieth century became recognized as producing some of the world's finest wine. While wine is made in all fifty U.S. states, up to 90% of American wine is produced in the state. California would be the fourth largest producer of wine in the world if it were an independent nation.
Spring Mountain Vineyard is a 225 acres (0.91 km2) vineyard consisting of 135 different vineyard blocks scattered over the 845-acre (3.42 km2) estate in California's Napa Valley. Spring Mountain Vineyard was in fourth place among French and American wines at the historic Judgment of Paris wine competition in 1976.
Stags' Leap Winery is a winery located near Yountville, California, United States, in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley. The winery's 240 acres (97 ha) estate vineyard was first planted in 1893. In 1997, Stags' Leap was purchased by Beringer Wine Estates, which in 2000 was in turn purchased by the Australian company Foster's Group, whose two wine groups combined to become Beringer-Blass Wine Estates. Beringer-Blass was demerged from Fosters in 2011 to become Treasury Wine Estates. Robert Brittan continued the revitalization of the vineyards and winery until 2005.
Trefethen Family Vineyards is a winery in Napa Valley. It was established in 1968.
Napa Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier wine regions in the world. Records of commercial wine production in the region date back to the nineteenth century, but premium wine production dates back only to the 1960s.
The History of American wine began when the first Europeans explored parts of North America, which they called Vinland because of the profusion of grape vines found there. However, settlers would later discover that the wine made from the various native grapes, had flavors which were unfamiliar and which they did not like. This led to repeated efforts to grow familiar Vitis vinifera varieties. The first vines of Vitis vinifera origin were planted in Senecu in 1629, which is near the present day town of San Antonio, New Mexico.
California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted Vitis vinifera vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. In the 1770s, Spanish missionaries continued the practice under the direction of the Father Junípero Serra who planted California's first vineyard at Mission San Juan Capistrano.
Buena Vista Winery is a winery located in Sonoma, California, United States. It is the second oldest winery in California after the D'Agostini Winery, which was founded a year prior in 1856. It was founded by Agoston Haraszthy in 1857. The winery is located on its original grounds, just east of Sonoma, California.
Windsor Vineyards is a winery located in Windsor, California, United States.
Schramsberg Vineyards is a winery located in Calistoga, California in the Napa Valley region. The vineyard, which was founded in 1862 by the German immigrant Jacob Schram, produces a series of sparkling wines using the same method as champagne. Schramsberg is considered one of the premium brands in the production of sparkling wine in California and the first U.S. wine to "match the style and quality of the best French Champagnes".
The Charles Krug Winery is a winery founded by Charles Krug in 1861. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on November 8, 1974.
Phil Coturri is an American viticulturalist. As a vineyard manager, Coturri has been recognized as pioneering organic and biodynamic farming in California. He is the chief executive officer of Enterprise Vineyard Management and co-owner of Winery Sixteen 600.
Calistoga Depot is a former train station in Calistoga, California.
