Josephine Marlin Tychson (March 5, 1855 - December 18, 1939) was the second woman to build and operate a winery in the Napa Valley. [1] In 1886, she established a winery in St. Helena, selling it in 1894. Its name changed to Lombarda Cellars and is now Freemark Abbey Winery.
Tychson was born in 1855, into a wealthy family from Pennsylvania. [2] John Marlin (d. 1878) and Eliza (née Bower; 1823-1860), her parents, had also lived in Astoria, Oregon; Tychson was one of 8 children. [2] She grew up in Philadelphia before the family moved to San Lorenzo. [3] [2] At the age of 8, her mother died and her father remarried Eliza's sister. [2] Tychson's father and aunt were influential from a young age in her development as an independent, young women. [4]
Following the death of her sister Catherine in 1874, [2] she married the Danish farmer, John C. Tychson. Their first child, Annette, was born in 1878. [2] In 1879, the young family moved to Denmark, where John took care of some affairs, [2] before returning to the United States. They moved to the Napa Valley in northern California, where they purchased a 147 acres of land just north of St. Helena from William James Sayward, a sea captain. They planted the vineyards in 1881, establishing Tychson Cellars five years later. [4] [5] She lost her tuberculosis-afflicted husband to suicide at the Newland House Hotel in Oakland, leaving her to look after two children and the estate. [2] [4]
According to an 1890 report by the California Board of State Viticultural Commissioners, the Tychson Winery cultivated Zinfandel, Riesling and Burgundy; it also noted that the estate had expanded to 65 acres of wine grapes, of which 55 acres were in bearing. [4] In 1893, Tychson lost some 10% of her grapes to the parasite phylloxera. [4] As a result, she sold the winery in the following year to foreman Nels Larson; Larson sold it to Anton Forni in 1898, who renamed it Lombarda Cellars after the region of Italy that he hailed from, a name it retained until it went out of business. [6] [5]
Tychson, who never remarried, bought a white house opposite the vineyard. [2] She was described as "an intrepid Victorian widow who could often be spotted riding". [7] She died in 1939. Upon her death, the estate was sold to Charles Freeman, Mark Foster, and Abbey Ahern, giving it its name "Freemark Abbey". [8] Tychson was remembered in a Napa County Historical Society temporary exhibition at the site, “Harvesting History,” which documented the early viticulture of the Napa Valley. [4]
Napa County is a county north of San Pablo Bay located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 138,019. 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.
The Livermore Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Alameda County, California, surrounding the city of Livermore in the Tri-Valley region. Both the AVA and the city are named after Robert Livermore, a landowner whose holdings encompassed the valley. The groundwater basin underlying the valley is the Livermore Basin, the largest sub-unit of which is the Mocho Subbasin. The Livermore Basin is one of five aquifers in the San Francisco Bay Area that supply most of the metropolitan Bay Area population. The entire Livermore Basin aquifer faces a concern over elevated total dissolved solids by the year 2020 due to an expanding human population leading to higher rates of return water flows to the aquifer containing certain salts.
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.
The Yadkin Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area that includes land in seven counties of northwestern North Carolina. The AVA encompasses an area of approximately 1,400,000 acres (5,666 km2) in the Yadkin River valley. The Yadkin Valley AVA includes all of Wilkes, Surry, and Yadkin counties, and parts of Davie, Davidson, Forsyth, and Stokes counties. Yadkin Valley is home to 44 wineries.
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.
Freemark Abbey Winery, located between St. Helena and Calistoga in California's Napa Valley, traces its roots to 1886. Today, Freemark Abbey produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc, as well as very limited production wines, such as Viognier, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc. Depending on conditions, the winery sometimes makes a late harvest Riesling known as "Edelwein Gold".
Miljenko "Mike" Grgich was a Croatian-American winemaker in California. He was the winemaker behind the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that bested several white Burgundy wines in the wine tasting event that became known as the Judgement of Paris. In recognition of his contributions to the American wine industry, Grgich was inducted into the Culinary Institute of America's Vintner's Hall of Fame on March 7, 2008. The tribute came at the same time that Grgich was celebrating his 50th vintage of winemaking in the Napa Valley.
Heitz Cellar is a California wine producer located within Napa Valley east of the town of St. Helena. An early modern era Napa Valley presence and pioneering exponent of French oak, the estate enjoys a historical renown with the success of its Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, and has also been described as a "master of Grignolino".
Inglenook is a winery that produces estate bottled wines in Rutherford, California, in the Napa Valley.
Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County, California. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. 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.
Abreu Vineyards is a winery in Napa Valley, California founded by the viticulturist David Abreu.
The Guenoc Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Lake County, California, United States, about 15 mi (24 km) north of the town of Calistoga. Guenoc Valley AVA was the first American Viticultural Area designation granted to an area with just a single winery.
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The Spring Mountain District AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in the Napa Valley AVA in California. Spring Mountain District AVA was officially established as an American Viticulture Area in 1993. Encompassed within its bounds are about 8,600 acres (3,480 ha), of which about 1,000 acres (400 ha) are planted to vineyards. Given the small crop yields on hillsides, the region represents less than 2% of Napa Valley wine. Currently the region has just over 30 winegrowers.
Helen Turley is a pioneering American winemaker and wine consultant. She is known for bringing several Californian cult wines to the public awareness, and as the owner of a 20-acre (8.1 ha) boutique winery, Marcassin Vineyard. She is the recipient of several prestigious American wine awards, to include Wine Spectator's Distinguished Service Award and Food & Wine's Achievement Winemaker of the Year.
Colgin Cellars is a winery in Napa Valley, California, founded in 1992.
Cathy Corison is an American winemaker, entrepreneur and consultant. She specializes in Cabernet Sauvignon. Corison was the San Francisco Chronicle Winemaker of the Year in 2011.
Henry Walker Crabb, also known as H. W. Crabb, Hiram Walker Crabb or Hamilton Walker Crabb, was an American wine cultivator, considered one of the pioneers of the development of the Napa Valley as a wine region. In the 1880s, his vine collection was one of the largest in the world.
Silver Oak Cellars is a family-owned, California winery dedicated to producing only Cabernet Sauvignon. Silver Oak was established in 1972 by Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer. It is currently operated by Ray's sons David Duncan, who serves as the President and CEO, and his brother, Tim Duncan, who serves as Executive Vice President. Silver Oak has two wineries; one in Oakville in the Napa Valley and one in Healdsburg in the Alexander Valley. The Duncan Family also established Twomey Cellars in 1999, which has wineries in Calistoga and Healdsburg.
Spottswoode Estate Vineyard & Winery is a winery in the southern outskirts of St. Helena, California, in the St. Helena AVA of the Napa Valley, in the United States. The estate was established in 1882. The winery is a producer of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. As of 2021, about 40 acres are under cultivation, which typically produces around 5,000 cases of wine per year.