Jacob Beringer left his home in Mainz, Germany, in 1868 to start a

new life in the U.S., enticed by his brother, Frederick, who had sailed

to New York five years earlier and wrote home constantly of the grand

opportunities to be found in the vast new world. New York did not

appeal to Jacob, however. He had enjoyed working in wine cellars in

Germany when he was younger and had heard that the warm, sunny

climate of California was ideal for growing wine grapes. So in 1870 he

traveled by train from the East Coast, first to San Francisco and then

on to Napa Valley. To his delight, he discovered rocky, well-drained

soils similar to those in his native Rhine Valley.

The volcanic soil was ideal for growing the same grapes found in

Europe 's great winemaking regions. Best of all, the hills could be dug

out to provide storage and aging tunnels that would maintain the

constant temperature needed to produce fine wines. Jacob and

Frederick together bought land in 1875 and set about making wines

that compared to the best in Europe . In 1876, they founded the

Beringer Winery.

The tough task of hand-chiseling the tunnels in the mountainside

behind the winery fell to Chinese workers who had returned to the Bay

Area after helping build the Trans-Continental Railroad. The tunnels

took several years to complete but were the perfect place to age and

store fine wine.

Even today, the average 58°F temperature inside the tunnels makes

them the ideal place for Beringer Vineyards to age fine wines and the

newly restored Old Stone Winery, a popular focus for visitors, marks

the entrance to this cool, subterranean world.

While the winery was being built, Jacob took up residence in a

farmhouse on the property built in 1848, now referred to as the

"Hudson House." Meticulously restored and expanded, the Hudson

House serves today as Beringer Vineyards ' Culinary Arts Center . In

1883, Frederick permanently moved to the Napa Valley and began

construction of a 17-room mansion that was to be his home-a re-

creation of the Beringer family home located on the Rhine River in

Germany . This unique "Rhine House" is the center of Beringer's

reserve and library tastings. It is a place where guests can enjoy a

glass of wine while relaxing in the old library or on the same porch

that Frederick once sat, overlooking the expansive lawns, lush

gardens, and out across the Napa Valley.

Beringer Vineyards is the oldest continuously operating winery in the

Napa Valley. In 2001, the estate was placed on the National Register

for Historic Places as a Historic District. Jacob Beringer's foresight in

recognizing the quality and potential of grape growing in the Napa

Valley is part of the living heritage of Beringer Vineyards . With the

present use of state-of-the-art technology applied to age-old

traditions, Beringer Vineyards ' wines continue to reflect a single-

minded dedication to the making of memorable wines from great

Napa Valley vineyards.

Winemaker,

Beringer Vineyards

Growing up in Sacramento , California , Laurie Hook never dreamed of

becoming a winemaker. "I didn't even know the job existed," she

explains. "But then I found out that my family had owned a French

Chateau (Chateau Olivier) before the revolution and it piqued my

interest. Also, I loved history, science and agriculture, and the idea of

doing something that connected you to the earth. And when I started

tasting and reading about wine in college, I realized that winemaking

brings all three disciplines together."

Laurie transferred to the winemaking program at the University of

California at Davis , training ground for noted winemakers in

California and around the world. After graduation in 1984, she

traveled to Australia to work in a small Melbourne-area winery for six

months. "I did everything from pruning the vines, driving a tractor and

harvesting the grapes to making and bottling the wine and even

selling it. I got a real hands-on education as well as great travel. And

I had the irreplaceable experience of looking up while pruning one

day and seeing a kangaroo in the vineyard." A harvest at a Sonoma

County winery followed.

In 1986, Laurie came to Beringer as an enologist, a job that allowed

her to solidify the scientific side of her training. In 1997, she was

named Assistant Winemaker to Winemaster Ed Sbragia, and in 2000

was promoted to Winemaker for Beringer Vineyards.

"You can't make wine only through science," says Laurie. " California

winemakers learned that in the 1970s and early 1980s, when a highly

scientific approach resulted in very clean wines but not necessarily

very interesting ones. Of course you need to understand the process

by which wines are made, but now we've learned to trust our intuition

as well. And I've learned from Ed that making great wines-wines that

are unique-means taking risks."

While Ed developed the styles for most of Beringer's wines over his

25-plus years at the winery, they continue to evolve as a result of the

teamwork between the two winemakers. "When you've worked next to

someone for almost 20 years, there's a trust that builds and our

wines benefit from that," explains Laurie.

Laurie is a member of the American Society of Viticulture and Enology,

the Trellis Alliance, and the Napa Valley Wine Technical Group.

Outside of the winery, Laurie has a myriad of interests and hobbies

revolving around travel, gardening, the study of history, collecting

antique and regional cookbooks and funny quotes about wine. She's

also a passionate animal lover.

Winemaster Emeritus

When Ed Sbragia was growing up, wine meant both livelihood and

quality of life to his family. Ed's grandfather, an immigrant from

Tuscany , had naturally gravitated to the wineries that flourished in

California at the turn of the century. According to family lore, he was

standing at the top of a ladder topping off a tank of wine when the

1906 earthquake hit. "Stop shaking the ladder," he yelled to his

coworker on the ground.

Ed's father acquired his own vineyards near Healdsburg and grew

Zinfandel grapes for sale and home winemaking. "He made excellent

wine," says Ed, "and he taught me that making wine is a very natural

process- that good grapes and good techniques will make good red

wine."

In the Tuscan tradition, good red wine was a part of every family

dinner. "I thought of it as a bitter liquid until I was about 14," Ed

recalls. "But it was a natural part of our meals and our life. My mom

was a great cook, and we would sit for hours having long philosophical

discussions."

The vineyards meant hard work for young Ed-pruning, thinning,

harvesting and crushing. "By the time I went to college, I wanted to

get away from vineyards. The rows were too long, and I had hoed too

many vines."

Ed majored in chemistry at the University of California at Davis ,

headed for a career in science. But his family background made him

the top candidate for a job in a winery laboratory upon graduation.

Quickly realizing that the winemaker's job was the one he wanted, he

returned to California State University at Fresno for a master's degree

in enology. After a year working at a Sonoma County winery, he

learned about an opening as the assistant to legendary Napa Valley

winemaker Myron Nightingale at Beringer.

"I just called Myron up and asked if I might be qualified for the

position. I started on August 9, 1976 . Myron was a great teacher. He

was the most intuitive winemaker I've ever known. He understood that

winemaking requires subjective input-a feeling, a major preference-

just like painting or sculpture or any work to which you dedicate

yourself."

Ed was named Beringer's chief winemaker on Myron's retirement in

1984 and has been, along with vineyard consultant Bob Steinhauer,

the keystone of Beringer's Private Reserve program. He is proud of

the partnership that he and Bob have formed-"Bob always says he

gives me diamonds, and it's up to me to polish them," says Ed.