Alchemists of the Vine

California's grape growers discovered a gold mine in distilling aged brandy.

- SHERRY MONAHAN

Until the mid1800s mission grapes were the primary wine-making grape in California. As time progressed, mission grapes were used for brandy, table wine and Angelica, which was a fortified wine. A few 19th-century wine makers experimented with brandy.

Jacob Beringer left his home in Mainz, Germany, in 1868 to start a new life in the U.S. He was enticed by his brother, Frederick, who had sailed to New York five years earlier and constantly wrote home about the grand opportunities in the vast new world. Jacob had enjoyed working in wine cellars in Germany when he was younger and had heard the warm, sunny climate of California was ideal for growing wine grapes. So, in 1870 he traveled West by train, first to San Francisco and then on to Napa Valley. Upon his arrival he discovered rocky, well-drained soils similar to those in his native Rhine Valley. In 1875, the brothers bought 215 acres that had a 28-acre vineyard already planted with white Riesling, Chappellet and grapes to blend Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1876 they founded the Beringer Brothers Winery and crushed 40,000 gallons of wine.