Beringer Vineyards

Beringer Vineyards is Napa Valley's oldest continuously operating winery, a distinction earned through the remarkable feat of surviving Prohibition by producing sacramental and medicinal wines when nearly every other winery in the valley was forced to close. Founded in 1876 by German brothers Jacob and Frederick Beringer, who were drawn to Napa Valley by the similarity of its terrain to their homeland in the Rhine region, the winery has been making wine without interruption for nearly 150 years. The original Rhine House, a stunning Victorian mansion built by Frederick in 1884, remains the centerpiece of the estate and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The estate encompasses 1,600 acres of vineyards across Napa Valley, making Beringer one of the largest landholders in the appellation. The vineyard sources range from the warm benchland of St. Helena to cool-climate sites in Carneros and Knights Valley. This scale allows the winemaking team to produce wines at every price point, from the widely available Founders' Estate line to the Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, which has been produced from the same St. Helena vineyards since 1977 and is one of the most consistently well-reviewed wines in California.

Winemaker Mark Beringer, who shares a surname with the founders but is not a direct descendant, brings modern techniques to a historic operation. The Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is the flagship, a wine that regularly competes with bottles costing two or three times as much. The portfolio also includes strong Chardonnay, Merlot, and a range of single-vineyard bottlings that showcase specific Napa Valley terroirs. The breadth of the lineup means that visitors can taste everything from a $15 everyday wine to a $150 reserve bottling in the same visit.

Beringer offers one of the most extensive tasting experiences in the valley. The historic Rhine House hosts premium tastings in an ornately decorated Victorian setting that transports visitors to 19th-century Napa. The wine caves, hand-dug by Chinese laborers in the 1870s, are among the oldest in the valley and provide a dramatic backdrop for cave tastings. For a more casual experience, the main tasting room offers walk-in flights of current releases. The grounds include beautiful gardens, towering elms, and the original stone winery building.

Beringer's longevity is its greatest asset. While many Napa wineries tell stories measured in decades, Beringer's narrative spans three centuries and includes some of the most consequential events in California wine history. It survived Prohibition, witnessed the birth of the modern wine industry, and evolved through multiple ownership changes (currently Treasury Wine Estates) while maintaining a core commitment to quality. Tasting at Beringer is tasting history in the most literal sense.