United States · Napa

Beringer Vineyards

Napa Valley's oldest continuously operating winery, founded 1876, known for the Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux blend from Knights Valley.

The producer

In 1934, eighteen months after Prohibition's repeal, Beringer became the first California winery to open its doors to the public for guided tours and tastings. The format was the Rhine House, the Victorian mansion the family built on the estate, plus the aging caves dug into the hillside and a poured glass at the end. No other California producer had tried it. That walk, those caves, that tasted wine became the template every Napa Valley winery has operated from since.

Founded in 1876 by brothers Jacob and Frederick Beringer, who emigrated from Mainz, Germany, the estate remained in continuous operation through the entire thirteen-year ban. Today it operates under Treasury Wine Estates and farms across ten appellations in Napa and Sonoma. The Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux blend grown on volcanic ash, clay, and cobbled alluvial soils in Knights Valley, is the clearest single-appellation expression of what the estate produces at its upper range.

Known for

Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon; multi-appellation range across thirteen varietals in Napa and Sonoma.

Notable facts

The story

The 2009 Vintage

At Beringer, the 2008 vintage yielded wines with harder tannins. In 2009, the tannins seemed more evolved and rounder, with a more plush and rounded mouthfeel.

From the atlas

Beringer Vineyards

At A Glance

The Producer

In 1934, Beringer opened its doors. Not to sell wine through a counter, but to walk visitors through the aging caves and pour them a glass at the end. No California winery had done it before. The wine industry was eighteen months past Prohibition, reputation was raw, and Beringer chose that moment to invite the public in. That decision, the guided walk, the caves, the tasted wine, became the format every Napa Valley winery now runs.

Beringer was founded in 1876 by Jacob and Frederick Beringer, brothers who had emigrated from Mainz, Germany. It is Napa Valley's oldest continuously operating winery: production never stopped, including during Prohibition. Treasury Wine Estates has owned it since 2011. The winery sits at 2000 Main Street in St. Helena, and the Rhine House, the Victorian mansion the family built on the estate, still stands on the property.

The wine that most concretely shows what the estate can do at single-appellation level is the Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux blend grown across the Sonoma County border in Knights Valley.

Place

Beringer's vineyard footprint spans ten appellations across Napa and Sonoma: Howell Mountain, Los Carneros, Mount Veeder, Oak Knoll, Oakville, Rutherford, Spring Mountain, St. Helena, Stags Leap, and Yountville in Napa, plus Knights Valley in Sonoma County. Each appellation pulls in a different direction: Howell Mountain gives tannin and dark fruit from volcanic soils at elevation; Los Carneros brings cooler maritime air and Pinot Noir character; Rutherford sits at the Napa floor with its famous dust and cassis concentration.

Knights Valley sits outside Napa's county line, tucked into the northeastern corner of Sonoma at the foot of Mount St. Helena. It is warmer than much of Sonoma, sheltered from coastal fog, and the soils shift between cobbled alluvial valley floor and volcanic ash and clay on the slopes. That combination produces grapes with bold ripeness and enough natural acidity to carry the tannin. Beringer found this ground in the mid-1960s and recognised it as Cabernet Sauvignon territory before any official map agreed.

Soil And Site

Knights Valley's floor soils are cobbled and alluvial, well-drained, and low in fertility, which keeps yields in check and concentrates flavour. The slopes carry volcanic ash and clay, a mix that holds moisture through the growing season and contributes to the wine's acidity even as the warm, sheltered climate pushes fruit toward full ripeness. Knights Valley grapes achieve bold ripeness while retaining pronounced acidity.

Story

Jacob and Frederick Beringer arrived in Napa in 1875 and chose St. Helena for their winery. Jacob had trained in the wine cellars of Germany; Frederick had the capital. They broke ground in 1876, dug aging caves into the hillside, and built the Rhine House as the family residence and estate centerpiece.

When Prohibition arrived in 1920, Beringer did not close; the estate remained in continuous operation through the entire thirteen-year ban.

After repeal, the winery shifted toward the public. The 1934 tours were the turning point, and their success set the commercial logic for wine tourism in the valley. The founding family held the estate until 1971, when Nestlé acquired it. Subsequent sales moved it through TPG Capital from 1996, Foster's Group from 2000, and finally Treasury Wine Estates from 2011, the Australian multinational that owns it today.

The Knights Valley chapter began quietly in the mid-1960s when Beringer identified the alluvial ground across the Sonoma border and began planting. The first wine from that fruit came in the 1974 vintage. The AVA was made official in October 1983 by the Knights Valley Wine Growers Committee, led by R.L. Maher, Robert Steinhauer and winemaker Myron Nightingale. The 1976 vintage had already carried the Knights Valley label on a Cabernet Sauvignon, years before the appellation existed on any legal map.

Vineyards And Cellar

In the cellar, the Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is aged for 15 months in French oak barrels, with 30 percent new oak, and put through malolactic fermentation. The modest new-oak proportion keeps the wood from overwhelming the site character: boysenberry, cassis, and dark fruit flavours carry forward into the finished wine without an overlay of vanilla or toasted wood. Malolactic fermentation converts the sharper malic acid to softer lactic acid, rounding the palate and contributing to the plush mouthfeel the wine shows in the glass.

Wines

Beringer produces thirteen varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, Riesling, Chenin Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Sangiovese, Syrah, and Viognier. The range moves from broad California and Napa Valley labels at the entry level to single-appellation and single-vineyard bottlings at the top.

The Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon anchors the upper range. It is a Bordeaux-style blend, meaning Cabernet Sauvignon carries the wine with support from other permitted varieties. The oak protocol, French barrels at 30 percent new, keeps the élevage measured so fruit character reads clearly at every stage. The 2019 vintage is built for further development in bottle: the volcanic and clay soil gives it the underlying framework, and the tannin grip provides the scaffolding for several years of additional complexity.

Below the single-appellation tier, Napa Valley-labelled wines draw from the ten-appellation footprint, blending across sites to deliver consistency at higher volume. Appellation-specific bottlings from Rutherford, Howell Mountain, and Stags Leap reach for the character of each location: the cassis and fine tannin of the valley floor, the structured dark fruit from elevation, the softer plum and herbal notes from the cooler southern end of the valley.

In The Glass

The Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon opens with dark fruit across the nose: boysenberry, blackberry, and cassis arrive first, with fig and black cherry cola behind them and a thread of florals running through. A second look brings black currant and a graphite mineral note that comes from the volcanic soil.

On the palate, the wine is medium-bodied with vibrant acidity that keeps the fruit from sitting heavy. Tannins are chewy and extended, with a dusty quality that coats the palate and stays long into the finish. Malolactic fermentation has softened the edges, so the texture reads plush rather than hard, and the finish is dry, smooth, and long. The combination of fruit depth, acidity, and tannin length makes this a wine with genuine aging potential: it is drinkable now but will gain further complexity in bottle over several years.

A Bottle To Understand It

The Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is the right first bottle. It is a Bordeaux blend from Knights Valley, where Beringer planted before the appellation existed, grown on volcanic ash, clay, and cobbled alluvial soils that give the wine its characteristic combination of dark-fruit ripeness and tannin grip. Fifteen months in French oak at 30 percent new keeps the oak subordinate to the site. The nose delivers boysenberry, cassis, and graphite; the palate is medium-bodied, vibrant in acidity, with dusty extended tannins and a long dry finish. It is Beringer at its most specific: one appellation, one style, one clearly readable result.

Anecdote

At Beringer, the 2008 vintage yielded wines with harder tannins. In 2009, the tannins seemed more evolved and rounder, with a more plush and rounded mouthfeel.

Final Word

Beringer is the winery that never closed. It remained in continuous operation through Prohibition, then opened its doors to the public in 1934. One hundred and fifty years after Jacob and Frederick broke ground in St. Helena, the estate still farms across ten appellations and the Knights Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, grown in a Sonoma AVA where Beringer planted before the appellation existed, remains the clearest single expression of what the scale and the history add up to in a bottle.

Sources

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