Freemark Abbey Winery

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Freemark Abbey Winery, located between St. Helena and Calistoga in California's Napa Valley, traces its roots to 1886. The winery was first built by Josephine Marlin Tychson, the first woman to build and operate a winery in the state. The winery was originally named Tychson Cellars and it produced Zinfandel, Riesling, and Burgundy.

Josephine Tychson sold the winery to her foreman Nils Larsen in 1894. Larson in turn leased the property to Antonio Forni and later sold it to him in 1898. Forni renamed the winery Lombarda after his birthplace; Lombarda Italy. He concentrated his efforts on making Chianti and other Italian style wines which he marketed to the numerous Italians that had moved to Barre, Vermont, the site of America's largest marble and granite quarries. Forni was forced to cease operations when Prohibition began.

In 1939, three businessmen from Southern California, Albert "Abbey" Ahern, Charles Freeman and Markquand Foster purchased Lombarda Cellars. Together they reopened the winery and renamed it Freemark Abbey (a combination which includes a portion of each partner's name). During the 1940's and 1950's the partners sold the majority of their wines to retail outlets in San Francisco. The winery went through several hands in the early 1960's before being purchased by a group of seven partners in 1966.

The new owners made major improvements and the winery won the New York Wine Tasting of 1973, a wine competition of 23 California, New York, and French Chardonnays. The blind tasting brought together 14 wine experts, including France's Alexis Lichine. Freemark Abbey, along with three other California labels, received the top four scores. In fifth place was Beaune Clos des Mouches Joseph Drouhin. Other French wines at the tasting were Corton-Charlemagne Louis Latour, Pouilly-Fuisse Louis Jadot, Chassagne-Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche Joseph Drouhin. Freemark Abbey Winery achieved international recognition when it competed very successfully in the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. This core group owned the winery until 1991 when they sold it to the current owner The Legacy Estate Group.

Today, Freemark Abbey produces Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, and Riesling, as well as very limited production wines, such as Viognier, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Franc. Depending on conditions, the winery sometimes makes a late harvest Riesling known as "Edelwein Gold".