Beringer Brothers Winery

The bronze credits two brothers from Mainz and passes over the people who made its claim true. Jacob Beringer was still cellar foreman at Charles Krug's winery next door when he crushed his first vintage here in 1876, and he stayed on Krug's payroll until 1878. Chinese crews cut the tunnels the plaque says simply "were dug," some twelve hundred feet into the hillside. And the unbroken run of operation it boasts of held through Prohibition because Jacob's daughter Bertha, the business manager, had secured a license to make sacramental wine before the law took effect.

What the plaque says

Beringer Brothers Winery Built by Frederick and Jacob Beringer, natives of Mainz, Germany, this winery has the unique distinction of never having ceased operations since its founding in 1876. Here, in the European tradition, were dug underground wine tunnels hundreds of feet in length. These maintain a constant temperature of 58 degrees, a factor considered necessary in the maturing and aging of fine wines. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 814 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the La Junta Parlor No. 203, Native Daughters of the Golden West. April 30, 1967

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Charles Krug Winery — 0.6 mi
• Old Bale Mill — 2.6 mi
• Schramsberg — 4.0 mi
• Site of Kelsey House, Calistoga — 6.1 mi