Wine grapes came to Northern California shortly after the Gold Rush in 1850. While wineries in Sonoma and Napa became large-scale operations, the wineries in Mendocino County were much smaller. They barely scraped by supplying the locals. By the time Prohibition had come and gone, it had put most Mendocino vineyards out of business.

In 1958, the future looked brighter for Mendocino’s growers. This was the year that Barney and Kathleen Fetzer purchased a run-down 720-acre ranch in Redwood Valley. They saw the Mendocino wine industry as a dark horse poised for a big comeback and went about renovating the property and planting Fetzer’s first vines. Two years later the California “wine boom” began, and by 1968 Fetzer’s first commercial vintage (2,500 cases of red table wine) was crated, shipped and sold, putting it on the map.

By 1977, the Fetzer staff had grown considerably but was still little more than an extended family. The company totaled about 20 people (the Fetzer family and a bottling crew of about ten) and was producing around 30,000 cases a year. The focus at that time was primarily single vineyard Zinfandels and Cabernets from local Mendocino growers.

In 1978, Fetzer branched out into Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer and Riesling and built a second crushing facility on the property dedicated to white wines. Few California wineries were serious about Chardonnay, and whites in general, at this time. Once again, the vision and pioneering spirit of Fetzer’s winemakers would pay off.

Three years later, Sundial Chardonnay was launched from the Fetzer Sundial Ranch in Hopland, California. The launch also represented the company’s first marketing campaign. A two-man team spent countless weeks traveling the country, offering tastings for the media and hosting winemaker dinners. While the parties got attention, people were really noticing the quality of the wines.

Throughout the Sundial Chardonnay launch, Fetzer partnered with its network of growers, involving them in the finished product. Each grower tasted the wines, comparing the quality of their produce to that of other Fetzer growers. This friendly competition motivated growers to continually improve the quality of their grapes to meet Fetzer standards. It turned out to be a positive way of improving quality without raising the prices on the shelf.

As sales grew, so did Fetzer’s need to control the quality of all its grapes. This led to the purchase of Valley Oaks in 1984. The following year, Fetzer made the commitment to grow all of its grapes organically. What started as a simple organic garden project at Valley Oaks grew into a quality mission for all of Fetzer’s vineyards. One by one, they committed to organic growing, and the results could be seen, or tasted, in the fruit. Vines were healthy and the fruit was rich and clean – great for premium wines.

By 1992, Fetzer had become a mainstay with consumers nationwide. Brown-Forman Corporation purchased Fetzer, offering the support needed to accelerate its quality goals. Fetzer introduced a lush Merlot, built an on-site barrel cooperage company in 1993, and recently completed work on a second winery in Paso Robles – Five Rivers Ranch.

The passion and creativity of the winemaker are key at Fetzer, and even though we’ve been a technological innovator, we’ve always believed that hands-on attention to detail is king.

Our reputation for quality winemaking will only improve. With every harvest, we gain more knowledge, make better decisions and renew our commitment to learning. We hope you always enjoy our wines.

View a printable list of Fetzer milestones.