Chateau Montelena

Chateau Montelena's story begins in January 1882, when San Francisco businessman Alfred Lovering Tubbs purchased 253.81 acres of land north of Calistoga from a local settler, John Hoover, for $16,000. The property sits at the foot of Mount Saint Helena. Tubbs had made his fortune running the Tubbs Cordage Company, a ropemaking business he founded in 1849 that supplied both Gold Rush miners and the maritime clipper-ship trade. After retiring, Tubbs fell in love with the wine industry while touring France and decided to build a winery on the property. He first hired a French winemaker and built a wooden winery, called Hillcrest Estate, which released its first vintage in 1886. That wooden winery burned down, and Tubbs built a new stone winery in its place, completed around 1888, which he renamed the A.L. Tubbs Winery. In contrast to the wood-frame wineries common in Napa Valley at the time, the stone building was designed to regulate temperature and provide adequate space for aging wine. The building is unusual among Napa Valley wineries in resembling an English Gothic castle gatehouse, with rusticated stone walls, a crenellated parapet and bartizans with faux arrow slits; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Alfred L. Tubbs Winery. By the 1890s, the winery was the largest in Calistoga and one of the largest in Napa County. Tubbs died in 1896. Prohibition shut down commercial winemaking at the property in 1920, though the Tubbs family continued growing grapes there. After Prohibition ended, Alfred's grandson Chapin Tubbs, who had overseen the property for years, renamed it Chateau Montelena in 1934. Chapin died in 1947, and the property sat vacant until Yort and Jeanie Wing-Frank, a Los Angeles couple, purchased it in 1958; during their ownership they created the Chinese-themed Jade Lake, named for Jeanie's nickname, on what had previously been flat land. The Wing-Franks sold the property to Lee and Helen Paschich in 1968. Full-time winemaking resumed in 1972, when lawyer James 'Jim' Barrett and business partners, including shopping-mall developer Ernie Hahn, purchased majority ownership from the Paschichs, with Lee Paschich staying on as general manager. The winery's first release under the Chateau Montelena name was a 1972 Riesling made from Muir-Hanna Vineyard fruit; a 1972 Cabernet Sauvignon was also produced that year but was bottled under a different label, Silverado Cellars, because it did not meet the desired quality. Mike Grgich, who later founded Grgich Hills, served as the winery's founding winemaker and held a five-year, five-percent limited partnership stake in the business.

• Alfred L. Tubbs purchased 253.81 acres north of Calistoga for $16,000 in January 1882; his stone winery, completed around 1888, replaced an earlier wooden winery (Hillcrest Estate) that had burned down
• The stone winery resembles an English Gothic castle gatehouse, with rusticated stone walls, a crenellated parapet and bartizans with faux arrow slits; it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Alfred L. Tubbs Winery
• Prohibition shut down winemaking in 1920; Alfred's grandson Chapin Tubbs renamed the estate Chateau Montelena in 1934 after repeal
• Yort and Jeanie Wing-Frank's ownership from 1958 produced the estate's Chinese-themed Jade Lake, named for Jeanie's nickname
• Full-time winemaking resumed in 1972 under Jim Barrett and partners; the winery's first release was a 1972 Riesling, with Mike Grgich serving as founding winemaker

On May 24, 1976, British wine merchant Steven Spurrier, prompted by his American colleague Patricia Gallagher, organized a blind tasting in Paris that pitted French and California wines against each other. Nine French wine experts tasted ten white wines blind, six California Chardonnays against four white Burgundies, and ten red wines, six California Cabernet Sauvignons against four red Bordeaux. To the surprise of Spurrier and the judges alike, California wines won both categories: Chateau Montelena's 1973 Chardonnay, made by winemaker Mike Grgich, took first place among the whites, and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon won the reds. Time magazine correspondent George Taber, the only journalist present at the tasting, reported on the results, making the California upset international news. Bottles of both winning 1973 vintages are now held in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, which displayed them in its exhibition 'Food: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000.' Grgich, who made the winning Chardonnay while working for Chateau Montelena under owner Jim Barrett, later left the winery to found Grgich Hills, whose first vintage in 1977 beat 221 other Chardonnays from around the world. The tasting became known as the Judgment of Paris and is widely credited with breaking the presumption that only French wineries could produce world-class wine.

• The May 24, 1976 tasting, organized by Steven Spurrier at the suggestion of Patricia Gallagher, had nine French judges taste six California Chardonnays against four white Burgundies, and six California Cabernet Sauvignons against four red Bordeaux, all blind
• Chateau Montelena's 1973 Chardonnay, made by winemaker Mike Grgich, won the white-wine flight; Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' 1973 Cabernet Sauvignon won the reds
• Time correspondent George Taber, the only journalist at the tasting, broke the story internationally
• Bottles of the winning 1973 Chardonnay and the 1973 Stag's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon are held in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

The modern identity of Chateau Montelena is inseparable from the Barrett family. Jim Barrett purchased majority ownership of the estate in 1972 and led its revival; his son, James Patrick 'Bo' Barrett, has been part of the winery's operations since that year. Bo Barrett was appointed winemaker in 1982 and was later named Chief Executive Officer in 2013, following his father's death that year. Bo Barrett also led the effort to establish the Calistoga American Viticultural Area, petitioning the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau; the AVA took effect January 7, 2010. Matthew Crafton, a Virginia native with an economics degree from the University of Virginia and a viticulture and enology degree from UC Davis, joined Chateau Montelena as an enologist in 2008, was named winemaker in 2014, and was named President in December 2025, a role he now holds alongside winemaking. Under Crafton, the winery has completed its largest vineyard replanting in five decades and developed a new estate Chardonnay vineyard in Carneros. Today Bo Barrett serves as CEO and Matt Crafton as President and Winemaker.

• Bo Barrett has been part of Chateau Montelena's operations since his father Jim Barrett purchased the estate in 1972; he was named winemaker in 1982 and Chief Executive Officer in 2013, following Jim Barrett's death that year
• Bo Barrett petitioned the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to establish the Calistoga AVA, which took effect January 7, 2010
• Matt Crafton joined as enologist in 2008, became winemaker in 2014, and was named President in December 2025, serving today as President and Winemaker alongside CEO Bo Barrett

Chateau Montelena's estate vineyard sits at the northern tip of Napa Valley, at the foot of Mount Saint Helena, within the Calistoga AVA. The vineyard totals roughly 110 acres, predominantly planted to Cabernet Sauvignon across numerous blocks dating from 1974 through 2023, alongside Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and a block of Petite Sirah. The oldest vines on the property are Zinfandel, planted in 1972. The estate's soils are drawn from three formations: alluvial soils deposited by ancient river flows (cobbly, stony and gravelly, associated with earthy, aromatic, concentrated wines), volcanic soils formed by local rhyolite and tuff flows (associated with spicy, cedary, often minty character), and sedimentary soils formed by the settling of an ancient sea or lake (richer and loamier, associated with riper, more fruit-forward, herbal character). During the Barrett family's ownership, roughly 25,000 square feet of cave tunnels were drilled into the mountainside beneath the winery for wine production and aging. The winery farms with cover crops and beneficial insects rather than herbicides or pesticides, and converted to solar power in 2007. In 2025, the winery purchased an approximately 73-acre vineyard in the Napa Valley side of Carneros to expand its Chardonnay program.

• The Estate Vineyard totals roughly 110 acres, predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, with Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Petite Sirah also planted; the oldest vines are Zinfandel planted in 1972
• Estate soils span three formations, alluvial (cobbly and gravelly), volcanic (rhyolite and tuff) and sedimentary (loamy), each associated with a distinct flavor profile on the winery's own vineyard map
• Roughly 25,000 square feet of cave tunnels were drilled into the mountainside during the Barrett family's ownership for wine production and aging; the estate converted to solar power in 2007
• In 2025, the winery purchased an approximately 73-acre vineyard in the Napa Valley side of Carneros to expand its Chardonnay program

Chateau Montelena's current lineup is led by its flagship Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, sourced from the Calistoga estate vineyard, alongside a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, a Napa Valley Chardonnay, an Estate Zinfandel, a Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, and a Potter Valley Riesling sourced from the McFadden Farm in Mendocino County. The Chardonnay does not go through malolactic fermentation, preserving a bright, fresh style; oak-aging regimens vary by vintage and wine, with recent reviewed examples ranging from roughly 10 months (a recent Chardonnay) to 22 months (recent Estate Cabernet Sauvignons) in French oak. Winemaker Matt Crafton has described the estate's wines as expressing 'the Calistoga Estate's gravelly benches, volcanic soils and the unique characteristics of the growing season,' aiming for 'wines of place that can't be replicated anywhere else in the world.' The winery produces roughly 35,000 to 40,000 cases a year and also maintains a tasting room inside San Francisco's Westin St. Francis hotel, opened in late 2011.

• Current lineup: Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (flagship, sourced from the Calistoga estate vineyard), Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley Chardonnay, Estate Zinfandel, Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc, and a Potter Valley Riesling sourced from Mendocino County's McFadden Farm
• The Chardonnay does not go through malolactic fermentation; oak-aging regimens vary by vintage and wine, with recent reviewed examples ranging from about 10 to 22 months in French oak
• Production runs roughly 35,000 to 40,000 cases annually; the winery also operates a tasting room inside San Francisco's Westin St. Francis, opened in late 2011

Primary sources (producer's own site and PDF assets, fetched as raw text via curl, not a summarizing tool): https://montelena.com, .../wines/, .../visit/, .../visit/visitor-experiences/, .../resources/, .../in-the-news/, .../membership/, plus current-release wine pages and the Bo Barrett, Matt Crafton and Tucker Spear biography PDFs and the Estate Vineyard soil map PDF hosted on montelena.com. Secondary sources (also fetched as raw text, none from a summarizing tool): the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's Calistoga AVA Treasury Decision (Federal Register / govinfo.gov, 74 FR 64602, published December 8, 2009); NoeHill Travels' National Register of Historic Places entry for the Alfred L. Tubbs Winery (adapted from the NRHP nomination form); The Napa Wine Project's Chateau Montelena profile; and Smithsonian Magazine's account of the 1976 Judgment of Paris. Last verified 2026-09-09. Where the producer's site is silent, the secondary sources above govern; see conflicts.json for the architectural attribution, acreage and vineyard-variety findings, and notes.md for why four secondary sources were used instead of the usual three.