Beringer Brothers and the Rhine House
Near St. Helena, California
The grand estate you see here is Beringer Vineyards, founded in eighteen seventy six by two brothers from Mainz, Germany, Jacob and Frederick Beringer. Jacob had trained in the wine cellars of the Rhine, and when he tasted the possibility of the Napa Valley he sent for his brother. In eighteen seventy five the pair bought a tract of prime land at Saint Helena.
Jacob became the winemaker and Frederick the financier. They dug limestone caves by hand, using Chinese laborers, to age their wine at a steady cool temperature, and those tunnels are still in use. Beringer is described as the oldest continuously operating winery in the Napa Valley, and it is said to have carried on through Prohibition by making sacramental wine for churches.
The showpiece of the estate is the Rhine House, a grand mansion Frederick began building in eighteen eighty three, modeled on the family home on the Rhine River. With its stained glass, slate roof, and blend of Queen Anne and Chateauesque styling, it stands today as one of the most photographed buildings in wine country, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
