National Register of Historic Places in Napa County

National Register #87001155: Eshcol Winery, California

22 April 2009
(Click Photos To Zoom)

National Register #87001155
Eshcol Winery
1160 Oak Knoll Avenue
Napa
Built 1886

Scottish sea captain Hamden McIntyre founded Eshcol Winery in 1886 with the construction of this gravity-flow building. Grapes were crushed on the third floor, juice flowed to the second floor for fermentation, then the new wine flowed to the ground floor for aging.

Eshcol Winery survived phylloxera in the 1890's and Prohibition in the 1920's but was out of business by the 1940's. The Trefethen family purchased the property in 1968, replanted the vineyards and restored the old winery building which is now the tasting room for Trefethen Family Vineyards in the Oak Knoll Appellation.

Captain McIntyre also designed Greystone Cellars, Far Niente Winery and Inglenook, but according to the Trefethen website, the old Eshcol Winery building is "the only 19th-century, wooden, gravity-flow winery surviving in Napa County."

Prev | Next
Napa County: List | Map
California: List | Map