In 1971, founder Joe Martin bought the one-hundred-acre Behler Ranch and planted Chardonnay and some of California's earliest Merlot.

In 1979, Martin and business partner Lloyd Canton opened the official winery, naming it after St. Francis of Assisi to reflect ecological respect.

In 1983, Tom Mackey joined as head winemaker, spending thirty years championing Merlot as an elite, independent varietal rather than just a blending grape.

The marker reads:

The St. Francis Bell

St. Francis Vineyards & Winery was named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of animals and ecology, and founder of the Franciscan order that established missions throughout California.

Francis Bernardone was born in Assisi, Umbria, Italy is 1181 A.D. He dried in 1226 A.D., and was canonized as St. Francis of Assisi by Pope Gregory IX in 1228 A.D.

On September 27, 2000, the bell that now hangs in our tower was blessed in the Piazza Della Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Italy. The bell was cast by the Marinelli Foundry, the oldest foundry in Italy and producer of bells for the Vatican since the Twelfth Century A.D.