"André Tchelistcheff, a Russian-born
immigrant with a thick accent, and John Daniel, a strong-willed
heir to the Inglenook estate, are two of the most important
20th century personalities that helped shape the course
of Napa Valley Cabernet winemaking."
James Laube
Wine Spectator, February 29, 2000
The roots of Rutherford—the
historic grape growing center of the Napa Valley—actually
stretch south of its central location in Napa Valley to
Yountville, where George Yount settled in1838. Yount, an
explorer and pioneer, was granted 11,814 acres by Mexican
General Mariano G. Vallejo as repayment for a variety of
services.
This land was called "Caymus
Rancho," and extended north from the western foothills
of Mt. St. John to what is now the intersection of Zinfandel
Lane and Silverado Trail.
Yount had three granddaughters.
Elizabeth married young Thomas Rutherford in 1864. As a
wedding present, the newlyweds received 1,040 acres at the
northern end of Yount's land grant.
While Yount is considered to
be the first to plant wine grapes in Napa Valley, it was
Thomas Rutherford who made a serious investment in grape
production and winemaking. From 1850 to 1880, Rutherford
established himself as a grower and producer of high-quality
wines.
In the meantime, a man named
Florentine Kellogg built a line of public wells at his own
expense along the 23-mile stretch of road between Napa and
Bale Mill (just north of St. Helena). Rutherford became
a main"watering place" along the route and by
1868 had its own railroad station.
Five years after Yount's death
in 1865, the land he hadn't given away or sold was sold
by the court. Much of this property was purchased by Judge
Serranus Hastings, chief justice of the California Supreme
Court and founder of Hastings Law School at the University
of California. It surrounded most of the property owned
by the Rutherfords. Hastings sold a corner of his land to
Senator Seneca Ewer, who built a winery at the site which
is now Beaulieu Vineyard in 1885. He also sold a portion
of his property to a young Finnish fur trader, Captain Gustave
Niebaum.
Niebaum purchased several pieces
of property in 1880, including the Watson ranch and land
surrounding Rutherford Station. His first crush was in 1882
at a winery facility that had been part of Hasting's "Nook
Farm." Never happy with the facility, Niebaum began
construction of a new winery which was completed in 1887;
he called it "Inglenook".
By the late 1880's, a private
census reported 2.05 million vines under cultivation in
the Rutherford area, even as California was facing its first
bout with Phylloxera, a microscopic root louse that slowly
began devastating vineyards, although this didn't slow vineyard
purchasing and planting much.
Enter Georges de Latour, a French
immigrant whose first successful venture in the Napa Valley
was a cream of tartar business. In 1900, de Latour and his
wife, Fernande, purchased a 4-acre parcel of land adjacent
to Niebaum's Inglenook which they called Beaulieu, meaning
"beautiful place." De Latour planted his vineyards
with imported rootstock from France, resistant to Phylloxera.
He subsequently became a primary supplier of rootstock to
vineyards stricken by the infestation, throughout California.
A second crisis struck Rutherford's
wine industry in 1919: Prohibition. Again, de Latour appeared
prepared. Due to a close association with the Catholic Church,
he began producing sacramental wine for the church which
allowed his wine business to thrive during these gloomy
years.
Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933,
de Latour continued to make significant contributions to
the growth of Rutherford's wine industry. His wines, as
well as those from Inglenook, began collecting gold medals
and increasing attention from around the world. Beaulieu
was only one of two recipients of the "Grand Sweepstakes"
award from the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco in
1939. Just prior to his death, de Latour brought a young
enologist to Beaulieu, André Tchelistcheff, who was
to become a legend himself.
Tchelistcheff once generously
insisted in an interview with James Laube that it was John
Daniel Jr., and not he, who was Napa's greatest winemaker,
for Daniel not only set impeccably high standards for his
wines, he also had the courage not to sell wines of inferior
quality. Daniel, great-nephew and heir to the Gustave Niebaum
estate, became owner-manager of Inglenook in 1939 and ran
it for 25 years. He served also as its winemaker, eliciting
widespread respect in the Napa Valley and wielding influence
throughout the California wine industry. His 1941 Cabernet
Sauvignon is still considered one of the finest wines ever
produced in California.
André Tchelistcheff, though,
brought with him many innovations including cold fermentation
and controlled malolactic fermentation. He eventually consulted
for a long list of vintners, and his contributions to the
wine industry over the 92 years of his life are admired
around the world. By the time of his death in 1994, it could
be said that Tchelistcheff had led Rutherford and Napa Valley's
wine industry through its period of reconstruction (1938-1965);
an era of rebirth (1965-1980); and ultimately, the age of
its refinement (the 1990s).
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