John Patchett (1797–1876) was the first person to plant a commercial

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

and build a commercial

wine cellar A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae, or plastic containers. In an ''active'' wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system. ...

in the

Napa Valley Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Patchett planted his vineyard in 1854 and started making wine in 1857. Patchett established his winery in Napa in 1858.

Biography

Patchett was born in

Lincolnshire, England Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire an ...

, in 1797 and immigrated to the United States when he was 20 years old. He trained as a brewmaster in Pennsylvania, but was not able to find work. He met and married his wife Esther Passmore there in 1820, and took up farming, moving west first to

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, then

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and then

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. In 1850, the Patchetts were lured by the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

and moved to Hangtown which is now known as Placerville, California. He began mining for gold in the fall of 1850 and his wife Esther died in November of that year.

Winemaking and time in Napa Valley

Patchett visited the Napa Valley in 1852, and soon began to purchase land in Napa. His first acquisition was 16 acres and his holdings eventually reached 200 acres. Patchett hired

Charles Krug Charles Krug (1825–1892) was among the pioneers of winemaking in the Napa Valley, California, and was the founder of the Charles Krug Winery. Biography Charles Krug visited the United States from Prussia in 1847, and became a citizen in 1852. ...

in 1858 as his winemaker. Patchett married twice more after moving to Napa. His second wife Susannah Quant died in 1862, and he married Martha Bradshaw in 1865. Patchett died on August 13, 1876, and is buried in the family plot in Tulocay Cemetery in Napa.

References

1797 births 1876 deaths People of the California Gold Rush History of Napa County, California People from Lincolnshire People from Napa, California American winemakers California wine People from Napa County, California Burials in California 19th-century American businesspeople {{wine-bio-stub