Cresta Blanca Winery was one of the original

Livermore Valley The Livermore Valley, historically known as the Valle de San José (Valley of San José), is a valley in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region. The city of Livermore is located in the valley. Geography The valley is bound ...

wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

. It was founded by Charles Wetmore in 1882 with cuttings of

Sauvignon blanc is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the Bordeaux region of France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an indigenous grape in ...

from Chateau d'Yquem and other top

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

properties. Its first vintage, a dry

white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without skin contact. The wine color, colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured Juice vesicles, ...

in 1884 won Grand Prize at the

1889 Paris Exposition The Exposition Universelle of 1889 () was a world's fair held in Paris, French Third Republic, France, from 5 May to 31 October 1889. It was the fourth of eight expositions held in the city between 1855 and 1937. It attracted more than thirty-two ...

, becoming the first

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

wine to win a competition in France. The victory also assured the future of the

California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted '' Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious servic ...

industry, which had fallen upon hard times.

History

Named for a white

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

cliff that dominates the Livermore Valley landscape, the winery was thriving prior to

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholi ...

, at which time it had to be shut down. Wetmore died before Prohibition's repeal, but it was re-opened by his brother Clarence. It was sold in 1941 to Schenley Distillers, who closed the business in 1965. The name was then sold to the Guild Wine Company in 1965. The land remained fallow until it was purchased by the Wente family in 1981, and revitalized as the "Sparkling Cellars." The winery is registered as

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

#586. Cresta Blanca Winery was a sponsor for the television show "

Amos and Andy ''Amos 'n' Andy'' is an American radio sitcom about black characters, initially set in Chicago and later in the Harlem section of New York City. While the show had a brief life on 1950s television with black actors, the 1928 to 1960 radio show ...

" in the early 1950's, featuring a black and white commercial (color television was in its infancy at the time) that references "historic Cresta Blanca Winery" location "from the cool white limestone caves" in Livermore, California.

Vineyards

The vineyards were located on the South end of Arroyo Road in

Livermore, California Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californi ...

References

External links

Old Pictures From Cresta Blanca
* * * {{Livermore, California Wineries in Livermore Valley California Historical Landmarks Companies based in Livermore, California Food and drink companies established in 1882 1882 establishments in California