Buena Vista Winery
Everything in this guide — every trail, every tasting bar, every valley — descends in some way from a stone cellar in the Sonoma woods, dug in 1857 by a self-styled Hungarian count.
California wine has a founding address, and this is it. In 1857, “Count” Agoston Haraszthy — Hungarian émigré, promoter, and the man history calls the father of California viticulture — established Buena Vista, the state’s first premium winery, in the hills outside the town of Sonoma. The hand-quarried 1857 stone winery still stands, a California Historic Landmark on the National Register, its arched cellar doorways looking exactly like the origin story they are.
Today the estate pours where the Count once did, with the old press house and cellars restored into tasting rooms and a museum of the state’s wine beginnings. For a Temecula visitor the pilgrimage logic is simple: your valley turns sixty this decade; this door has been open past a hundred and sixty. Start the northern trip here, where all of it started, then work forward through Napa’s elder and the Judgment winners.
What to expect
| Go for | California wine’s founding address — the state’s first premium winery, pouring since 1857 |
|---|---|
| The founder | “Count” Agoston Haraszthy, the father of California viticulture, promoter, adventurer, legend |
| The stones | The 1857 hand-quarried winery still stands — California Historic Landmark, National Register |
| From the valley | The pilgrimage north — a long day’s drive; make Sonoma the first overnight of the wine-history loop |
Featured videos
The Count, the stone cellars, and the birth of California wine — Buena Vista on film.
More of this direction
The other north doors on the shortlist — every one worth the drive back to Temecula.