Freemark Abbey

The history of Freemark Abbey began in 1886, when Josephine Marlin Tychson became the first woman to build and operate a winery in California. The historic site where Josephine's winery, Tychson Cellars, once stood is now known as Freemark Abbey.
Josephine and her husband, John Tychson, moved to St. Helena in 1881. They hoped that the Napa Valley climate would help John, who suffered from tuberculosis. They purchased 147 acres north of St. Helena for $8,500 which later became known as "Tychson Hill."
The first vineyards on the Tychson land were most likely planted in 1875, five or six years before the couple acquired the property. With only a horse and plow, the Tychsons began to expand these vineyards, adding approximately ten acres of vines each year.
Despite his failing health, John Tychson began to develop plans for a winery on the property. Unfortunately he died in 1885, but Josephine carried on and began construction of a fifty square foot redwood winery in 1886. She hired Nils Larsen, an experienced vintner, as her foreman. With Larsen's help, Josephine successfully produced wine for the next eight years. In 1894 Josephine sold the winery to Nils Larsen. In turn, Larsen leased the winery to Antonio Forni, a good friend of Josephine's. Forni later purchased the property in 1898. Forni is responsible for building a new winery on the old site of the Tychson structure.
Forni used the original Tychson building for many years, but in 1899, he doubled his capacity with the construction of a new stone structure. Stones from the hills of nearby Glass Mountain were used to build his new winery. Freemark Abbey uses this building today for production and barrel storage. He continued to expand the winery until the advent of prohibition in 1919. Like many other vintners in the Napa Valley, Forni was forced to cease production at Lombarda Cellars.
Years later, in 1939, three businessmen from Southern California, Albert "Abbey" Ahern, Charles Freeman and Markquand Foster purchased Lombarda Cellars. Together they reopened the winery and renamed it Freemark Abbey. Throughout the 1940's and 50's, the new winery sold its wines primarily in San Francisco retail stores where a longstanding presence began to develop for Freemark Abbey's label.
In February of 2001, Freemark Abbey Winery was purchased by The Legacy Estate Group. The new ownership continues the tradition of crafting world-renowned as well as a renewed focus on incredibly high quality, small lot production wines from outstanding vineyards in the Napa Valley.
Freemark Abbey currently crafts approximately 40,000 cases of wine each year, almost five times the capacity of the original Tychson Cellars. Today, Freemark Abbey produces three Cabernets, a Napa Valley Cabernet, and the vineyard designated Bosche and Sycamore Cabernets. We also produce Merlot, Chardonnay, and Riesling, as well as very limited production wines, such as Viognier, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Franc. Given the right climate and harvesting conditions, the winery also makes a luscious late harvest Riesling known as "Edelwein Gold".