'Ghost wineries' spin some spooky tales(1)
Shown are the ruins of the old Summit Ranch ghost winery in St. Helena, California. The gravity fed winery was built in 1890 and was destroyed after the onset of Prohibition. The winery is now located on the site of Pride Mountain Vineyards.
AS the crisp bite of fall turns vineyards into a kaleidoscope of russet and orange, the Napa Valley's spooky side comes out to play with tales of mysterious noises and ghostly sightings.
Not a believer? Not a problem. Skeptics can enjoy the valley's real-life "ghost wineries," relics of the pre-Prohibition industry that are haunted by history if nothing else.
The term "ghost winery" refers to places that were started in the mid-to-late 19th century, a time when the California wine industry was booming, but were abandoned in the early 20th century. It was a crash brought about by the triple threat of an outbreak of the vine disease phylloxera, the Great Depression, and, of course, the failed experiment to ban alcohol that was analyzed in the recent PBS documentary "Prohibition" directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.
Some of the ghost wineries have become tumbledown ruins, but others have been renovated by new owners who moved in as the modern wine industry took off in the 1960s and '70s.
One such winery is Chateau Montelena, which was founded in 1882 by Alfred L. Tubbs and was a major producer in the Napa Valley by the turn of the 20th century, only to fall largely into disuse after Prohibition. The property was revived in the early '70s when James Barrett bought the estate.
Back then, the place was thoroughly overgrown, says Barrett's son Bo, who was just out of high school at the time. There weren't any ghosts, but that doesn't mean the grounds were fright-free. Barrett remembers camping out on the lawn - and relocating to the comfort of his truck after hearing the throaty call of a resident bull frog. "We'd never heard a big old bull frog," he says with a laugh.
The winery made its mark in the modern era of California winemaking when its chardonnay beat French whites at a famous Paris tasting in 1976.
