Now 144 years old, the historic Napa Monte Rosso Vineyard, known for its old-vine Zinfandel, has its roots in Orange County. One of California’s oldest continually producing vineyards, it was founded in 1880 by Jewish immigrants Emmanuel Goldstein, a San Francisco grocer, and Benjamin Dreyfus, known as the “King of the Anaheim Winemakers.” These two early pioneers of grape growing in America named the winery Mount Pisgah after the mountain where Moses was sent to view the Promised Land in the book of Deuteronomy, due to the fact that it’s perched 1,300 feet above Sonoma Valley. Goldstein tilled the land and grew the grapes, and Dreyfus, through his business B. Dreyfus & Co. (see illustration) distributed the wine they made from the site. The company was one of seven founding firms of the California Wine Association, whose efforts helped drive the progress of California wine in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Incredibly, some of the original vines, including Semillon, planted in 1886, and Zinfandel, planted in 1893, are still in production today! When Dreyfus unexpectedly passed away in 1886, Goldstein changed the name to Goldstein Ranch. The Goldstein family continued to run the winery until 1938, when they sold it to Louis M. Martini, who renamed it Monte Rosso Vineyard (red earth) after its red, nutrient-rich soils. For three generations, the Martini family farmed Monte Rosso Vineyard until Gallo purchased the property in 2002. Today it is famous for the same reasons that drew Goldstein, Dreyfus, and Martini to this unique section of Sonoma – volcanic, iron-rich, red clay soil that creates wines often recognized among not only California’s but the world’s greatest.
Dalia Taft, Director of the Orange County Jewish Historical Society, highlights images from the archives every month. For more information, please visit https://www.jccoc.org/Pages/Oc-Jewish-Historical-Society. You can also contact Dalia at Daliat@jccoc.org or at (949) 435-3400, Ext. 360. The Orange County Jewish Historical Society is a program of the Merage Jewish Community Center and is funded by the Jewish Community Foundation Orange County.