Freemark Abbey Winery
3022 St Helena Hwy, St Helena, CA 94574
Website: http://www.freemarkabbey.com/
Freemark Abbey is located off of Highway 29 in St. Helena where it has stood for over 125 years. They celebrated their 125th anniversary in 2011. Like several other St. Helena wineries, Freemark Abbey has a fascinating history. Josephine Tychson started the winery in 1886 and was one of the first woman winegrowers on record. It wasn’t until 1939 when the winery received its current name. Although the name has religious connotations, there has never been a religious affiliation. The name is a moniker of the three owners at the time – Charles Freeman, Markquand Foster and Abbey Ahem. Another notable fact about the winery is that they were one of the twelve wineries selected for the 1976 blind tasting in Paris that brought world recognition to California. Freemark Abbey was the only winery to participate in both the white and red wine categories.
Before I arrived at the winery I had high expectations. I have enjoyed my visits to some of the other historic Napa wineries that were established during the 19th century – like Beringer, Charles Krug, and Schramsberg – and I was expecting Freemark Abbey to provide a similar experience. Unfortunately I left feeling let down. The most interesting part of the visit was the old stone winery that was hand built in 1899 and still stands on the property. Outside of the stone winery is a small fountain and courtyard. At the opposite end of the courtyard is a long, simple looking building where the tasting room resides.
I had gone onto the winery’s website ahead of time and saw that there are three different tasting options, each with a link to make a reservation. My assumption was that reservations were required because of the way the website is set up but learned later that they weren’t required. When my husband and I arrived at the tasting room, there were a few people at the tasting bar and we waited around for several minutes before anyone acknowledged that we were there. I was looking around the tasting room while my husband waited for someone to notice us.
Tasting room at Freemark Abbey
The tasting room looks like a lodge or large wine library with wood floors, paneling, and furniture and rustic chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It was a little dark but the soft lighting seemed fitting for the atmosphere of the room. There were some tables and chairs set up for seated tastings and a black leather couch. The half-moon shaped tasting bar is located at the front of the room right off the entrance and is small in comparison to the rest of the room. There were two ladies working behind the tasting bar. Once one of them finally acknowledged my husband standing there, he informed her that we had made a reservation. She didn’t seem interested in the reservation and asked if we wanted to taste at the bar or sit at one of the tables. At this point we decided to taste up at the bar. The service continued to go downhill as we started our tasting and two other guys walked in stating that they owned a wine shop in Washington and were stopping into Napa wineries over the weekend to seek out new wines to purchase at their shop. We had very limited attention from our server while watching her dote on the other gentlemen beside us. We sampled a Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley Chardonnay, Petite Sirah, and their flagship Cabernet Sauvignon. My impression of the wine could have been tainted by the experience, but none of the wines thrilled me.
After we left, we stopped in for lunch at the Silverado Brewing Company, which is actually located inside the historical stone winery. This pub serves traditional American food, including burgers, steaks, barbecue, and fresh fish. They focus on organic foods and use many other eco-friendly practices. They also make their own beer on site and visitors can watch the brewing process. It was a nice lunch and I was happy to get to eat inside the stone winery.
Information about the Silverado Brewing Company is available on their website at http://www.silveradobrewingcompany.com/about.html.