Freemark Abbey Winery in St. Helena, Napa Valley
Crafting wines of structure, finesse, and age-worthiness.
One of Napa Valley’s first wineries, Freemark Abbey is a must-visit destination for experiencing California’s first American Viticultural Area and sampling its world-renowned, high-quality wines.
Located on the St. Helena Highway between St. Helena and Calistoga, Freemark Abbey is known for its classically structured Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Merlot. Head Winemaker Kristy Melton shared, “Ever since I began working in Napa Valley, Freemark Abbey was a winery I looked to for the best example of classic, balanced, and age-worthy wines. I never imagined over a decade later that I’d have the opportunity to work with these wines.”
Freemark Abbey Tasting Experiences
The estate offers al fresco and barrel room tastings (for members). The selections include three seated, one-hour-long tastings of six wines with small bites, each designed to provide a singular and educational winetasting experience.
Decades offers a vertical tasting of two wines from each decade over the last 30 years, illustrating the difference a vintage can make. Cabernet Comparison gives a comparative six-wine tasting of Napa’s signature variety, Cabernet Sauvignon, grown in vineyards from Los Carneros, Napa Valley’s southernmost point, to Calistoga, Napa Valley’s northernmost region.
The Appellation tasting boasts a sampling of current vintage red wines, showcasing the breadth of terroir in which Freemark Abbey grows its fruit. It provides a comprehensive understanding of Freemark Abbey’s red wine production and a unique opportunity to taste various wines from different vineyards within the Napa Valley appellation.
Freemark Abbey History
The iconic 125-year-old stone tasting room and winery reflect the early era of California winemaking. Freemark Abbey was one of the first Cabernet producers in the region, and the trailblazer Josephine Tychson was among the first female vintners in Napa Valley and an icon of the early California wine industry. “An intrepid Victorian widow who could often be spotted riding,” Josephine Tychson built and operated the original redwood cellar on the Freemark Abbey estate and cultivated the land
Josephine’s name and spirit continue with Josephine’s Cellar Wine Club and Josephine Red, a Freemark Abbey Bordeaux blend.
Freemark Abbey received its monicker from three entrepreneurs who owned the property: Charles Freeman, Mark Foster, and Albert “Abbey” Ahern.
Freemark Abbey made history in 1976 as one of twelve American wineries selected to participate in the historic Judgment of Paris tasting, which changed California winemaking forever. This blind tasting, organized by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant and sommelier, pitted California wines against French wines. Freemark Abbey was the only winery with both a red and white wine chosen to compete, a significant achievement that underscored its exceptional quality and global recognition.
In 2020, the winery reached another milestone with the appointment of Kristy Melton as its second female winemaker in 150 years, joining Josephine in Freemark Abbey’s lengthy history.
“Working at Freemark Abbey, where the legacy of Josephine Tychson, one of California’s pioneering female vintners, is deeply honored, is incredibly inspiring. She faced numerous obstacles and continued to persevere because of her love for Napa Valley and wine. That’s why I keep a picture of Josephine in my office,” Melton shared.
Whether Viognier, Malbec, Merlot, Chardonnay, or Cabernet, Melton’s lauded winemaking skills combine with the incredible terroir and resulting fruit to make Freemark Abbey wines shine. The winery owns and sources from some of the most revered vineyards in Napa Valley, boasting unique features that set them apart, like the rocky, volcanic soil of the W.S. Keyes Vineyard on Howell Mountain and the Rutherford dust of the Bosché and Sycamore Vineyards.
The 2019 Bosché Cabernet Sauvignon, which received a 96-point rating from Jeb Dunnuck in 2023, is a prime example of the stellar wines produced by Freemark Abbey, sure to impress even the most discerning wine enthusiast.
