William Cole Vineyards

Built in 1876, our historic three-story winery was one of the first stone wine cellars in St. Helena, California. After Prohibition the top two stories of this ghost winery were converted into a residence, and in 2002 the cellar of the historic stone winery began its winemaking renaissance as William Cole Vineyards. When William and Jane Ballentine bought a nineteenth century ghost winery in St. Helena in 1999, little did they know it would take them three years to acquire a permit to open its doors which had been shuttered since Prohibition. The reason: county laws prohibited restoration of abandoned wineries with less than ten acres and the young couple only owned five. After several years working with the county, the Ballentines received a special historic winery ordinance that allowed them to reopen the 1873 winery.