Napa County Biographies

INGLENOOK - GUSTAVE NIEBAUM

Transcribed by:  Betty Wilson  August 2004

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm


INGLENOOK.  The celebrated vineyard and winery known by this name and owned by 
Gustave Niebaum, is located near Rutherford, in the heart of Napa County, ― a 
rich district with romantic surroundings.  Even before Captain Niebaum came into 
possession of this property, the locality had become famous as a health resort, 
on account of its salubrious atmosphere and mineral springs.  The Captain 
purchased it in 1880, and since then he has spared no pains or expense to make 
it the model vineyard of the State.  The estate proper consists of about 1,110 
acres of arable land, of diversified soil, well watered by mountain streams and 
characterized by enchanting landscapes.  There are at present about 300 acres in 
vines, embracing the finest varieties of foreign grapes.  While Napa County is 
confessedly the banner county of California in respect to wine products, 
Inglenook is the culminating point of this district, ―which indeed compares well 
with the most celebrated wine districts of France.  With the guarantee that the 
cuttings received from the most unquestionable sources were true to their name, 
they have been successfully grafted, and have taken very kindly to the soil, 
producing wine which will compare favorably with their namesakes in the old 
country, both as to delicacy of flavor and bouquet.
To insure a proper receptacle for the wines, Captain Niebaum erected a cellar 
and winery, which was completed in 1887, and which for perfection of detail and 
elegant finish has no equal in America.  With an eye to the beautiful as well as 
the practical, the spot chosen for this winery was most judiciously selected.  
Situated on the slope of one of the undulations, its rear sheltered by a solid 
hill of stone, nature has assisted science in maintaining in the vaults a 
uniform temperature so necessary to the care and the development of wines.  The 
building is of gray stone, trimmed with brown stone, quarried on the estate.  It 
is three stories in height, with double roofs.  The architecture is semi-Gothic 
and Eastlake in design.  Its dimensions are:  length, 220 feet; central width, 
seventy-two feet; wings, sixty-two feet; capacity, 500,000 gallons; structure, 
of stone and iron, with concrete floors throughout; the vaults are arched in 
cathedral style and protected by double floors, thus maintaining a normal 
temperature of 60� F, during the whole year.  The fermenting rooms are in the 
third story of the main building, where every known modern improvement for 
maintaining an even normal temperature and absolute cleanliness has been called 
into use.  Steam and water pipes are placed in every part of the immense 
building, with conduits to carry off the waste, thus preventing stagnant water 
and disagreeable odors.
�Mould, cobwebs and dust, did you say?� remarked the genial manager, Mr. John 
Armstrong, upon the occasion of a recent visit to Inglenook.  �I assure you, 
Madame, that if Captain Niebaum should discover either, by the aid of a lighted 
candle, in any of the nooks and crannies, I should be obliged to pack my traps 
and get, despite the fact that I have been in his service for twenty years.  
Cleanliness is our watchword.�
Turning sharply to the right upon entering the building a vision of the 
sixteenth century presents itself.  Here is a charming little den, fitted up in 
antique oak, devoted to the delicate task of sampling.  The high-backed, richly 
carved chairs are most comfortable and inviting, and a leisurely survey of the 
room discloses come rarely beautiful bits of aesthetic decoration.  The mind 
naturally associates old wine and polished oak together, and the elaborate 
sideboard gives a decided manish character to the surroundings.  There are soft, 
mellow lights coming faintly through stained glass, and should the evening 
shades demand it there are quaint Turkish lanterns, rich in medallion 
presentments of the gods of wine and pleasure.  A great square table, partially 
covered with the thinnest crystal drinking-cups, tempts the visitor to sample 
some of the old �private stock;� and there are dainty little hand-baskets 
containing a single bottle of a rare vintage, which have a decided tendency to 
make the sample taste like �more!�
The trade-mark and label is a neat little diamond-shaped design in black and 
white, with the monogram �G. N.� in raised letters in the center, surrounded by 
a medallion bearing the inscription, �Inglenook Vineyard, Rutherford, Napa 
County, California,� in black letters on a white ground.  The extreme points of 
the diamond have prettily arranged clusters of grapes on a dark background.  
Great care is taken with the cases in which the bottled goods are handled, each 
bottle being encased in a tule covering, instead of a straw cover, to prevent 
breakage.  The corks bear the trade-mark, and to prevent counterfeiting the 
bottles are wired, bearing the seal of the proprietor, which must be broken 
before opening the bottle.  In short, nothing that will please the senses or add 
to the quality of the wine itself is omitted in this model establishment.
The following extract, taken from the St. Helena Star, is good advice to 
vineyardists generally:
�If all our wise men would adopt Captain Niebaum�s plan a great and radical 
change would soon take place in the wine business.  His motto is �quality, not 
quantity.�  He allows no spoiled or inferior grapes to get into his wine-press; 
everything has to be in a healthy and sound condition.  Even after the grapes 
are picked they are subjected to a careful examination and thoroughly sorted 
over.  Some may say that Mr. Niebaum is wealthy and can afford to be very 
particular; that the wine business with him is a diversion; and that he does not 
carry it on entirely for profit.  We will not dispute this; but still we say 
that all our wine men should do as he did, and no matter how pinched in 
circumstances a man may be he can well afford to.  As Mr. Niebaum says, 
wine-making is like making butter; cleanliness is the most essential thing if 
you wish to be successful and get a good price for your product.  It requires 
considerable time to go through this sorting process, but it makes the business 
doubly remunerative in the end, as your wine is bound to be of a superior nature 
and will readily command a much better price than it would if it were partially 
made from a mixture of rotten and sour grapes.  There is no disputing the fact 
that a cellar half full of good, sound wine is worth much more than one full of 
an inferior type.  If this plan would be universally adopted, the change that 
would take place would startle our people; instead of resting on the bedrock, 
the business would take a bound and soon rank as one of the leading industries 
of the State, which position it should now occupy.  Our wine-makers should adopt 
the motto, �Quality, not Quantity.��
No foreign matter, such as antiseptics, or fuchsin or artificial coloring are 
used in the production of the Inglenook wines, and Nature�s laboratory alone 
accomplishes this devout consummation.
The Inglenook distillery is also well worthy of mention.  The same scrupulous 
cleanliness pervading the cellar is found here.  The still is of the most 
approved modern make and so constituted that the fusel oil is eliminated by a 
slow distillation, and as no pomace is used the brandies are free from that 
disagreeable odor and taste so frequently found in our native brandies.  The 
Inglenook brandies are distilled from wine made from the Challosse and the Folle 
Blanche, which are the true Cognac grapes.  Some of the brandies of the vintages 
of 1883 and 2885 can certainly vie in flavor and bouquet with the so-called 
Sazeracs, Martells of 1834 (?), and with the guarantee that the Inglenook 
brandies are absolutely and medicinally pure.
Inglenook is now in full charge of Mr. Ferdinand A. Haber, who has been in Mr. 
Niebaum�s employ there for a number of years.  It was he who in the autumn of 
1886 presented a sample of Inglenook wines at a meeting of the Wine and Spirit 
Trader�s Society in New York, leading importers, when they pronounced them 
better than any other California wines they had ever seen.
The Inglenook wines are offered to the public in the glass only, being bottled 
at the vineyard in California, protected by its trade-mark, and the Pure Wine 
stamp of the State of California, which guarantees the absolute purity of the 
wines; the bottles are wired, bearing the seal of the proprietor of the 
vineyard.
Four qualities of red wines, Zinfandel, Extra Fine Claret, Medoc type, Burgundy; 
and Santerne (Sauvignon and Semillion).  Chasselas (Gutedel), Hock (Tranimer), 
Burger (Chablis), Riesling (Johannisberg and Franken), form the delectable list 
of the Inglenook product, exclusive of brandies.  The vintages of 1882-�83, as 
marked upon the bottles, are as undoubted as the purity of the wines, and, in 
order to place these wines in the hands of the Eastern consumers, the following 
esteemed concerns, old reputable firms, have been appointed agents:  Messrs,. H. 
B. Kirk & Co., New York; Philip Becker & Co., Buffalo, New York; J. H. Magruder, 
Washington, District of Columbia; Fechheimer Bros., Detroit, Michigan; Stanton & 
Co., Chicago, Illinois; Mr. Joseph Thompson, Atlanta, Georgia; Clarke & Walker, 
Denver, Colorado, and F. Hollander & Co., New Orleans, Louisiana.
The foregoing facts are mainly compiled from a pamphlet entitled �The Wines and 
Vines of California,� and from an article in the Argonaut of January 12, 
1891,―both which contain also an immense number of additional details with 
reference to the wine interests in general, but too technical for a work like 
this and do not refer to the subject of this article.  Suffice it to say that 
Captain Niebaum set out in the first place with the high ambition to eclipse the 
products of all other wineries and vineyards in California, with respect to 
quality, and has had the head to succeed.
The San Francisco office is at 122 Sansome street.
 
Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, Lewis Publishing Co., 
1891