Buena Vista Winery

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Buena Vista Winery is a historic winery in Sonoma, California. It is the second oldest winery in the state, founded in 1857 by Agoston Haraszthy, a Hungarian immigrant. The winery sits on its original grounds just east of Sonoma.

Early on, Haraszthy was helped by the Buena Vista Vinicultural Society, led by banker William Ralston. The operation grew fast and at one point produced up to two million gallons of wine a year. Haraszthy resigned in 1866.

In the 1870s the winery produced about 100,000 gallons annually from roughly 500 acres, and sparkling wine sold well. The Depression of 1873–77 forced the society to liquidate. In the 1880s the estate was home to businessman Robert C. Johnson. Vineyards were damaged by phylloxera before World War I, and Prohibition delayed any reopening for many years.

In 1941 Frank Bartholomew bought 435 acres, replanted some vineyards, and bonded the winery in 1943, helping to restart California’s wine industry after Prohibition. He sold the property in 1968 to Vernon Underwood of Young’s Market, who planted a large Carneros vineyard and built a new modern winery.

In 1979 the West German company A. Racke bought Buena Vista, and by 1984 they owned about 1,000 acres, making Buena Vista the largest vineyard estate in the area.

In 2011 the Boisset Collection, led by Jean-Charles Boisset, purchased Buena Vista. The original hand-dug caves remain and have been opened for tours; the visitor center is in the old wine press house, with access to a champagne cellar.

Today Buena Vista produces about 100,000 cases a year from varieties such as cabernet sauvignon, syrah, pinot noir, merlot, sauvignon blanc, and zinfandel, plus historic wines under the Vinicultural Society label. The winemaker is Brian Maloney, with consulting winemaker David Ramey.

Nearby, a reconstruction of Haraszthy Villa, called the Palladian Villa, sits on Castle Road near the winery. Built in 1990 to resemble the original 1857 villa, it commemorates California’s first harvest masquerade ball held on October 23, 1864, with guests like Mariano Vallejo and Francisca Benicia Carrillo. The villa was funded by Antonia Bartholomew and has been associated with the Bartholomew Trust and Gundlach Bundschu at times.