1915 to 1932
Bonded Winery No. 118
In 1915, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) awarded Domenico Barberis a license to establish the 118th bonded winery in California on his vineyard below The Palisades. The 1915 winery building still stands with some of the original wine-making equipment inside, including a conveyor belt for feeding fruit to the crusher mounted near the roof and a rotating shoot for directing grapes into the winery tanks. “Bonded Winery No. 118” is clearly readable on the sign that hung above the winery door. Domenico’s original winery measured 32’ x 36’ with one 2000-gallon fermenting tank and five storage tanks with a combined capacity of 21,780 gallons.
In 1920, the Volstead National Prohibition Act and the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution made the “manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” illegal with one notable exception—the manufacturing of sacramental wine. So, in December 1920, Domenico applied for and was granted a permit to “manufacture wine for other than beverage purposes.” The extent and nature of Domenico’s winemaking activities during Prohibition is unclear, although Barberis family lore is full of colorful stories of his exploits—and bootlegging.
While most winemaking was prohibited during Prohibition, the Volstead Act allowed individuals to produce up to 200 gallons of “nonintoxicating cider and fruit juices” for home consumption, provided it did not contain more than 0.5% alcohol by volume. Enforcement of this provision, however, was lax, and many home winemakers produced wine with higher alcohol content. As a result, grape cultivation in Napa Valley flourished to meet the demand of home winemakers and bootleggers. Petite Sirah was the grape of choice for local farmers because, with thick skins and dense clusters, it traveled well by rail to East Coast markets.
Like others in the Calistoga area, the Barberis family planted most of their vineyard to Petite Sirah. Today, 7.5 acres of the Palisades Canyon vineyard is still planted in the Barberis family’s old-vine Petite Sirah.
In 1923 Domenico was arrested at his winery and charged with “possession of illicit liquor.” A 1928 ATF inspector’s report also states that Domenico was in possession of “distilling apparatus.” Domenico claimed that the arrest was due to a misunderstanding of the government regulations—he had innocently stored some wine in a section of the building not officially bonded as part of the winery. Originally fined $1000, Domenico eventually settled the charges with an “Offer of Compromise” of $375. His winery bond was revoked.
In 1928 Domenico succeeded in getting his bonded winery permit restored. But under the new permit, Domenico could no longer legally make wine—his license only permitted him to store the 15,000 gallons of wine already in his tanks. 200 pages of records from the archives of the ATF—inspection reports, correspondence regarding bonds and permits, internal ATF memos—document Domenico’s struggle to prove his compliance with the complex and arcane government regulations of this era. At the same time, his family reports, like many in the area, Domenico continued to make and sell illicit liquor.
One story circulating among old-timers in Calistoga recounts that Domenico once sent some wine to a brandy maker during Prohibition. Unfortunately, the brandy maker delivered Domenico’s brandy on a day when federal “Revenuers”—agents of the U.S. Treasury Department—were inspecting the winery. Needless to say, Domenico never enjoyed his brandy.
By 1930, the government wanted Domenico to destroy his wine. Domenico was determined to keep it until he could sell it. On January 1, 1932, Domenico received a final extension to his license, allowing him “to sell wine now on hand and in possession to others having approved permits to purchase for non beverage purposes.”
A June 27, 1932, inspection report by an ATF bureau agent summarized the general condition of Bonded Winery No. 118:
Permitee stated that he has not racked his wine for several years; that his vineyard consists of seventeen acres; that no sales have been made since 1919; that he last crushed in 1920, at which time the yield per ton was approximately 150 gals. He also stated that he secured approximately four tons of grapes per acre. No instruments were on hand for testing the wine. The cooperage contained in the winery is in fair condition, as is the building.
In the face of the relentless pressure from the U.S. Treasury Department, in September 1932, inspectors reported that Domenico shipped 14,250 of wine to Biscoglin Brothers in San Jose, California, “for use as distilling material, leaving a balance to be accounted for of 600 gals.” “There were 450 gals of thick lees on hand, which quantity was destroyed in our presence by being dumped onto the ground where it was absorbed.” Domenico surrendered his Bonded Winery No. 118 permit on October 13, 1932. One year later the U.S. Congress repealed the Prohibition laws.
The original conveyor belt that carried grapes up to the crusher is still in place with its steel drive belt. The large, open, redwood fermentation and aging tanks are long gone.
Bonded Winery No. 118 is one of only a handful “ghost” wineries still standing in Napa Valley that were closed during Prohibition and never opened again.
