Ballentine Vineyards

the start of ballentine vineyards began in 1906 long before napa valley made its mark on the world wine stage, betty ballentine’s grandfather libero pocai purchased 60 prime acres of napa valley vineyard with a handful of gold coins. the original wagon wheel that pocai would later harvest the land with is still on display today at the estate. libero pocai, was an immigrant from lucca, italy who knew he was destined to have a vineyard, grow grapes and make wine. he named it l. pocai & sons winery and vineyards, and he began to grow grapes, mainly zinfandel, and applied for the 115th winery bond in 1912. at its peak it produced 50,000 gallons. their first award winning wine, a zinfandel, was recorded in 1947 when the first wine awards were started at the california state fair wine competition. today, we call the historic vineyard pocai after libero. this vineyard continues to produce award winning wines from the same blocks including our current released reserve zinfandel. at a similar t