In the late 1880’s, an enterprising Swiss immigrant by the name of Andrew Frei gazed upon the rolling hills, gentle streams, and fertile soil of northern Sonoma and saw a wineglass full of opportunity. He wasn’t the first to have had such a vision. In 1885, a gold miner named Charles Dunz traded in his pickaxe for a plow at the age of 70 and purchased 344 acres of prime real estate in Sonoma county. After four years of hard work clearing the land, Dunz had an impressive vineyard that boasted grape varieties such as Zinfandel, Mataro, and Riesling. However, Dunz’ health went into decline. In 1890, he sold his holdings to Andrew Frei, helping to give birth to a winemaking tradition that is very much alive today.

Frei didn’t waste any precious time once he had acquired Dunz’ land. By 1895, he was producing 20,000 cases of high quality wine that was stored in huge redwood casks. That was the good news. The bad news came in the late 1890’s, when a blight of the vine disease phylloxera affected most of California’s vineyards and drastically curtailed production. Given the severity of the situation, it’s not difficult to imagine a downcast Frei giving up on winemaking to concentrate full time on his successful furniture business in San Francisco.

But that didn’t happen. Frei weathered the storm and by 1904 the winery had actually increased in size and production. Now in his seventies, Frei turned the business over to his two sons, Walter and Louis. In 1903, the winery was officially named Frei Bros.

The winery continued to grow over the years, and in the 1930’s its high quality grapes caught the eye of Julio Gallo. He was so impressed with the property that he eventually established an exclusive arrangement with the Frei family to buy all of their grapes. This relationship grew over the years, until the E. & J. Gallo Winery bought the Frei Brothers Winery in 1978.

Today, we honor and continue the tradition Andrew Frei established years ago with Frei Brothers Reserve. Fruit-forward and food friendly, these wines are made from select grapes from select Sonoma appellations.

We believe our wines would have made Andrew Frei proud, and we hope you enjoy them.