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To Kalon: The History of Napa’s Greatest Vineyard

A panorama of vineyards in the Napa Valley — The Napa Valley floor around Oakville, home to To Kalon — planted in 1868 and still one of America’s most coveted vineyards. Via Wikimedia Commons.

By the This Day in Wine History Editorial Team✓ Researched, fact-checked & verifiedAugust 20268 min read

Some vineyards make good wine; a very few become legends. To Kalon, on the Oakville bench of the Napa Valley, is the rarest kind — a patch of ground so revered that men have fought in court for the right to put its name on a label. Its story runs from a Gold Rush-era visionary through phylloxera, Prohibition and Robert Mondavi to today’s cult Cabernets¹.

Quick facts

To Kalon was planted by H.W. Crabb in 1868 in Oakville, Napa Valley.
The name is Greek for “the highest beauty.”
Its fruit feeds many of Napa’s greatest Cabernets.
Ownership is split, and the “To Kalon” name has been fought over in court.

1868

Crabb plants To Kalon

1966

Mondavi builds on its soil

1993

Beckstoffer buys in

Crabb’s beautiful vineyard

In 1868 Hamilton Walker Crabb bought land in Oakville and began planting vines. A tireless experimenter, he trialled hundreds of grape varieties and built one of the largest wineries in nineteenth-century California. He gave his estate a Greek name, To Kalon — “the highest beauty” — and it lived up to it: even after his death in 1899, To-Kalon wines were still winning gold, taking five medals at the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition².

To Kalon — the Greek for the highest beauty.— H.W. Crabb’s name for his vineyard¹

A vineyard divided

Phylloxera and Prohibition broke the great estate into pieces. After Crabb, the land passed through the Churchill and Stelling families; a large block went to Beaulieu Vineyard, whose legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff turned To Kalon fruit into some of the finest Cabernet in America³.

Vineyard rows in the Napa Valley — The Oakville bench, whose deep, well-drained soils give To Kalon its power and structure. Via Wikimedia Commons.

In 1966 Robert Mondavi built his new winery on historic To-Kalon ground, and in 1993 the grower Andy Beckstoffer bought 89 acres from Beaulieu, replanting them to Cabernet⁴. Today Beckstoffer To Kalon fruit is the source of some of Napa’s most sought-after — and expensive — bottlings.

The battle over a name

Because the name itself now sells wine, To Kalon has become a legal battleground. Constellation Brands, which bought the Robert Mondavi Winery in 2004, holds registered trademarks on “To Kalon” and “To Kalon Vineyard,” and has clashed with Beckstoffer and other growers over who may use the fabled name⁵. A 2021 federal ruling upheld the trademarks — a very modern echo of the old, eternal question at the heart of wine law: who owns a great vineyard’s name?⁶

Frequently asked questions

What is the To Kalon vineyard?

A celebrated vineyard on the Oakville bench of California’s Napa Valley, first planted by H.W. Crabb in 1868 and considered one of the greatest sites for Cabernet Sauvignon in America.

What does “To Kalon” mean?

It is Greek for “the highest beauty” (or “the beautiful”), the name H.W. Crabb gave his Oakville estate in the nineteenth century.

Who owns To Kalon today?

Ownership is divided. Constellation Brands (through the Robert Mondavi Winery) holds a large share and the trademarks, while grower Andy Beckstoffer owns 89 acres bought from Beaulieu Vineyard in 1993.

Why is To Kalon fruit so prized?

Its deep, well-drained Oakville soils and warm site produce powerful, structured Cabernet. Wines from Beckstoffer To Kalon and the Mondavi Reserve are among Napa’s most acclaimed.

Why has To Kalon been in court?

Because the name itself adds value, there have been trademark disputes — notably between Constellation and Andy Beckstoffer — over who may label wine “To Kalon.” A 2021 federal ruling upheld the existing trademarks.

More from this day in wine history

See everything else that happened on June 1 — who was born, what was bottled, and which laws were signed.

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