In 1836, General Mariano Vallejo granted 11,814 acres of land to George Calvert Yount in the region now known as Yountville. Yount is thought to have planted the first grapevines in the Napa Valley, and he was known also for his natural courtesy and the warm hospitality extended to guests who visited his home. Our Rector Creek Vineyard was then part of Yount's vast domain. During the 1850s, William A. Rector came to California where he laid squatter's claim to 160 acres of land and built a house, lending his name to the creek, the canyon, a dam built to contain the creek, and finally to our own Rector Creek Vineyard.

During World War II, the property belonged to Peter and Sophie Jaeger, who purchased the land in 1914. Their grandchildren can still remember the German prisoner of war camp located across the Silverado Trail from their farm. The prisoners would come to the ranch to pick grapes under armed guard. The property remained in the Jaeger family until Duckhorn Vineyards purchased it from them in 1994.

The vineyard had been planted to two large blocks, one of Sauvignon Blanc and the other of Zinfandel. Beringer Vineyards had been leasing the property since 1971 and still had two years on contract for the grapes. In 1994, we were able to buy four tons of Zinfandel from Beringer. We blended the Zinfandel with our own Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petite Sirah to create the first vintage of our Paraduxx brand.

Unfortunately, the existing vines had Phylloxera, and we were forced to remove everything. We began the slow replanting process with four acres in 1995. We planted the final 17 acres in 1996. We now have 17 acres of Merlot, 13 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 5 acres of Zinfandel, and 4 acres of Cabernet Franc. (We donated a 1-acre block of Merlot to the University of California Davis program for ongoing rootstock research.)

Rector Creek is one of the coolest of all our estate properties. The unique climate combined with the rocky alluvial soils creates excellent growing conditions for the vines. The quality fruit we have harvested to date from this site has far exceeded our expectations.