I wish I’d had a “deskside” with Hannah Weinberger. 

In my career, I’ve had the good fortune of meeting some of the great luminaries of the culinary and beverage world in person. Often it’s through events and tastings, but sometimes it’s a one on one meeting arranged by a publicist, when a more focused conversation can take place without interruption. 

If only Hannah Weinberger from Napa Valley had been around to chat with me this way, or any way in my career. But I just learned about her, and she’s been gone since 1931.

What we have of Hannah’s story begins in typical fashion for an American woman in the late 1800s.

There isn’t information about her early life except that she was from New Albany, Indiana. She was the second wife of John C. Weinberger, a confectioner from Ohio (born in Bavaria) who went into the nursery business and learned about winemaking. He found his way to Napa and in 1869, purchased 240 acres of land from Charles and Carolina Krug (if you’re wondering, for $3000) in St. Helena. He planted vines, and what was apparently the first Napa cellar and main building built entirely from stone—what was then considered an act of real ingenuity—to optimize wine storage in the valley climate. At some point he returned to Ohio, and came back with Hannah (his first wife had died in 1866). 

What happens next is the stuff of streaming series.