SOUR GRAPES A past and present look at Richmond’s defunct massive winery By Matt Larson There was a time when the largest wine producer in California was right here in Richmond. It was known as Winehaven and existed from about 1908 until around 1920, halted by Prohibition. Though it was never an established city of its own, Winehaven had its own school, its own fire department, a hotel, and an abundance of wine. In full production it stored up to 12 million gallons of wine. There were 3,000 vats and 100 year-round employees that rose to 1,000 at the peak of the season. And they had 40 vineyards from all over the state of California that provided grapes for this winemaking powerhouse. Never heard of it? Well you’ve probably seen it, whether you knew it or not. “I was driving across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and … what’s that building that looks like a castle out there?” That’s a question that Melinda McCrary, Executive Director for the Richmond Museum of History, gets about once or twice a month. “It’s a really interesting part of our history,” she says. Winehaven might have still been around today if it wasn’t for Prohibition which practically stopped them dead in their tracks. “They did try to stay in business for a while after Prohibition in 1920, bottling sacramental wines for the church, but it just 26 MARKETPLACECONTRACOSTA.COM AUGUST 2017 kind of petered out.” For the next 20 years the area wasn’t used very much at all until the Navy took possession of the facility in June of 1942 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Winehaven, with its large buildings and giant storage facilities among 413 acres, then became known as the Point Molate Naval Fuel Depot. The Navy buried 20 large concrete storage tanks in the hillsides and the site was used to refuel ships during WW2, fitting right into Richmond’s active history with both world wars. The space remained as a fuel depot but has been mostly inactive for decades. It was finally closed in 1995 and then given back to the City of Richmond in 2005, along with $28.5 million to have the site cleaned and reused for the economic benefit of the region. “In terms of the environmental cleanup end, it’s been proceeding very well,” said Craig Murray, Development Project Manager for the City of Richmond. From the Winehaven buildings to the shoreline and out to the pier there’s about 12 acres of land called Installation Restoration (IR) Site 3. “That’s where we just spent about $11 million to clean up this area the navy used for wastewater and disposal of petroleum product.”
Contra Costa Marketplace - Aug 2017
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