Several years later they decided to make wine commercially their first vintage was 1981 with a 700 case production of both Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel with grapes purchased from Spottswoode Winery in St. Larry, the founder of Turley Cellars and brother to well-known winemaker Helen Turley and John made their first barrel of wine from grapes they sourced from Stag’s Leaps Wine Cellars. John also made wine at Glenora Winery in New York State and later was the head winemaker at Spring Mountain Vineyards in the Napa Valley.įrog’s Leap Winery was founded by John and his wife at the time, Julie – and Larry Turley and his wife at the time, Jeannine. John helped bottle the 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon which took the highest average score from the mostly French judges for red wines in the now famed Paris Tasting of 1976 which pitted California versus French wines in a blind tasting. Co-founder John Williams (is still the owner & winemaker) came to the Napa Valley in 1975 from upstate New York where he was raised on a dairy farm John became the first employee for Warren Winiarski at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.

Some intriguing more modern day Napa vintner history played an integral role in the founding of the winery. Due to demand for tastings and or tours, all visits are strictly by appointment. There are no highly visible winery signs so one has to look carefully for their sign painted on the white picket fence in front of their driveway. Frog’s Leap Winery was founded in 1981 and is located on site of the old Adamson Winery in the Rutherford Appellation of Napa Valley.

Frog leap wine