Jim and Betty Held had always thought of having some kind of food component at the winery to accompany their wines.
In 1978 a decision was made to restore the historic winery stables shaping the space into a restaurant. After all the years of accumulation had been cleared in what is now the main dining area, the barn’s dirt floors were leveled and concrete was poured. The old feed chutes and feeding troughs along with the horse stalls were kept intact, thoroughly cleaned and then painted. The disassembled pieces of old 12,750 gallon wine casks the Held’s had used at the winery were transformed to make the Vintage 1847 Restaurant’s doors, tables and benches ~ all which are still in use today.
