Korbel

The early rumblings of Korbel Winery began in the mid-1800s when brothers Francis, Anton and Joseph Korbel emigrated from Czechoslovakia to the United States. The brothers settled in the Russian River Valley and established a lumber company. However as Northern California’s lumber boom slowed, the Korbels began farming their Russian River Valley ranch and planting their first Korbel vineyards with Pinot Noir. In 1882, the three brothers began a small wine-making operation at their ranch and produced their first Korbel wines. The wines were so well received that two years later the brothers converted all of their ranch lands to vineyards, and devoted all of their energy to wine-making according to our Korbel wine reviews. In 1954 Korbel was purchased by Adolf Heck who was determined to produce a “California style champagne” showcasing the California fruit creating a drier wine with less of the traditional yeast characteristic. Today, Adolf's son, Gary Heck is the company’s president and was named chairman of the board in 1984 helping maintain Korbel’s reputation for quality California sparkling wine. For more information be sure to check out our Korbel wine ratings listed below.