In the 1870s – when Conn Valley Road was little more than a wagon trail – the land which we now farm was planted with grapes to make a “Claret of high repute.” This wine was judged by the St. Helena Star to be “as fine as one might find anywhere.” Commonly known as the Franco-Swiss Farming Company, this was the pioneering vineyard and winemaking operation of Conn Valley. After roughly thirty years of producing great wines, the company dissolved due to the impact of a phylloxera infestation and Prohibition. For more than a half century, cattle roamed the land and grain was farmed but no more grapes were cultivated until Bill and Mary Seavey acquired the land in 1979.