History

SO THE STORY GOES, In 1875, a bedraggled gold miner visited the office of San Francisco surgeon, R. Beverly Cole. The miner's arm had been broken and set so poorly as to be useless. Dr. Cole found it a tricky piece of work to reset the bones. It must be assumed that he performed the operation out of pride in his profession, for the miner had not a penny to pay his fee. In gratitude, however, the doctor was offered what the miner insisted was inside information on some mining shares about to skyrocket on the market. Having little to lose, the shares being cheap, Dr. Cole followed the miner's advice and purchased a fair number. These shares, he was soon to discover, had bought him an interest in the legendary Comstock Lode, the greatest single silver strike in history.

Dr. Cole became a very wealthy surgeon indeed. He used part of his earnings to purchase 89 beautiful acres in the hills above Calistoga in the Napa Valley. In 1886, he built the ranch he called "La Perlita del Monte." Several generations of Cole's raised poultry and grew fruit crops here on "The Little Pearl of the Mountain". Then in 1958, the ranch passed into the hands of Dr. Graeser from Oakland who enjoyed the property as a weekend retreat. Dr Graeser's son, Richard, had been a produce farmer in southern California's Imperial Valley for 25 years when harder times and the changing face of agriculture forced him out of business in 1980.

In 1983 Richard's father passed away and he traveled back to Calistoga to assist his mother in settling her affairs. A short while later Richards mother passed away and he decided to stay on at the "little pearl" he had inherited.Today, "La Perlita del Monte" has world-class grapes growing on the hillsides and aromatic French oak barrels filling the barn. It has become Graeser Winery!

To read the statement of Dr. Richard Beverly Cole click here.