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29 Beringer Vineyards, established in 1876, is the oldest continuously operating winery in Napa Valley, and in 2001 the estate was placed on the National Register for Historic Places as an Historic District. When Otto Beringer Jr. sold the winery to Nestlé in 1971, the winery was in need of modernizing. Guy Kay, the project director at that time, recalled that he realized a professional with tunneling experience was obviously needed when one of the employees, who was working in a section of tunnel, returned from lunch and found the area where he had been working half-buried from a cave-in. John A. Bloom & Associates, the engineering firm hired by Nestlé for renovations, recommended a young civil engineer from San Francisco who they believed could handle the tunneling work. His name was Alf Burtleson. In 1972 Alf and his crew were given a contract to make one tunnel section of the cave complex safe and usable. Guy Kay explained that he really didn't know if what they were doing was going to work, so as the crew finished a section, he would give Alf a new contract for another section. They proceeded in this manner with Alf taking out collapsing timbers, installing concrete footings, pillars and floors, incorporating steel arches and backfilling with gunite. The configuration of the complex consisted of two parallel tunnels approximately 400 feet long that were connected by two cross tunnels. Several shorter tunnels or little rooms emanated off the major long runs. The 1,000 linear feet of Beringer Vineyards' caves, picked out by Chinese laborers more than a century ago, are certainly not modern wine caves and have never felt the tooth of a roadheader. Their restoration by Alf, however, gave them new life and use. Beringer Vineyards continues to age fine wines in the tunnels, and visitors safely tour them daily because of his work. When Fosters Brewing Group of Australia bought Beringer Wine Estates in 2000, winemaster emeritus Ed Sbragia and winemaker Laurie Hook continued developing Beringer's notable wines, thanks in part to the winery's century-old caves. 1876 Beringer Vineyards Cave Size: 13,000 square feet Winery Specialties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, White Zinfandel

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