Historical Timeline

1850s	Joaquin Murrieta, variously a legendary "vaquero" and bandit, roams California during the Gold Rush era. Murrieta earns a reputation and a livelihood rounding up cattle and horses that then naturally ran wild in the California open range, driving them down to Mexico to sell to the Mexican Army, a very lucrative business. Larger than life for these escapades and for taking revenge against American miners who assaulted his wife and killed his brother, Murrieta's reputation spreads as far south as Chile, with any daring deed blamed on Joaquin. During his wild horse drives, he set up base camps up and down the coast range. Murrieta and his men often stopped to water their horses at an artesian well bubbling up from the floor of the Livermore Valley at the base of the Mocho canyon, today the site of Murrieta's Well.
1870s	Louis Mel, pioneering business man, emigrates from France to the United State, setting up insurance agencies all over the west from Canada to Mexico. During his travels, Mel falls in love with the Livermore Valley. There, Mel buys a property with charm and beauty, including a flowing stream and an artesian well the locals call "Murrieta's Well." Mel's rediscovery of this natural source of water and the unusually gravelly soil capture his attention. Mel buys the surrounding land and builds a gravity-flow winery into the hillside adjacent to the well, where the century old walls of river rock and cement still stand.
1880s	In 1884, Mel's wife writes a letter to her childhood friend, the wife of the Marquis de Lur-Saluces at the famous Chateau d'Yquem in Bordeaux, introducing fellow Livermore Valley pioneer Charles Wetmore. Wetmore travels to Bordeaux where he obtains cuttings of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon from the Chateau. He also acquires cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, likely from Margaux, Bordeaux. In 1889 Wetmore wins the grand prix at Paris with wines made from these cuttings. He shares these cuttings with Louis Mel, who plants them to his estate.
1930s	Ernest Wente buys the property from Louis Mel, keeping the winery and vineyards in production during Prohibition by producing sacramental wines
1990	Philip Wente, who grew up a stone's throw from the winery building in the Victorian-era house built by the Mels, and Sergio Traverso, chief winemaker at neighboring Concannon Vineyard form a partnership to create the wines of Murrieta's Well and resurrect the exquisite gem of a wine estate, replanting the vineyards with additional Bordeaux, Spanish and Portuguese varietals
1991	Originally built in the 1880s, the beautifully restored old stone winery opens its doors to visitors for the first time Release of first vintages of White Meritage (1990 Vintage), Red Meritage (1989 Vintage) and Zinfandel (1989 Vintage)
2004	Release of first vintage of Zarzuela (2001)