The first wine was batched in the fall of 1980 in a hot tub! Learn more of the incredible – and hilarious – details of the Frog’s Leap Story here.Īs the years went on and the Frog’s Leap journey continued, more employees became necessary. Unable to afford the necessary grapes for the first harvest, Williams and Turley sold their motorcycles and sourced their first grapes from Stag’s Leap. This same year, he renewed his promise to Turley to start a winery.įrog’s Leap Winery – a clever reference to both the frog farm and Stag’s Leap – was officially coming together. After a few years, he returned to his beloved Napa Valley to assume the head winemaker position at Spring Mountain Vineyards. Williams went on to graduate from UC Davis and become winemaker at the Glenora Wine Cellars in upstate New York. “Warren offered to pay me in wine, but silly me, I took the cash.” “My first day on the job, I bottled the ’73 cabernet that won the Paris tasting,” Williams commented in an interview with the Washington Post many years later. After meeting Turley, Williams went to work under Warren Winiarski as the only employee at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.

Williams studied hard to become a winemaker, beginning his journey at Cornell and completing a work-study program at the Taylor family vineyards.

Williams found a friend in Napa Valley resident Turley, and the two decided to start a winery together. In the mid-1970s, John Williams was discovered camping on a former frog-raising farm by property owner Larry Turley. Frog’s Leap Winery is well known for its top-quality organic wines, the traditional methods it upholds, and the incredible family who founded the winery.

Frog leap wine