In 1882, at the age of 19, Anton Nichelini (following his father & uncle before him) arrived in San Francisco, CA, all the way from Verscio (Canton Ticino), Switzerland.  He soon went to work in Sonoma County for pioneer winemaker Joshua Chauvet, and added the skills of viticulture and winemaking to those of stone masonry.

In 1884, Anton applied for a homestead in Napa County. The upland Chiles Valley (originally known as Catacula, or Valley of the Oaks, by the indigenous Wappo inhabitants) was not well known. However, he found a property that was rich in chrome and magnesite (minerals used in gunpowder and stainless steel). In addition, Anton felt that hillside grapes were better for making quality wines than fruit on the valley floor.  This was the place he hoped to settle and, someday, raise a family.

In 1890, the Chauvet family urged Anton to go to San Francisco to meet a charming young lady named Caterina Corda, also a Swiss immigrant from Ticino, who was working at a hotel there. On her first “date” with Anton, as the story goes, they went for a ride in his buggy.  During this ride, Caterina is said to have asked Anton if he “had honorable intentions” and if so, was he going to marry her or not, and how long it would take him to do it.

Three weeks later, the couple were married in Sonoma on July 7, 1890. Shortly thereafter, they went to see Anton's homestead in Chiles Valley.  Greatly taken with the beauty of the property, Caterina told him “This is where I want to make our home.”

They moved to the small redwood homestead cabin that Anton had built near a mountain spring, and set about grubbing the land to grow fruits and vegetables, olive trees, and vineyards. The first four of their twelve children were born in this little cabin, which was recently restored and is still on the Nichelini property today.

Anton completed the hand-hewn stone wine cellar and the family home that sits above it in 1896.  A gala housewarming party included over 100 guests, a midnight supper, and a dance floor accompanied by the Miller and Payne’s orchestra.

Eventually, eight more children were born to the couple in the “new house” with Anton acting as “midwife.” The dozen Nichelini children were William, Joseph, Josephine, Eda (“Edith”), Rose, Catherine, Mary, Frederic, Allen, Emma (“Virginia”), Antoinette, and Inez. (Dates of the births spanned from 1891 to 1916.)

The Nichelini Winery "officially" closed during the years of Prohibition. However, the winery was well known in the area as a source of bootleg wine, even supplying the governor's household. In 1920, a man named Clifford Clark wrote a letter to the sheriff complaining about rowdy drunken behavior in the nearby town of Monticello, citing locals having "good times, drinking wine", and that there was "no question, but what the wine comes from Nichelini's". Anton was arrested on January 8, 1924, and taken to the St. Helena jail. Despite the arrest, the Nichelini family continued to surreptitiously supply wine to local miners and Bay Area residents, sometimes through the cover of a sacramental wine delivery service. The Nichelini Winery thus never ceased operations, but was officially reopened by Anton's son William Nichelini after the end of Prohibition.

On November 9, 1937, Anton died of a heart attack. Caterina lived until August 19, 1952.  Many people remembered both “Ma and Pa Nick”  for their many acts of kindness and open hospitality.

Today, the winery which Anton and Caterina started is still family-owned and -operated, making it the oldest winery in Napa County to have been in the same family's hands since its founding. The Nichelini Family has been blessed with seven family winemakers succeeding each other over the generations, and many other family members involved in the winery and wine industry. The winery narrowly survived the fires of 2020, thanks to Cal Fire and the heroism and hard work of many family members.

The A. Nichelini Family incorporated in 1987 and has a representative of each of the 12 children on its Board of Directors.

Nichelini descendants today number in the hundreds, and in addition to stewarding the land and historic structures they inherited, seek to actively sustain and pass on the history, cultural traditions, winemaking knowledge, family bonds, and spirit of their pioneering clan.

Content for this page sourced from St. Helena Star writers Kathy Kernberger and Shirley Penland, who wrote about Nichelini history in 1998 with help from Inez Nichelini Boeger, Douglas A. Patterson, and Pauline Locey. Further edits and additions made by Brenda Patterson with Nichelini Family Senior Historian Diane Patterson.