(NVR) - After the 6.0 earthquake hit Napa on Aug. 24, 2014 at 3:20 a.m., the photo seen around the world was of Trefethen’s historic 1886 winery building leaning four feet to the west and looking like it was going to collapse any minute.

Two-and-a-half years later, this building, which has now survived the kiss of death twice throughout Napa’s history, is reopening under the leadership and hard work of the third-generation Trefethens, Hailey and Loren.

Resurrection, Part I

Designed by Hamden McIntyre, the same architect for Far Niente, Inglenook, the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, this redwood, gravity flow winery originally known as Eshcol witnessed the original renaissance of Napa Valley viticulture. After Prohibition, it was one of just a few dozen wineries left standing.

For about 40 years, standing is about all the building would do, waiting patiently for the Napa Valley’s next big boom. In 1968, Catherine and Eugene Trefethen purchased the property, but farming, not winemaking, was their priority, as their intention was to sell the estate’s grapes.