(NVR) - One of the last vestiges of the old Napa Valley is about to disappear. Milat Vineyards and Winery, the modest family-owned reminder of how the valley was before big money took over, is closing at the end of the month.

The Milat brothers and their wives are leasing the winery to Delectus Vineyards, which now has a production facility and tasting room in south Napa, but are keeping the property and its vineyards.

They are also keeping their homes on the property and the two guest houses they rent — another relic of the past as wineries can’t provide lodging to the public anymore.

A weekend escape turned permanent

Mike and Bob Milat’s parents bought half the property in 1949 as a weekend escape from San Francisco, where their father had a business. Friends purchased the other half, but the Milats bought it later, leaving them 22 acres in two parcels.

Their parents decided it was a good place to raise their four sons. “We grew up here,” said Mike, who is 68 and the more effusive of the brothers. Bob is 67.

Part of growing up was tending the vines. “By the time we were 10 or 12, we were driving the tractor,” noted Mike. “I don’t think our dad ever did.” Unfortunately, their father died young.

As they grew up, the brothers became contractors, but in 1974, they bought the property from their parents. Their older brother moved to San Francisco, and the fourth wasn’t interested in the wine business

They sold the grapes initially, but in 1986, they built the winery on Highway 29 at Stice Lane just south of St. Helena. They later expanded it to add a storage area behind a covered passageway used for crushing.