In 1870, S. A. Holmes planted the first production grape vines in Madera County. In 1881, the vineyard was sold to Madera Vineyard Company, which built a large winery and distilling plant on the property with a capacity of 140,000 gallons. In 1896, Italian Swiss Agricultural Colony bought the vineyards and plant and brought in winemakers from Italy who were very experienced in wine production. By 1901, Italian Swiss had become one of the largest wine producers in America. During Prohibition, all winemaking stopped. In 1919, brothers Ben and Krikor Arakelian bought the property and renamed it Mission Bell Winery. After Prohibition ended in 1933, Mission Bell re-emerged as a very successful producer of dessert wine, including Don Juan White Port, Don Marco Tokay, and Mission Bell Port, all bottled by Madera Wineries and Distillery. By 1940, more than 5 million gallons of wine were made each year and shipped all over the country by tank car. Petri Wine Company purchased Mission Bell in 1949 and sold it to Allied Grape Growers in 1951. Petri had established a cooperative known as United Vintners. In 1979, the company began producing Inglenook wines at the Madera facility.