Who founded Landmark Vineyards?

Last week's sale of Landmark Vineyards in Kenwood has unearthed a bitter dispute over who actually founded the prestigious Sonoma Valley winery.

Even the White House is involved, however inadvertently, in the long-running imbroglio.

"These are pretty deep, old wounds," said Bill Mabry, 58, who has long been credited as founder of the winery along with his family.

Mike and Mary Colhoun, who sold the Kenwood winery last week to an agriculture conglomerate from Los Angeles, claim the winery was founded by Mike's mother, Damaris Deere Ford.

"The winery was founded in 1974 by Damaris Deere Ford, great-great granddaughter of John Deere," according to a press release issued Wednesday announcing the sale.

The Obama administration used similar language to describe the winery's origins last December when First Lady Michelle Obama selected Landmark's chardonnay to be served at the White House holiday party, in part, because of its historic connection to John Deere.

But there is another presidential perspective on Landmark's history.

Ronald Reagan, who served Landmark chardonnay at the White House when he was president, credited the Mabry family.

"We've got photos of President Reagan thanking the Mabrys for their delicious wine," said Steve Lehmann, president of the Windsor Historical Society.

Lehmann said the Mabry family founded the winery, and described the Deere family's original involvement as "silent partners."

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, media accounts named Bill Mabry and his family as the founders of Landmark Vineyards, which was originally located in Windsor.

"We crushed every grape to get the winery started and off the ground," said Mabry, who resigned as winemaker in 1993 when he sold his remaining ownership interest in Landmark to the Colhoun family.

Mary Colhoun acknowledged the Mabrys were among the founders, but downplayed their role due to what she described as lackluster wine produced by Mabry during the winery's first two decades.

"Landmark prior to 1993 had a horrible reputation. It was a joke in the marketplace," she said. "I'm not denying their existence to the history of this brand, but I'm saying they didn't contribute to the success of this brand for the last 20 years."

Mabry disputed that his wine did not garner praise. He pointed to the winery's long list of awards earned in the 1980s.

"We won a lot of gold medals throughout the years," he said.

In 1985, the winery's chardonnay won a platinum award at the American Wine Competition in New York City for being "extraordinary," according to The Press Democrat archives, which also chronicled the winery winning gold medals at events ranging from the Les Amis du Vine International Wine Competition to the California State Fair.

The winery started as a dream of Bill Mabry and his father in the early 1970s, said the Mabrys.

Landmark's inaugural vintage in 1974 was produced from grapes grown on Bill Mabry Sr.'s property in Sonoma and crushed at Mount Veeder Winery in Napa.

"There weren't many wineries when we went into business," said Bill Mabry Sr., 88.

The Mabrys were pioneers of the new wave of wineries, and among the first to grow premium chardonnay in the Russian River area, Lehmann said.

"We have an entire display in our museum of the Mabrys founding the winery," said Lehmann, whose historical society is now located in the old Landmark winery.

In 1975, when the Mabrys bought land in Windsor to open their first Landmark winery facility, they relied on money from a group of investors that included Damaris Deere Ford and her two sisters.

"They were limited partners at the time," said Bill Mabry, 58, who was Landmark's winemaker for nearly 20 years. "It was just an investment for them. I didn't meet Damaris until the 1980s."

Mary Colhoun said the name Landmark Winery comes from a Bermuda vacation home owned by her mother-in-law.

"The name Landmark came from the Deere family," Colhoun said.

Others claim the name originated from the fact the Windsor winery was located in one of Sonoma County's oldest wooden structures, dating back to at least 1848.

In 1989, the Windsor property was sold to developers who tore out the vineyards to build homes, and the Mabrys teamed up with Damaris Deere Ford, who provided sole funding for a new winery in Kenwood.

Mike and Mary Colhoun took over the winery's operations in 1993. Since then, the Mabrys said their role as founders have been erased from the winery's marketing information and even from the winery property, which is now adorned with John Deere memorabilia.

"It seems pretty important to them to wipe us off the face of the earth for marketing reasons," Mabry said.

Mary Colhoun said it was a historic fact that her mother-in-law was an original investor in the winery and her family's later success with the wine brand entitled her to be called a founder.

"They can say all they want, but the truth of the matter is the winery had no success until we took the winery over in 1993," Colhoun said. "The success of our brand, and the reason our winery was sold for a terrific price, is because of what happened from 1993 going forward."

Roll Global, the Los Angeles conglomerate that purchased the winery on Wednesday and issued the press release, did not appear aware of the ongoing dispute between the Mabrys and the Colhouns when contacted Friday.

A spokeswoman said the press release named Damaris Deere Ford as founder based on information provided by Mary and Mike Colhoun.

"I'm going off the information I was given through the due diligence process," said Amber Eyerly.

Bill Mabry said he had not intended for the dispute to reach such a public level, but that he and his family wanted the recognition they earned. He has nothing but the best wishes for the new owners, he said.

"I'm very pleased to see the winery is still in existence," Mabry said. "And hopefully the new owners will make it more successful than it's ever been."