The winery was founded in 1852 by Éthienne Thée, a French immigrant who named it after a nearby mercury mine. It is one of the oldest wineries in California and is described as the oldest on its own website. The original location was south of San José between Los Gatos and Almaden. Due to its historical significance, it is registered as "California Historical Landmark 505". Due to urbanisation, it was moved to the town of Madera in the San Joaquin Valley (southern part of the Central Valley). After the merger with Madrone Vineyards, Thée's son-in-law Charles Lefranc (1825-1887) took over the management of the winery. He planted the first European vines at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
At the beginning of the 1880s, Paul Masson (1859-1940), who later became famous as the "Champagne King of California", joined the company as marketing manager. After the death of Charles Lefranc, Masson married his daughter Louise. After a short-lived partnership with his brother-in-law Henry Lefranc, he founded his own winery in Almaden. After the death of his brother-in-law in 1909, he also managed Almaden Vineyards until it was sold to Charles M. Jones in 1930. After Prohibition (1920-1933), Almaden produced the first popular rosé in the USA. The old winery was destroyed by fire in 1989. After several changes of ownership, the company was sold by Constellation Brands to the Wine Group in 2008.
The vineyards cover 800 hectares of vines with the red wine varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache Noir (Garnacha Tinta) and Zinfandel, as well as the white wine varieties Chardonnay and Riesling. A wide range of varietals (varietal wines) and cuvées are produced. A Californian speciality is the lightly pressed branded wine White Zinfandel. The bulk wines for quick consumption are bottled in bag-in-boxes as well as in 1.5-litre, 3-litre and 4-litre bottles. Almaden is one of the five largest US wine brands, which are collectively referred to as GAMIT (A = Almaden).
