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In 1961, Lanny Replogle was hired to teach organic chemistry at San Jose State University and began making wine at home. “After 15 years of home winemaking, I fulfilled my desire to start my own winery. It’s surprising, but 50 years later we still make wine,” said Fenestra owner Lanny Replogle.
Lanny and his wife Fran named their first wine label Ventana, the Spanish word for “window” to reflect the opening of their new venture. Lacking winery equipment, Replogle bartered with the owners of Stony Ridge Winery in Pleasanton. In exchange for consulting with their winemaking team, he used their facility to make Ventana and acquired grapes from their vineyards at the former Ruby Hill Winery site.
The first Ventana wine was bottled in 1976 in Pleasanton. The graphics for the wine label came from a photo taken from red brick archway in the old Ruby Hill winery. The owners of Ventana Vineyards in Monterey began making wine from their grapes and protested their name. The Replogles chose a new name, Fenestra, meaning “window” in Latin.
In 1980, Replogle leased the abandoned winery that German immigrant George True built in 1889 on Vallecitos Road in Livermore. The George True Winery operated until Prohibition. Other owners operated a winery there until 1956. The Replogles brought their young son Eric and others to clean out 24 years of detritus, filling seven dumpsters.
At Fenestra, one of only five Livermore Valley wineries at the time, Replogle soon gained fame for his Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, and Port-style wines. He was the first vintner to produce a Livermore Valley Cabernet Franc in 1999.
Among the historic Fenestra historic photos, you can see the rustic tasting area the Replogles used for the first 17 years. I first visited Fenestra there for their annual January Soup and Sips event in the early 1990s. On a recent visit to the winery, I met 30-year Fenestra wine club member Lori Garber of Modesto.
“Fenestra was the most family-friendly Livermore winery. Fran brought our kids a juice box. They loved the soup tastings and have continued to attend with us. Fran shared the recipe for Artichoke with Chardonnay Soup that I still make,” said Garber.
I told Garber that I still have their Chardonnay Onion Soup recipe.
In the summer, the tasting room, built into the hillside in 1887, is naturally cool. The winery was renovated in 1997, maintaining the three original brick walls in the tasting room while adding a second story; the Replogles purchased the property in 2007.
Indoor and outdoor tastings are held on the weekends with Friday night music on the lawn in the summer, Picnicking with bottle purchases are welcome on Sundays. Special events are regularly scheduled.
The 50th Anniversary Celebration will be held on August 15th and 16th. Bands and food trucks are featured both days with a special proclamation honoring Fenestra on Sunday. On Saturday night, the winery will present a five-course dinner with 11 current and library wines including a 2009 Riesling, a 2007 Cabernet Franc, and a 1982 Late Harvest Zinfandel.
Three generations of Replogles represent Fenestra. Lanny continues to keep a hand in the winery; Fran died several years ago. A lawyer by day, Eric is involved in overall business strategy, Robin leads events and customer experiences. Eric and Robin’s son Josh, a recent university graduate, is the liaison for government regulations, and their daughter Natahsa is involved in social media while at university in Scotland.
For a boutique winery, Fenestra offers an array of wines. At first, Replogle wanted to make anything but Bordeaux or Burgundy style wines. In 1996, a 20-acre vineyard of Syrah and Mourvèdre grapes was planted at the property. With the addition of Grenache, Fenestra began producing GSM blends, which now represent 25 percent of sales. Replogle soon began crafting award-winning Cabernet Franc and Bordeaux blends.
“Yes, I like to experiment. There is science to winemaking, but this science, unlike chemistry, is also an art. Since I preferred the creative and artistic pleasure from making wine more than teaching, I cut back on teaching in the late 1980s and retired from my professor role in 1992,” said Replogle.
His background in teaching has resulted in mentoring several winemakers. Replogle hired Brent Amos as winemaker in 2007. Amos is now an award winning winemaker at Las Positas Vineyards. Current winemaker Aaron Luna has also made an impact at Fenestra and beyond.
In 1985 Replogle made the first True Red wine, Fenestra’s bestselling wine. A red blend selected from over 25 lots of various varietals, True Red sports a label evoking the chemistry periodic table. True Red is the only wine distributed outside the winery. The newer sister wine, True White, and Sauvignon Blanc is also popular.
Among the 27 Fenestra wines currently sold, the flagship is Conjugation, a blend of the five Bordeaux grapes that won gold at the 2026 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The label’s line drawings mimic the way chemists draw bonds between carbon atoms. Though I don’t understand the chemistry, I liked the full bodied, yet elegant blend.
Other wines reflect Replogle’s chemistry background. Azulene is the newest red blend, Named for an organic chemical compound that Replogle studied for his PhD dissertation, Azulene has an unusual deep blue color and is used in skin masks, serums, and lotions. Replogle explained that he named a red wine blend Infrared because infrared literally refers to its “heat” effect “below red” on the color spectrum.
Moving from chemistry to noteworthy Fenestra events: During TASTE: The Livermore Valley Wine Experience, Fenestra will host a Beads, Bottles and Bites event on Saturday October 17th with New Orleans-style music and food. Another 50th anniversary event is planned in November at the Bankhead Theater with Page Mill Winery, another 50-year winery that started in Palo Alto and moved to Livermore in 2004.
Over 50 years, Fenestra has supported the Livermore Valley wine community with many events and grape blessings. The winery recently held a tasting of Croatian wines. The Replogles support the region’s participation in the Global Artisan Vintners Alliance, a mutually-beneficial network of 12 partner wine regions wine including the Dalmatia region of Croatia.
Of the five wineries active in 1976, Replogle is proud that the winery is the second oldest after Wente still continuously family-owned and operated. At the winery, you may find one of the family chatting with customers who have seen the wines evolve while remaining true to the winery’s heritage.
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