Big Basin Vineyards was founded in 1998 on an historic site in the Santa Cruz Mountains next to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. The old ranch property was first settled in the late 1800s. Wine grape cultivation had been started by French immigrants by the early 1900s and continued until 1965 when the property was sold by Justin Lacau, who had named the property "Frenchy's Ranch", to a timber company. By the 1990s, all that remained of the vineyards were redwood stakes and scattered vines hidden by brush and poison oak bushes. The mission has been to restore this historic vineyard site using modern, organic viticultural methods. The winery building was completed in December 2003 on the same site as the original 1890s house/winery structure which burned down in the 1970s. It is a 'Monitor'-style barn with a timber frame construction built using redwood selectively harvested from the estate.

In 1945 retired Sheriff Deputy Amos Beauregard purchased 157 acres of which 13 acres have been planted with winegrapes. Cabernet Saugivgon, Chardonnay, Zinfandel and an old grape know as Charabono were originally planted in 1880. Over the years Jim Beuregard has planted hundreds of acres of vines throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains and still maintains his 68 acres of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. Jim and his family live on the estate and Ryan Beauregard is the Winemaker.

P M STAIGER was established in 1973 on a ridge above Boulder Creek, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The site had been an early twentieth century vineyard and winery operated by the Jim Locatelli family, but the vineyard and the vines had long since disappeared and only a few large hoops from the old redwood tanks were all that remained of the cellar. P M Staiger was replanted and built a new house and winery, designed by Robert Walker. The varieties planted - Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,and Cabernet Franc - were determined by the types that had been historically grown successfully with good exposure in the higher elevations of the Santa Cruz Mountains.