In 1944, a pioneering group of winemakers sat around a dinner table and came up with a visionary idea to band together. That’s how Napa Valley Vintners was born. In the years since, it’s grown from seven founders to 550 members. In that time, the organization has also created Auction Napa Valley, which has raised $185 million for health and children’s education across the region. Here, multiple generations consider the group’s impact.

“I feel tremendous gratitude for the generations of growers and vintners who came before us. They did the heavy lifting, establishing a wine region where there wasn’t one. They believed fervently in the notion that ‘world-class’ wines could be produced here, and it happened. Today’s industry is thriving on the hard work and foresight of our ancestors. We can think of the monumental effort to overcome phylloxera and Prohibition. We can think of the struggle to establish an agricultural preserve and an agricultural watershed. This restrictive land zoning has protected Napa, providing a backbone for our agricultural community and industry to thrive. I also like the notion of a team effort that is, and was, required.”  — Hugh Davies, Schramsberg Vineyards, second generation