What’s In a Name? Federal Board Debates To Kalon

After five years of legal maneuvering, a federal agency will meet on Thursday, July 10, in Washington, D.C., to weigh the fate of one of Napa Valley’s most storied parcels. Is To Kalon, a name lauded as a source of grapes by wineries and growers alike including Robert Mondavi Winery, Opus One and Andy Beckstoffer, a specific place? Or is it simply a brand, a protected trademark?

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names (BGN), the group responsible for approving and maintaining official geographic names for the United States, is debating whether to revoke its own 2017 decision to recognize To Kalon Creek, which runs through the vineyard. Constellation Brands, which owns Robert Mondavi Winery, the producer most responsible for building the reputation of the To Kalon Vineyard, initially supported fellow vintner Graeme MacDonald’s efforts to have the creek recognized. But now it has petitioned to remove the name, arguing that To Kalon is not a place, but a trademarked brand owned by Constellation.

“To Kalon as a defined geographic place doesn’t exist, and never has,” the company has argued in its petition. If To Kalon is a brand, not a place, than only the company that owns the trademark can use it on wine labels. “Constellation’s right to use ‘To Kalon’ is not constrained by history or geography—it may call any wine ‘To Kalon’ regardless of whether it is sourced (either wholly or in part) from Mondavi’s Oakville lands.”

This story has captured the attention of the wine world. Rulings on the vineyard’s possible historic designation and the contested creek name could redefine not just To Kalon’s future, but the precedent for vineyard geography in American wine.

A Storied Piece of Land

The tale of To Kalon dates back to the mid-1800s when Hamilton Walker Crabb purchased 240 acres in Oakville. Over the years, he purchased two adjacent parcels and renamed both his winery and the vineyard To Kalon in 1886. Crabb sold off one of those parcels, and following his death, the remainder of the estate was sold. In the 100 years that followed, several would lay claim to the land to varying degrees.

In 1962, Rosa Mondavi and her sons, Robert and Peter, bought 429 acres of land for their Charles Krug winery. Today, Constellation Brands, through its subsidiary, Robert Mondavi Winery, owns the majority of To Kalon Vineyard. Meanwhile, according to its historic boundaries, seven other parties claim a portion of the vineyard: Opus One, MacDonald/Horton, Detert, Andy Beckstoffer, Wilsey/Traina, the Napa Valley Grapegrowers and the University of California, Davis, which has a test vineyard there.

Constellation also owns trademarks established by Robert Mondavi Winery, including “To Kalon” and “To Kalon Vineyard,” and applied for two additional trademarks in 2017: “To-Kalon Wine Company” and “To-Kalon Vineyard Company.” The company recently created a new winery, To Kalon Vineyard Company, named for Crabb’s old winery.

[article-img-container][src=2025-07/ns_graeme-alex-macdonald-tokalon-070925_1600.jpg] [credit= (Paige Green) ] [alt= Alex, left, and Graeme Macdonald stand in their family’s parcel of old vines in Napa’s To Kalon Vineyard.][end: article-img-container]

The trademarks have complicated the provenance of To Kalon. Graeme MacDonald and his brother Alex own MacDonald Vineyards, which sits at the edge of the Mondavi property. They farm 15 acres that MacDonald’s great-grandparents acquired in 1954, when it was a cherry orchard. On the advice of Robert Mondavi, MacDonald’s grandparents removed the trees and planted vines. Ever since the founding of Robert Mondavi Winery in 1966, the family has sold grapes to the winery.

Fascinated by his family’s historical ties to the land, MacDonald began researching the property while attending U.C. Davis in the early 2000s. Following his findings, he took a deeper dive into studying the property beyond his family’s land. In 2017, he persuaded the BGN to officially name the creek running through the vineyard To Kalon Creek. He backed the naming with countless records, references, maps and photographs from the late 1800s that noted the creek’s name. Executives at Constellation drafted a letter of support for his efforts.

MacDonald also began the work to add To Kalon Vineyard to the National Register of Historic Places. But in 2020, the team at Constellation Brands filed a petition to have “To Kalon Creek” removed from the U.S. Board of Geographic Names (BGN) list of registered places, arguing that To Kalon is a brand, not a place, and the named creek could jeopardize their trademarks.

What Next?

MacDonald is traveling to Washington, D.C., for the hearing and has submitted a lengthy letter and documents to the board, arguing that history shows the land has long been recognized by this name.

“The [creek] naming effort was initially supported by the neighboring Robert Mondavi Winery, owned by Constellation Brands, who have since changed their position. I do not agree with the information they have submitted to the BGN and would like to explain why the name To Kalon Creek should stand as a geographical reference to Napa Valley’s most historically significant agricultural landscape,” MacDonald stated in his letter to the board.

The board will hear from both parties and is expected to announce its decision at its next meeting in August.

Stay on top of important wine stories with Wine Spectator’s free Breaking News Alerts.