George Bennet Heibel (pronounced ‘hi’ ‘bull’), was a man of character, honor and determination. His parents were German immigrants, who settled in Victoria, Texas, where he was born in 1911.  He was one of 14 children and decided to leave Texas at an early age.  He moved to California and worked in Los Angeles before moving to San Francisco in 1934. George was not afraid of hard work, and it was through many years of this hard work that he earned the position of Chef of the Officer’s Dining Room and Head of Food Services at Fort Mason, San Francisco. By the end of World War II, he had managed to marry the beautiful Ruth Dangers, start a family, and save a little bit of money. In 1945, to escape the entrapments of city life and continue his search for his own piece of America, he purchased the historic Aetna Springs Resort and moved his family to Pope Valley, California.

Aetna Springs Resort dates back to 1873, and is home to what may be the oldest golf course in the state of California, built in 1891. The Heibel family owned and operated the resort for nearly 30 years, keeping it open seven days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day. It was a lot of hard, but rewarding work, as Aetna Springs is a beautiful place and was a vacation destination for many families across the state. It was an idyllic natural retreat, offering some of California’s elite a refuge from the stresses of city life, and the uncertainties following World War Two.

Decades passed, times changed, and so did the vacation patterns of the American people. Guests began to shorten their stays in lieu of other destinations more accessible with air travel and the rapidly developing Highway infrastructure across the United States. Ultimately, as the Heibel children became adults, moving away to start families of their own, the economic realities of running the resort mounted. In 1973, George decided that it was time to sell the resort, which he did, but not before selecting over 600 acres to keep for his family ranch.

As life would have it, George and Ruth were only able to enjoy retirement together for a few short years, with George passing away in 1979 and Ruth in 1982. During the settlement of their estate the land was divided into parcels and split between the five Heibel children. And this is how my mother, Helen Heibel Nelson, ended up owning 186 acres of rolling foothills, sequoia loaded mountains, bountiful springs, and two lakes; which we are lucky enough to call Heibel Ranch Vineyards!

Trent Ghiringhelli - Proprietor