Bernard "Barney" Fetzer, a lumber executive, purchased the winery's Redwood Valley Home Ranch in 1958 as a place to raise his large family and grow fine grapes for home winemakers throughout the United States. The family began making wines commercially in 1968.

Barney Fetzer died suddenly in 1981, at the age of 61. Ten of his eleven children took over management of the company and helped develop it into one of the California wine industry's major success stories. Barney had correctly anticipated the white varietal boom of the 1980s: Fetzer Sundial Chardonnay (launched in 1982) became a stylistic trendsetter, while the Gewürztraminer became (and remains) the best seller of its type in America.

In 1977, Paul Dolan was hired as head winemaker, specifically to establish Fetzer as a serious white wine producer. Paul came to Fetzer from generations of family winemaking heritage.

In July 1992, Brown-Forman Corporation purchased the Fetzer Vineyards as well as the Hopland winery and the Valley Oaks Ranch. Paul Dolan was named president and the Fetzer family continues to grow grapes for Fetzer Vineyards under an exclusive contract. Fetzer also purchases grapes from more than 250 family farmers throughout California.

The Valley Oaks Ranch, with its unique turn-of-the-century farmhouses and barns, was purchased in 1984. The ranch was originally a major center for the production of livestock, poultry, hogs and pears in the late 1800s. Hops and pears gave way to grapes in the early 1980s. In 1985, Fetzer Vineyards created a state-of-the-art wine and food educational center based on a vision that the wine trade, restaurateurs and consumers could share valuable knowledge about the enjoyment of food and wine in an interactive, experiential atmosphere.