There’s a new craft brewing coming soon. It’s Napa Smith Winery & Brewery, in Napa. It’s a deal between a Napa wine-making family and Don Barkley, one of the founders of Mendocino Brewing.

Don retired from Mendocino last November. But he’s not retired from brewing, he says. They intend to unveil their first beer at the Napa Valley Mustard Festival at the end of March.

Who is Don Barkley? He was the first (and nearly the only) employee at New Albion Brewing, America’s first craft brewery, which opened in Sonoma in 1976 and folded in 1983. Among other things at Mendocino, the recipe that became Red Tail Ale is Don’s. Not a bad contribution to our craft brewing world.