Altus, Arkansas · Founded 1956 · Building: late 1800s–early 1900s stone cellar; 1956 winery and tasting-room building
A Post-family Altus winery commercially founded in 1956 on an 1880s homestead with a hand-cut native-stone cellar.
Mount Bethel Winery was commercially founded in Altus on August 8, 1956, when Eugene and Peggy Post obtained Bonded Winery Permit No. 138. The winery stands on the Post family homestead, where Anna Post made and sold wine in the 1880s and ancestors built a hand-cut stone cellar in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The family-operated winery now produces traditional grape, fruit, and regional Arkansas wines from the historic Mount Bethel site.
Post family ancestors immigrated from Europe to the United States before later settling in the Altus area.
Source: Mount Bethel Winery, Mount Bethel Winery Origins, accessed September 1, 2026
The Post family homesteaded the Altus property, where Anna Post made and sold wine in the 1880s.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Mount Bethel Winery, updated July 10, 2024
Post ancestors built a hand-cut native-stone wine cellar from material quarried on Pond Creek Mountain, also known as St. Mary's Mountain.
Source: Mount Bethel Winery, Mount Bethel Winery Origins, accessed September 1, 2026; Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Mount Bethel Winery
Eugene Post earned a chemistry degree from the University of Arkansas, giving him formal preparation in fermentation and wine aging before founding Mount Bethel Winery.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Mount Bethel Winery, updated July 10, 2024
Eugene and Peggy Post established Mount Bethel Winery on the family homestead and received Bonded Winery Permit No. 138.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Mount Bethel Winery, updated July 10, 2024; Mount Bethel Winery, Mount Bethel Winery Origins, accessed September 1, 2026
Mount Bethel founder Eugene Post died at age 88. His family continued the winery operation.
Source: Southwest Times Record, Mount Bethel Winery founder dies at 88, September 24, 2016; Mount Bethel Winery official website
Mount Bethel Winery continues operating in Altus as a Post-family winery and tasting-room destination at 5014 Mount Bethel Drive.
Source: Mount Bethel Winery official website, accessed September 1, 2026; Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Mount Bethel Winery
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas identifies August 8, 1956, as the founding date of Mount Bethel Winery by Eugene Post. The winery's own historical page says Eugene and Peggy Post received their first winery permit on that date and that the operation continues to hold Bonded Winery No. 138.
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas explicitly identifies Mount Bethel Winery as the third-oldest winery in Arkansas. The claim concerns the commercial Mount Bethel Winery founded in 1956, not the older Post-family homestead wine-making tradition.
Mount Bethel's history says Eugene Post's grandparents cut native stone from the same Pond Creek Mountain quarry used for St. Mary's Catholic Church and built the family wine cellar. The Encyclopedia confirms that the current retail shop is part of the first commercial winery building and that its walls use hand-cut stones from the same quarry that supplied St. Mary's Church. The specific full cellar-to-church quarry connection remains a strong family-history claim but should be confirmed through church and property records.
The Post family made and sold wine on the property in the 1880s, but the commercial Mount Bethel Winery was not established until Eugene and Peggy Post obtained Bonded Winery Permit No. 138 in 1956. The 1880s family wine-making history does not make the present commercial entity a continuous 1880-to-present winery.
The winery's current website identifies Mount Bethel as family owned and operated, saying Eugene and Peggy Post's eight children have participated in operating the winery and vineyards. The Encyclopedia describes the family’s continuing involvement after Eugene and Peggy founded the business.
Mount Bethel Winery was founded in 1880.
The Post family homesteaded the property and made wine there in the 1880s, but Mount Bethel Winery was commercially founded on August 8, 1956, when Eugene and Peggy Post obtained Bonded Winery Permit No. 138.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Mount Bethel Winery, updated July 10, 2024; Mount Bethel Winery, Mount Bethel Winery Origins
Mount Bethel Winery is Arkansas's oldest continuously operating winery.
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas identifies Mount Bethel as Arkansas's third-oldest winery. Its formal commercial operation began in 1956, while the Post family's earlier homestead wine-making history dates to the 1880s.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Mount Bethel Winery, updated July 10, 2024
Mount Bethel's tasting room is the original 1880s cellar building.
The original family cellar dates to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Encyclopedia says the current retail shop is part of the first building constructed for commercial winemaking after the 1956 founding, although it uses hand-cut stone from the same Pond Creek Mountain quarry associated with the older cellar and St. Mary's Church.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Mount Bethel Winery, updated July 10, 2024; Mount Bethel Winery, Mount Bethel Winery Origins
Mount Bethel Winery's Texas-style historical-marker record dates to 1978.
No 1978 historical-marker event was verified for Mount Bethel Winery. Its well-supported historical milestones are the 1880s Post family wine-making tradition and the August 8, 1956 commercial founding under Bonded Winery Permit No. 138.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Mount Bethel Winery, updated July 10, 2024; Mount Bethel Winery, Mount Bethel Winery Origins
Mount Bethel survived because the Post family preserved both its physical homestead and its working knowledge of Altus wine culture. Eugene Post combined inherited winemaking traditions with a University of Arkansas chemistry degree, then built a bonded winery around the old family cellar and vineyard site. The winery remains independent from the larger Altus producers, sustained by family labor, direct wine sales, a historic tasting-room setting, and a connection to the local Black Spanish and regional grape-growing tradition.
Mount Bethel Winery was commercially founded in Altus on August 8, 1956, when Eugene and Peggy Post received Bonded Winery Permit No. 138. The winery stands on the Post family homestead, where Anna Post made and sold wine in the 1880s and ancestors built a native-stone cellar around the turn of the twentieth century. Today it remains a Post-family-operated winery in the historic Altus wine region.
No. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas identifies Mount Bethel as Arkansas's third-oldest winery. Its commercial Mount Bethel Winery operation began in 1956, although the Post family made wine on the homestead property in the 1880s. The older family wine-making tradition should not be confused with the current winery's formal commercial founding date.
Mount Bethel Winery was commercially founded on August 8, 1956, when Eugene and Peggy Post obtained Bonded Winery Permit No. 138. The Post family homestead itself has an older wine-making tradition: Anna Post made and sold wine there in the 1880s.
Bonded Winery Permit No. 138 is the commercial winery permit received by Eugene and Peggy Post when Mount Bethel Winery was founded on August 8, 1956. The winery's historical materials say the business continues to hold the license associated with Bonded Winery No. 138.
Mount Bethel Winery remains a Post-family-operated business. Its official materials describe a multigenerational family operation and say all eight children of founders Eugene and Peggy Post have participated in running the winery and vineyards. The exact current legal ownership structure and ownership shares were not reviewed in this entry.
5014 Mount Bethel Dr, Altus, AR 72821
(479) 468-2444
Mount Bethel offers winery sales and tasting-room visits in Altus. Current listed hours are generally Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Sunday noon-5 p.m.; call before traveling for holiday hours, tour availability, and tasting details.