The area of 'Ulupalakua has a interesting history. In 1845 King Kamehameha III leased Honua'ula - an approximately 2000 acre portion of the great district we know as 'Ulupalakua - to L. L. Torbert for the purpose of growing and processing sugar cane. In 1856 Captain James Makee acquired the "Torbert Plantation at Honua'ula" which included the land, sugar mill, buildings, implements, and more than 1600 head of livestock. The Captain moved to Maui and named his new home "Rose Ranch" after his wife Catherine's favorite flower, Maui's Lokelani Rose. The ranch quickly became one of Maui's showplaces - famed for its hospitality as well as its agricultural prowess.
In 1874 King David Kalakaua, the Merrie Monarch and his Queen Kapi'olani first visited Rose Ranch. The King became so frequent a visitor, a cottage was built for him on the property, which still exists today as is the site of winery's tasting room.
In 1883 the last sugar crop was processed at 'Ulupalakua Mill and the area became a working cattle ranch. After changing hands several times over the next eight decades, current owner C. Pardee Erdman purchased the property in 1963 and named it 'Ulupalakua Ranch.
