When Chase Gioberti (Robert Foxworth) learned that he lost his father (Harry Townes), two feuding heads of a California wine-producing family chose to put all their moments behind for Jason Gioberti's funeral. When younger daughter, Emma Channing (Margaret Ladd) was responsible for her uncle's death, Angela Channing (Jane Wyman) tyrannical matriarch and owner of Falcon Crest, protects and calms her. When Chase's family heads back to New York, after the death of his father, he begins to remember all the fun times he had with his father. It was also Chase's call for his wife, Maggie Gioberti (Susan Sullivan) and children, Cole (William R. Moses) and Vicky (Jamie Rose), to move to their own house in California, at Falcon Crest, after a year's sabbatical that has taken a toll on his family. Unhappy with Chase's family moving back to the vineyard, Angela comes up with a way to forsake them, consequently, her grandson, Lance Cumson (Lorenzo Lamas) was shocked to hear about her decision for a competitive family to go back east.

Paul, an old friend of Chase comes to Falcon Crest, where they spent a great deal thinking of the times they had, while attending the Air Force. After taking a trip down memory lane, the two decided to turn their flying business into action, where they disagreed on where it needed to be located. Angela and her family finds out about this, and that Paul has no intention of doing a flying service, when he lies to Chase about the large sum of money from Chase to cover his gambling debt, this led Angela into kicking Paul out of Falcon Crest. When Paul tries to go with his plan, this made the businesses of Chase, Maggie and Julia, as to how he nearly ruined the vineyard, when they find a way to get this vineyard back.

Chase, lacking of staff, needing to owe $50,000 in property taxes, who, tries to sell all his grapes before harvest time, only to get Angela to buy them below their retail price. Chase chooses to sell them, after Gus told him that another buyer is interested in paying above their price for his grapes. When Angela learns about the business deal, she chooses to purchase the man's mortgage from the bank, so he can drop a deal with Chase, around the same time The Giobertis decide to sell their house in New York, to stay on board.

When Angela couldn't tolerate Lance's irresponsible behavior, she prevents her grandson from becoming the proud owner of Falcon Crest, therefore, she kicks him out, much to her contempt. Discovering from him of his grandmother's feelings towards him, he tries to please Angela by blowing up Chase's pump house and cause a fight in the springhouse, and later gets arrested, before he gets grounded by Angela, not Julia (though she told Lance, her mother was under the impression, who also gave Lance to him, away from Julia, as a little boy)! Once grape harvesting begins, Lance tries to please Angela, again, by paying off Chase's staff, afterwards, to make Lance jealous, Angela escorts Cole into becoming the new heir of Falcon Crest, who straightens out with his father about Chase's staff losing pickers. Cole learned about this, he takes the keys and the car back to Angela, returning to his parents' house. Lance told Angela about his actions, and the staff, before Chase confronts Angela about her doings with Cole and about Chase's staff being gone and demanded that the staff returns, early in the morning.

After 12 years of turning Tony's back on Julia and Lance, Lance has a strong dislike about the truth that he can return to the vineyard as if nothing has happened. While Julia tries to please Tony, Angela and Lance become more concerned about their own responsibilities. The truth was revealed when Tony only came back to Falcon Crest to get Julia to make a brand new life, away from the vineyard. When Julia thought about that, she refuses to accept her ex-husband's offer, due to her unwillingness to leave with her family and friends in San Francisco. Also, Chase becomes more concerned about Maggie taking a job in San Francisco, as a newspaper writer, much in fact that she'd be working with his aunt's Angela's ex-husband, Douglas Channing (Stephen Elliott).

Chase and Cole accompany Lance on a trip to examine a remote piece of property that Angela is contemplating buying. As the wilderness property is only accessible by horse, Cole is injured in a riding accident. Chase stays with Cole, while Lance goes for help. After running into some problems, Lance finally leads a rescue team to Cole. After Vicky makes an innocent remark regarding a mental health clinic, Emma runs away from home, believing that she is going to be sent away because people think she's crazy. When Vicky discovers Emma hiding in an old springhouse, she befriends Emma, and ultimately persuades her to return home. Worried, Douglas Channing stays by Angela's side until Emma is found.

When Emma's lover, Turner Bates, who was on the scene when Jason died, returns, Chase informs him that Jason supposedly died in a car crash. Knowing this to be untrue, Turner seeks Emma to learn what happened after he ran from the scene on the night of Jason's death, but Angela throws Turner off her property. Turner sneaks back, steals Emma away and romances her in order to learn the truth. Unable to obtain any straight answers from Emma, Turner tries to blackmail Angela, who in turn calls in the police, and Turner, after a car chase, is accidentally killed. Chase and Lance pull Emma out and save her. When Maggie says that she may be pregnant, the Giobertis try to cope with the effects that it would cause.

When Angela takes Cole to Rome to attend an important wine-tasting competition, she is surprised to find that Douglas is there, and hopes to rekindle the memory of their honeymoon spent there years ago. Initially, romance flares between Angela and Douglas; however, Angela devastates Douglas when she refuses his proposal to re-marry. Meanwhile, Cole has been given a collection of mysterious letters, which belong to an Italian relative and which underscore the enduring bitterness between Angela and Jason. Angela leaves Lance in charge of Falcon Crest to test him with the family business, but Lance painfully discovers that he's not as shrewd as his grandmother. Chase learns in the end, however, that Lance is not just a spoiled rich kid, but is a very dangerous person as well.

Angry with her parents for their excessive protectiveness, Vicky runs away from home to San Francisco, where she's lured into a wayward street life that she can't escape. Chase and Maggie frantically search for Vicky, unaware that Lance has introduced their vulnerable daughter to a woman connected with pornographic films. The Giobertis become stronger than ever when Chase and Maggie endure a difficult ordeal before locating Vicky. Angela toys with Douglas's emotions, playing him against a renowned painter and making Douglas look like a fool.

Maggie's news assignment on vineyard worker's lifestyles becomes a personal concern to the Giobertis when Maggie's interviews reveal that an extortionist is terrifying Falcon Crest employees. Puzzled as to why undocumented workers suddenly stop working for him, Chase urges Maggie to find out the reason through her interviews. When Chase learns that a man is blackmailing the vineyard workers with threats of deportation, he, despite Angela's warnings against becoming involved, manages to rout the extortionist. When Emma discovers that she is pregnant, Lance realizes that the last thing he needs is another heir competing for the Falcon Crest fortune. Consequently, Emma tumbles down a flight of stairs and has a miscarriage.

After a bitter argument with Angela regarding plans for him to marry Melissa Agretti, the wine empire heiress, Lance leaves in a fury. After he nearly runs over a girl, he falls in love with her and decides to move to San Francisco to be close to the girl. However, when Angela attempts to stop him, Lance succumbs and leaves the love of his life. In an old room that Jason had walled up, Chase finds some writings, which lead him to believe that Angela may have been involved in crippling a girl forty years ago. Confronted with the evidence, Angela turns the tables on Chase, playing a small excerpt of a recording that leaves Chase believing that his father hated him.

Chase's wealthy mother, Jacqueline Perrault (Special Guest Star Lana Turner), mysteriously returns to Falcon Crest. When Jacqueline warns Chase of Angela's treacherous nature and tries to persuade him to leave Falcon Crest, hatred erupts and Jacqueline argues with both Angela and Chase. However, through their conflict, the mother-and-son relationship is strengthened; Jacqueline is convinced that Chase will survive and prosper in the valley.

After Ed McKay, a member of the County Board of Supervisors, is assassinated, Chase is encouraged to run for the office. When Chase begins campaigning against Angela's virtual monopoly of the water rights in the valley, she does everything in her power to see Chase defeated. Despite this, Chase wins the election. After Emma is caught shoplifting in a jewelry store, Angela threatens the owner that she will destroy him if he decides to prosecute.

Angela, angry that Lance is working for his grandfather's newspaper in San Francisco and determined that he will marry Melissa Agretti (Ana-Alicia), plans to destroy Melissa's budding romance with Cole. Chase and Maggie, concerned about Emma's instability, persuade Julia to take her sister to a local psychiatric clinic. When Angela finds out, she tells Julia the truth about Emma killing Uncle Jason, which turns Julia against Chase and Maggie. At the same time, Chase uses his influence as a county supervisor to discover the real cause of his father's death.

Chase begins to make inquiries into the circumstances surrounding his father's death. Angela, in an attempt to foil Chase, has Philip mislead Chase into believing he might inherit Falcon Crest. However, Chase doesn't fall for her trickery. Following a party at the Giobertis, Cole's friend is killed in an auto accident after Cole refuses to drive him home. Angela attempts to force Lance to marry Melissa, who instead has become deeply involved with Cole. However, when Melissa learns she is pregnant, she tells no one.

Pressured by Angela, Lance proposes to Melissa Agretti with the consolation in mind that they dislike one another and that he knows Melissa will reject his proposal. When she surprisingly accepts his offer, Lance is forced to go through with the ceremony. Melissa has her own cunning reasons for marrying Lance, aside from her father and Angela's scheme to merge Falcon Crest with the Agretti Vineyards. When Cole fumes about the arrangement, Melissa assures him that her marriage to Lance won't interfere with their relationship. Another wedding almost takes place as Vicky and Mario decide to elope, but they change their minds at the last minute. Lance discovers that Melissa is pregnant.

While Emma draws closer to revealing the truth about Jason's death to outsiders, Chase steadily draws closer to learning the truth through his investigation. No longer speculating over his father's mysterious death, Chase finally gathers enough concrete evidence to go to the D.A., who in turn, calls for a coroner's inquest into Jason's death. While Angela attempts to impede this, she is forced to testify. Following his release from the hospital, Douglas tries to help Emma and escorts her to the inquest. However, before she can testify, Douglas has a fatal seizure and dies. After witnessing this, Emma runs off while Angela blames Chase. Angela learns of Melissa's pregnancy following a disastrous honeymoon and assumes Lance to be the father, despite his denial.

When Douglas is buried, Angela tries to keep Emma sedated to prevent her from testifying. Angela could lose Falcon Crest to Chase if his attorney can prove that Jason died under suspicious circumstances. When the coroner's inquest resumes, the D.A. mounts a circumstantial case that is easily rebutted by Philip when Emma is unable to testify. Defying her mother, Emma manages to escape from Falcon Crest and arrives to take the stand, confessing how she accidentally pushed Jason to his death while he fought with Turner Bates. The jury rules that Jason "died at the hands of another," thereby giving Chase control of Falcon Crest, but he magnanimously offers fifty percent of the vineyard to Angela. Though Angela detests the thought of sharing Falcon Crest with anyone, she has no choice and accepts. Another threat looms as Angela learns of Douglas's illegitimate son, Richard Channing, who has inherited fifty percent of The Globe.

Angela resists Chase's claims to half ownership of Falcon Crest. Lance, already bitter over the prospect of sharing his inheritance with Melissa, gladly accepts the assignment of keeping Chase off the vineyard property. Richard Channing, illegitimate son of Angela's late husband, prepares to take control of The Globe as the new chairman of the board, while Angela looks for a way to block him. The newspaper is only a small part of the vast portfolio called ""The Company,"" held by Henri Denault, Richard's mentor and stepfather. Adopted at a young age, the desire to finally learn his mother's identity has motivated Richard to make the move to California and take over The Globe. When Cole shows up at the Agretti's demanding that Melissa acknowledge that she is carrying Cole's child and not Lance's, Carlo punches him in the face. After Gus dies in a gas explosion, Chase threatens Angela with an affidavit accusing her of complicity in Gus's death. He then forces Angela to agree in sharing the

In his new role on the Tuscany Valley County Board of Supervisors, Chase meets resistance in his efforts to break Angela's grip on county water supplies. When Melissa tells Carlo about her ambitions to control Falcon Crest, Carlo informs his daughter that she faces a powerful rival in Richard Channing, who is rumored to have ties to the C.I.A. and the British Parliament. Richard shows his ruthlessness by firing The Globe's longtime editor-in-chief, Herb Talmadge, who was only a year from retirement and a pension. After Angela tells Richard that he looks nothing like his father Douglas, Richard explodes after she leaves, vowing to ruin her.

When pressured by Richard to sell his winery holdings, Carlo spits in Richard's face, then confronts Angela about Lance's abusiveness toward Melissa and vows that Angela will never get Carlo's land through his daughter's marriage to Lance. Chase wants to distribute Falcon Crest's wine in Canada through a distributor other than Kleeger, which gets a big discount on their wine. Angela secretly owns Kleeger, and she charges Lance with keeping Chase from finding out. To counter Chase's efforts on the County Board of Supervisors to break her monopoly on the valley's water and distribute it to other growers, Angela claims her water is tainted. In turn, Chase orders another test of Falcon Crest's water supply that shows it not to be tainted. Cole gets into a fight with Carlo, who later telephones to apologize to Cole and invite him over to see Melissa. Not knowing that Carlo has leveled a pistol to his own head, Cole arrives to discover Carlo's body and becomes the prime suspect in Carlo's mu

Angela threatens Nick Hogan not to vote with Chase against her at the county supervisor meeting. If Nick votes to redistribute Falcon Crest's water to other vineyards, Angela warns that she won't be buying the $17,000 worth of pipes she was going to buy from him. Nick casts his decisive vote with Chase, and Angela warns Chase that he will come to regret his moment of glory. Emma disappears, secretly giving Chase the voting proxy to her twenty percent share of The Globe before she leaves -- the same proxy Angela hoped would give her control of the newspaper's board of directors. Richard prints a sensational article suggesting Cole murdered Carlo Agretti. When Richard asks Melissa to sell her the Agretti house, she suspects that Richard could have had a hand in her father's death. Cole is arrested for Carlo's murder after Cole's fingerprints are found on the statuette used to kill Carlo.

Chase and Maggie post Cole's bail, and Cole starts working part-time at the vineyard of a stunningly beautiful single mother, Katherine Demery. Richard's newspaper expose of workers' conditions at Falcon Crest leads Chase to publicly commit to higher wages and benefits for the workers, as well as changes in local labor laws. Lance agrees to take Melissa to child-birthing classes but refuses to attend, opting instead to spend time with Lori Stevens, his former girlfriend. Melissa is jealous of Katherine's attractiveness, and later Cole and Katherine's working relationship turns romantic. Richard tells his reporter, Blair, that he wants Cole convicted.

Against Maggie's wishes, Cole moves in with his new lover, Katherine Demery. Richard finds out and plasters The Globe with clandestine photographs of Cole and Katherine kissing. Jacqueline Perrault, Chase's mother, arrives from Zurich for a surprise visit and gives Chase money for Cole's legal defense, but Richard uses his contacts in Zurich to force Jacqueline to leave town. Angela buys up expensive stock in The Globe and continues tracking Emma to get her proxy. Lori demands that Lance come out in the open about their relationship. Lance is defiant when Melissa confronts him about his late night trysts. After a sudden complication in Melissa's pregnancy confines her to bed, however, Angela pressures Lance to spend more time with his wife.

Richard schemes to buy a piece of county property earmarked for a park, on which he plans to build a memorial to Douglas Channing on one small part and plant a vineyard on the rest. While Chase vehemently opposes the plan, Richard plants a bomb in Nick's truck and successfully intimidates Nick to vote his way at the board of supervisors meeting. Leaving her prescribed bed rest in order to win Cole back from Katherine Demery, Melissa collapses and is taken to the hospital, where she delivers an unhealthy, premature baby, whom she names Joseph Angelo Cumson, after Lance's great-great-grandfather. After Cole moves out of Katherine Demery's house, he moves back into his parents' house.