Vino In My Dino

A Note from Home: How are you doing? Really.

April 18, 2020 10:35

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Well, how are you doing a month into our sheltering in place? No, really. How are you doing? We'd love to hear. Over the past ninety three years we've come to know so many people in so many places. And we feel cut off. So, really: How are you?

Are you pining for the ‘old’ days? What freedom (!) we had in February. We could go for lunch without giving a thought to spreading germs-now masking up and ordering curbside is the way to go; how about stopping to talk to a neighbor in the street-we are now keeping 6 feet or more away from each other; perhaps a drive to the coast or mountains for some fresh air and now, due to current orders, you are hitting the streets. I’ve started to categorize yards-they have olive trees, they have dogwood trees, they have the most beautiful hedges etc

Obviously here in Wine Country spring has fully evolved into blooming trees, flowers, birds nesting and the grapevines leafing out (not to mention the pollen count is high). Mother Nature continues on without realizing the streets are quieter, the air is cleaner, people are staying close to home, and a virus is being slowed down because we are following the order in place. We have a ways to go before we are set free from this cocoon, hibernation, lockdown, staycation or whatever you have come to call it.

Perhaps new habits are being formed. I remember reading that it took about two months to form a new habit or break a bad one. I googled habits and came across a recent article by Tara Parker-Pope in the New York Times published mid February-which now seems like a century ago. In it there are a lot of good ideas and information and it contained this tidbit about developing a habit: “The study, published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, showed that the amount of time it took for the task to become automatic — a habit — ranged from 18 to 254 days. The median time was 66 days!” We are 36 days into this and it is looking like at least 30 more-coincidence? I think not.

My new habits are around working from home. I squeeze in a laundry load so I don’t have a mountain of work to do at the end of the week; I eat lunch on our deck and take in the green view of oak trees and new growth over the fence; I am making one or two recipes a week from my website listings because now we have time to photograph the dish and upload it-slow work but I will make my way through the hundreds listed as the year progresses thereby forming another habit. Discipline is another one-I gained the "COVID10" over the last month because I was snacking and eating things I don’t normally eat like sugar and carbs. April 13 dawned and I knew I needed to make changes-so back to low carbing and no snacking. How about you? Any new (good or bad) habits formed lately?

Walking is a new normal for us-between 9 and 10 miles a day around town-I mentioned to Ed that this mileage is a one way trip to the winery-but I don’t think I’ll start walking to work after this is over-or will I? Besides flowers and yards another thing I’ve seen on our walks around Healdsburg are chalk drawings and inspiring quotes. This one greeted us today and I think gives us all hope for better days ahead. Until next time stay well while keeping six feet apart.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Pandemic, COVID19, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Habit, wine, recipes, note from home
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Cellar Update: Business as Usual in Unusual Times

April 16, 2020 16:10

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Like the birds singing and the vines pushing leaves, the wines in the cellar don’t notice our shelter in place orders and cellar life goes on as usual in an unusual time. And cellar work like bottling and barrel work are considered essential and we are allowed by the state of California to carry on with production. Without this support I am not sure how our wines and vineyards would survive a long pause in the middle of things.

Our team, pictured above, include winemaker Montse Reece along with cellarmaster Polo Cano on the right and cellar assistant Beto Cortez. April is the height of production for them and knowing how important it is to keep on schedule when it comes to bottling, I asked winemaker Montse Reece to give me an idea of what goes into the preparation. Here is a step by step glimpse at what it takes when she works with the team to ready the wines:

“First I make sure we are going to have everything we need for bottling on time: glass, corks, labels, capsules. In the cellar the wine in question has to be blended, fined (in the case of reds), stabilized (for whites and rosé) and filtered. Editor's note: The tank pictured here is being cold stabilized-which means chilled close to freezing to drop the tartrates out-if it wasn't cold stabilized you would get 'wine diamonds' which are harmless and definitely don't taste good.

Before the wine gets to be bottled I run all the analysis: acidity, pH, alcohol, volatile acidity, malic acid, residual sugars, sulphur, specific gravity, CO2 and make any final adjustments if needed.

A few days before bottling, Cellarmaster Polo Cano will filter the wine. We use a crossflow filter. After that he and his crew will sanitize the line and get it ready for bottling. On the morning of bottling day the filler bowl, housing and filters are sterilized for 20 min at 180F. Polo does the sterilization by combining hot water and steam.

Once we start bottling, Polo and I do line checks, the first check is at the beginning (7:30 am) with three more spanning the day. We check the oxygen concentration inside the empty bottle before it enters the filler bowl as well as the dissolved oxygen in the wine once it is in the bottle, the vacuum pressure in the corks or the torque pressure in the screw caps, wine temperature, fill levels and pressure on the filters.”

So many layers of checking and cross checking happen with each and every wine bottled, and remember we make 21 different wines, and what does this mean for you? It delivers a bottle of wine with great attention to detail and the resulting consistent quality. These wines will be released over the next few months just as we are coming out of our shelter in place. As time moves on so does Mother Nature and continues to bring us warmer weather. More of our wines will be bottled and the vines will march toward vintage 2020.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Pandemic, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley, COVID19, wine
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Postcards From Home

April 10, 2020 09:48

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Postcards from Home

I send my grandsons postcards from the road when I travel on business and of course when we are on vacation. I thought I would share ‘postcards’ from home with you.

I’ll take you all on a walk around the winery and vineyards for some spring views, sharing the beauty we are experiencing in my former home and surroundings.

As I have indicated spring is definitely in place around the winery and vineyard and Easter seemed like a good time to share the hopeful sense that nature and the season brings to us.

The 2020 vintage is in place and beginning to show among the vines with budbreak beginning in mid-March and followed by first leaves. The natural progression and timing has the vineyard right on time for this part of the growing season. We received a couple of inches of rain in April which helps keep the vines happy and without damage to the new growth.

In other areas around the winery the hills are a soft green and show the promise of spring in the flora and fauna around us. Nice warm days are ahead and all the more opportunity to get out and enjoy these moments, even virtually.

Hope does spring eternal as the curve is flattened, we stay at home connecting in different ways with our friends and family, and knowing that nature hasn’t recognized we are at a stopgap and will continue her march toward summer and fall without fail-bringing great hope to me and I hope to you.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Pandemic, COVID19, Springtime, Easter, note from home
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Varietal of the Year: King Cabernet Sauvignon

April 9, 2020 10:06

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I am focusing on our other flagship wine this year: Cabernet Sauvignon. Did you know it is the most widely planted wine grape in California? Here are my thoughts on what makes this varietal special, thriving here in Dry Creek Valley Sonoma County.

First up, the stats: Cabernet Sauvignon is king of wine grape acreage in California with 93,241 (bearing and non-bearing) total acres. It bested its’ rival Chardonnay by 93 acres. By comparison, about five years ago, there were 6000 more acres of Chardonnay than Cabernet Sauvignon-just in case you are keeping score. In Sonoma County (12,090 acres) it is the second most widely planted, with Pinot Noir almost equal and both bested by Chardonnay as the number one most planted grape. Dry Creek Valley, where Cabernet rises to the top winning the title of ‘most widely planted’ with 3200 acres, reigns as #1.

Now for a bit of Dry Creek Valley wine grape history. The first grapes were planted, Zinfandel among them, in the mid-1800s with wineries following in 1872. The area burgeoned with production right up until Prohibition ended commercial winemaking in 1919. During this dry time many of the vineyards were pulled out by grape growers in order to make a living and were replaced by fruit trees and other crops (this area was known as the buckle on the Prune Belt for this very reason). Once Repeal made it legal to make wine again it took some time to get back into the business of developing a market, planting vineyards, and took a World War to engage the nation’s palate again. While my grandfather already had zinfandel and petite sirah on the home ranch he dabbled in planting Riesling and Pinot Noir among others.

It wasn’t until sons John and Jim bought five acres on West Dry Creek Road in 1965 that they became the first growers in the valley to plant Cabernet Sauvignon. They saw an appreciation for this varietal from those who served overseas and had become acquainted with the wines of France and Italy. Now they wanted to give customers a wine they appreciated. This vineyard would become known as our Wisdom vineyard. Beginning with this vineyard we learned over the next 5 decades what it takes to get the best out of this grape. We now farm 31 acres along the bench and valley floor. If there is a site specific grape I believe this is it.

What makes Cabernet Sauvignon distinctive from our vineyard and valley? The location for one. Our estate vineyards are located in the northern end of the valley. Wisdom is on the valley floor on the ‘dry’ western side of the valley and our Three Vineyards and Block 007 are on an eastern bench across the way where the soils are gravelly loam with great drainage. Another distinction is in the trellising. Finding the right vine systems to maintain production and canopy are important because the vigor of the vineyard can get in the way of ripening. Canopy and crop management become key to a wine with a quality fruit profile. Cabernet Sauvignon needs sun to ripen and a long growing season. Dry Creek Valley’s climate is here to help with its’ ideal number of warm degree days paired with the all-important marine layer, cooling down the grapes at night. Both are the foundation of fruit development maintaining aromatics, acidity and balance. Hallmarks of our Cabernet Sauvignon show flavors of plum and berry fruit combined with tobacco or sage notes (Winemaker Montse Reece describes this as ‘greenier’) and wrapped in a firm core of tannin or 'grip' as John Pedroncelli would call it.

The combination of site specific planting, aspects of climate and soil, picking at the right moment after the desired hang time-Cabernet is usually one of the last grapes harvested-and, once at the winery, the choices of oak and aging give you a Cabernet Sauvignon you can enjoy upon release or has the staying power for the cellar. Either way it is fitting to consider the wisdom gained over 55 years of farming the king of red wine grapes.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Cabernet Sauvignon
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Note From Home: Holding Steady

April 2, 2020 08:48

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We’ve been knee deep before-take a look at my uncle John standing knee deep in a flood-this is right outside of our cellar some 60 years ago. We’ve seen a few decades of challenge, we’re farmers after all and are holding steady. This current crisis, while we stay at home and do our best to keep our heads above water, is another challenge much like the Great Depression, recession, fires, or 9/11.

What did we do when met with those challenges? We held steady and found ways to deal with the situations. My grandparents, who had just bought the property two years ahead of the Great Depression and in the middle of Prohibition, managed by working the farm to support their young family as well as selling the grapes to make a modest living. My dad Jim created friends.red to offer a recession-friendly priced wine and found a spot for grapes without having to pull out vineyard. Two years of major fires tested us and made us more resilient-bringing the community together. And the 9/11 tragedy brought the country together.

One of the joys of writing these notes are the responses I am receiving from you. You inspire me with your stories and memories, you’re keeping busy with eyes to the future and the end of this thing called Shelter in Place. Here are some snippets of the comments and observations:

We are hanging in there discovering how to clean closets, walk together and talk to one another. It will pass and maybe we all can learn from this.

We are hanging in there. I am bored sitting at home. Over 40 years of making (sales) calls and now a different world.

We are using this time to relax but be productive, too, because once we can bust out into the real world, I’m planning to visit as many restaurants as possible and get back to the gym!

Wisdom from a 70+ year old friend: "What is this teaching me?" For me it's teaching me to be resourceful with what I have. I have a garden that feeds us. A refrigerator full of main staples. A sink with running water. A husband that can still provide. Two sons. One now living in with us and the other getting home safely from Brazil and quarantining in the bay area for 2 weeks and soon will join the clan. My love language is cooking. So this is where your wine comes in...I open a bottle of Pedroncelli wine, play some country music in the kitchen and create a yummy, intentional and nutritional meal for my family. That scenario is my solace, my peace of mind. Thank you Julie for your heartfelt and authentic correspondence.

As a healthcare worker in Washington State I am directly involved in caring for patients who are infected I would just like to say thank you. You and all the others who are sheltering at home are all playing a big part in beating this beast. We will get through it! I have a trip to Sonoma County tentatively planned for June and am hoping and praying it will happen as planned. I can't wait to drink some Friends with friends. Stay well.

I'm inspired to spend this time to be more productive in my writing, I've cleaned out my 'closet' of files, I'm spending time being thankful for what I have, learning to be patient while waiting to hug my grandsons (especially my newest one), following Shelter in Place orders because it will help end this, and holding onto hope for gathering together again.

What does it take to hold steady? How about courage and wisdom. It takes courage to be a farmer and producer to get through this time, it takes courage to rally the forces around us, be creative and not be overwhelmed. It takes wisdom to know 'this too shall pass' and learn what this situation is teaching us and then passing this wisdom along. Hold steady, hold tight and hold on-6 feet apart.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Pandemic, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, COVID19, Holding steady, note from home
Categories: pedroncelli
Pantry and Wine Friendly Recipes for a Pandemic

April 1, 2020 14:08

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In a recent post I mentioned I was trying to come up with wine tips-outside of hand sanitizer-and cooking with it was one of them along with what I have learned about the chemistry of using wine in a sauce. I have gathered hundreds of recipes over the years and always strive for what I call 'pantry friendly' recipes-you know, the ones where you don't have to go to a specialty store to buy an ounce of caviar.

Let’s begin with one of my favorite recipes because polenta is a comfort food I grew up with-think of it as Italian grits. Parmesan Polenta with Sausage Ragu

I found this recipe while searching for easy dinners and while it takes a little bit of time between cooking the sauce and the polenta, Sunday dinner anyone?, this brings simple ingredients together deliciously. Here are a few photos when I made this not long ago.

Here are a few tips: buy fresh basil-nothing like fresh to give a dish the best taste but in a pinch use dried basil-a teaspoon of dried to a tablespoon of fresh herbs. I buy the better grade canned tomatoes-but whatever you have on hand should work. Regarding the type of sausage, I like spicy but you can use the sweet Italian type and will still work, you can also replace pork sausage with turkey sausage very easily.

Your pantry, my pantry-there may be a difference in what you keep or have on hand. Sometimes Ed just shakes his head at my ‘substitutions’ and I admit they don’t always create the same recipe. Don’t be afraid to be creative-if you don’t have leeks use onions. If you don’t have ground turkey use ground beef. Cooking at home doesn’t have to be difficult. Follow the instructions, measure out the ingredients, take your time-we have a lot of it these days. Planning ahead-there’s another tip. Pre-COVID119 I would go to the store almost daily after work to get a quick weeknight dinner together. Secretly I love grocery shopping but let’s keep that between us. Now I plan ahead to go to the store twice a week so I am following our shelter in place order.

Now, besides the tips I received about ways to use up wine, like turning leftover wine into ice cubes and later on using them in sauces or drinking the same wine you used in the recipe at dinner, I also received a question about the bank of recipes I have stored on our website-I have been adding to the different categories for many years. I am a recipe hound and have collected quite a few from many sources including family, staff, newspapers, local chefs, authors and recipe sites. Here are some of my favorites and I hope they become yours!

You know the can of chickpeas taking up a spot in the cupboard? Dress it up by roasting them-use as a snack or in a salad for lots of flavor: Spice Roasted Chickpeas

This soup is a staple in our household-spicy, tummy filling and healthy: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Alternately this soup uses up lots of veggies, the kitchen sink approach: Minestrone

Here is a simple, tasty and easy dinner idea: Chicken and Rice Pilaf

My mom Phyllis has been making a version of this for many years-both Mom and I find we do it a bit differently each time: Chicken Scallopini a la Phyllis

Here is a family favorite from our pre-empty nest days-I found this in Adrienne’s cookbook for kids. Easy, flavorful and filling-the trifecta of the perfect family recipe-use beef and make it Sloppy Joes: Sloppy Toms

Each month I send out an enewsletter and part of it includes 2-3 recipes I find that are wine friendly. If you’d like to be on the email list let me know and send to julie@pedroncelli.com I'll sign off here like I do in the column: don’t forget the vino!

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, Recipes, Homecooking, Pandemic, COVID19
Categories: pedroncelli
A Note From Home: Hanging in There

March 27, 2020 15:13

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Are you hanging in there? What are some surprises you’ve found (and I don’t mean the dust bunny under the sofa)? Have you discovered the next million-dollar idea? Have you found more or less time to get those projects done or have you developed your Zoom family and see you need to clean up the clutter behind you? Zoom has become the way people are reaching out these days whether via a Virtual Cocktail Party or playing a game with family members who are physically distanced. I visited with Joe Glunz Jr the other day. He is the President of our Illinois based distributor Louis Glunz Inc. talked about his family gathering virtually this Sunday. They will all make the same dish at the same time for dinner. Not a big deal? He has 9 siblings and his parents spread from the west to east coast. What a fun thing to do!

Thanks to all who responded after checking in with you last week. I heard from at least 16 states, multiples from each, as far away as Vermont and as close to home as one of our growers and neighbor Larry Giovannoni. I can see Larry’s house from my office window by the way. I learned what some of you do for a living (a book editor, a nurse & fellow introvert, a first responder and one of our longtime retailers to mention just a few) and you all are hanging in there with an abundance of stories to tell once this is over.

I was trying to come up with some wine tips to offer during this time as we are all hanging out. While wine isn’t the best hand sanitizer (maybe a little Chardonnay but no Zinfandel-those telltale stains would give it away) it certainly can be used in cooking. I have used wine since I began experimenting in the kitchen. In the beginning I didn’t ‘cook off’ the alcohol in the wine and it gave dishes a ‘raw’ taste. One of my first experiments was mushrooms sauteed in red wine '#kitchenfail', they were inedible. I have learned to take time. When adding wine to a pan sauce and cooked for a few minutes it will do the trick, or if making a ragu the hour or more on the stove-mission accomplished. Wine does add a different level of flavor, different than herbs and spices. If you have a few ounces left in a bottle keep it around-you never know what recipe will inspire you and adding a bit of white or red wine will make the flavors fuller. Ed added a splash of Sauvignon Blanc to his Turkey Stroganoff the other night-that little something extra enhanced this dish.

So, hang in there. There is a light at the end of this tunnel, most likely in a few more weeks. Right now summer is looking pretty good. Warmer days, gardens beginning to give up their first fruits, family get togethers and the biggest St. Patrick’s Day/Easter/Mother’s Day/Memorial Day celebration ever.

Update on the tasting room and curbside pick-up: Are you a local? We can fulfill online and telephone orders with curbside pick-up. We’ll be open for limited days and hours for now. Visit here for more information.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, cooking with wine, note from home
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Budbreak & Bottling Go On

March 25, 2020 11:46

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We are all living in unusual times. The Shelter in Place order is active and most of the staff in the office is working from home-all except Jim who checks in every day. It is fitting since this is his childhood home. Our vineyards and winery come under the Food and Agriculture Sector critical infrastructure plan. Agriculture is considered essential, so the vineyard and cellar crews are kept busy at this time by finishing up pruning in the vineyards and bottling up the red wines scheduled for production.

Winter turned officially to spring on March 19 and the vineyards are beginning to shake off dormancy and head into budbreak-the moment when the buds on the vine begin to soften. So, what does this mean? Let’s start with the importance of pruning and what it means to budbreak: when the vines are pruned in late fall and winter each cane produced is trimmed back to typically two buds-which are the production for the next vintage. There are several canes stemming (pardon the pun) from the vine. Those two buds begin to soften and develop as warmer weather comes along and here in Dry Creek Valley that usually happens by mid-March.

Looking back at the beginning of vintage 2020, which begins with the rainy season, we had several inches of rain between November and January. February brought spring-like weather and not a drop of rain. As we see this month ending there is more rain on the way but likely totaling just about 2 inches. Mitch Blakeley, Vineyard Assistant (among other things-he’s family) told me we could use another 5-7 inches of rain so the vineyards, having had a dry spell, would get the necessary push to begin the growth cycle and invigorate the vines. It remains to be seen what we will receive in April or even May.

Budbreak has begun in the younger vineyards-go figure, a growth spurt from the teenagers. Mitch also reported, “The venerable Mother Clone blocks, which are in their late 30s, are taking their time to begin the season. For instance, in the younger vines they are seeing 1-3 inches of growth-first leaf, shoots but very minimal changes in the established vines. Larger and deeper root zones for these allow them to access water and nutrients in a larger area which means the vines don’t have to push until later when groundwater depletes.”

In the cellar the 2018 red wines like our Mother Clone Zinfandel, Sangiovese, and friends.red are among the first of that vintage to be bottled up. Winemaker Montse Reece is very happy with the quality of the wines and recalls the vintage in her fact sheet notes: The winter brought plenty of rain to the vineyards. Perfect growing conditions followed during summer with even heat and a great environment providing extended ripening. Once harvested, the vintage brought medium tannins as well as higher levels of aromatics and flavors. We all look forward to sharing them upon release later this year.

Tags: Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, budbreak, COVID19, Mother Clone, Sangiovese, friends.red, vineyard
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A Note From Home: How Are You Doing?

March 21, 2020 09:25

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A Note from Home

So how are you doing? I hope this finds you coping with the new restrictions in our lives-! I know many, many things have been cancelled or rescheduled for another time. Are you catching up on personal correspondence? Tackling those household projects you’ve put off like painting the bathrooms or adding a she shed? Homeschooling your kids? I personally will be reading more, walking more with #JasperWineDog-who by the way loves us working from home-he thinks we are on vacation and totally ignores the virus thing. I’ll do more home cooking while also supporting our local restaurants for take-out and of course enjoy a glass of wine or two while kicking back in the evenings.

How are you? This simple phrase seems so much more important now as we are physically distanced from each other and our daily lives. I typically write this note from my office, my former bedroom in my childhood home, which overlooks our Mother Clone zinfandel vineyard. Today I am writing from my own home in Healdsburg with a view of spring burgeoning in the new leaves on the oak trees and birds singing just outside.

For me yesterday was a wonderful day because two things happened: I have a new grandson and my niece Sarah (Lisa & Lance’s daughter) was married-in Brazil of all places-they watched the ceremony at 6am that morning from their home. Galen Kurt Edwin Rule was born a few hours later. 3/20/20 will be remembered with joy amidst such a time and I look forward to hugging him once this is over-I am thankful for our ease of communication so I can see all the fingers and toes and make sure mom Adrienne is okay and dad Jason is holding the baby correctly.

While we hunker down with loved ones I know there are many challenges ahead. Those parents with kids home for the long term-I received an email yesterday from a mom who had our wine at their wedding and now, 9 years later, has kids home and needed a case of wine to smooth the rough edges! (pretty sure my own parents would have gone crazy with the four of us girls bouncing off the walls). Work and the interruption of regular life is a challenge and a change. If you are at home alone reach out to neighbors who might also feel alone-keeping your distance of course! You know Wilson had it right by visiting over the back fence. If we keep socially connected in our age of technology we’ll know we are not alone.

How are we doing at the winery? The Governor of California has put the whole state from tip to top in a Stay at Home order. Our trade group Wine Institute just confirmed that, while our tasting room remains closed, the new order allows winery and vineyard operations to continue under the Food and Agriculture Sector critical infrastructure plan. We can keep things going in the vineyard and cellar! Probably more important to you is that we are still processing and shipping orders. While we can’t offer tastings, we are working on how to do “take-out” at the winery. Stay tuned for developments. Meanwhile we wouldn’t want our friends and neighbors to run out of wine. If you’d like us to ship you some wine click here.

Until the next time, keep healthy, stay inside and reach out even if just an email or call! julie@pedroncelli.com or 707-857-3531.

Stay well and don’t forget the vino. Julie

Tags: COVID19, Pedroncelli, Dry Creek Valley, Courage Zinfandel, Wisdom Cabernet Sauvignon, note from home, Sonoma County, Pandemic
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The People Tell the Story: Jim

February 25, 2020 14:34

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The People Tell The Story for Pedroncelli-they always have whether it is my dad Jim out on the road giving away his tie to an admirer or people writing to me about their experience with our wine on the table last night. All these stories have a common theme-we like to know more about the people behind the wine.

Jim is the sales and marketing half of the second generation duo with John as the vineyard manager and winemaker. Together, after purchasing the winery from their parents in 1963, they took the next steps in developing the vineyards, expanding the winery, crafting the line of wines and creating both a wholesale as well as an export network. Born at the winery in 1932, Jim remembers Pedroncelli’s earliest wine sales. “We sold in bulk to other wineries, but also sold barrels to stores and individuals until around 1947. It wasn’t unusual for a family to purchase a barrel and keep it in their cellar. We also had customers drop by the winery to fill their jugs from our barrels.”

Jim grew up at the winery as the youngest of the second generation-his brother John and sisters Margaret and Marianne were all part of the family business in those days. He helped out in both the cellar and the vineyards until he left for college. He attended St Mary’s College near San Francisco, where he studied economics and business. After graduating in 1954, he spent two years in the Army before returning to the family winery.

He soon took over marketing and sales responsibilities. “The winery began selling wine in gallon and half gallon bottles in the mid-1950s; mostly blends, but also Zinfandel Rosé and Zinfandel. Demand for premium varietals in fifths (now 750ml) began to grow in the 1960s, so we made our first Cabernet Sauvignon in 1965. By 1970, we were offering a full line of premium wines, including Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.”

On Jim’s recommendation, Pedroncelli was among the first wineries to use Sonoma County as an appellation on its label in the 1950s. “Sonoma County wasn’t well known then, so having the appellation on our labels distinguished our wines.”

He has kept Pedroncelli sales moving forward in recent years with new packaging and new wines such as Sonoma Classico and friends.red and friends.white. His take on the wine market and vision for the winery comes from over 60 years of sales and marketing experience. Jim’s marketing philosophy remains simple. “I want customers to appreciate our wines for their quality and their value. Ours are wines that are easy to enjoy in more ways than one.”

Not only did he grow up at the winery he also raised his family there as well. He and wife Phyllis just celebrated their 61st anniversary. Their four daughters include me, my sisters Cathy, Lisa and Joanna. You'll often find him in the warehouse these days or at his computer keeping an eye on things. Like I have said before we are the 'quiet Italians' and Jim, a man of few words, continues to shepherd the winery toward the next generations.

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