HERITAGE
In 1882, a twenty-four-year-old Albino Pestoni immigrated from the small Swiss village near the Italian border where he grew up to the unknown wilds of Napa Valley, California. He first settled next to some cousins in Bell Canyon, an area at the base of Howell Mountain, then referred to derogatorily as ‘Dago Valley.’ Around this time, wealthier and more distinguished vintners such as Frederick Beringer, the Chaix Brothers and Gustave Niebaum were also moving to Napa with dreams of producing wines in this new, lush, uncharted world. Luckily, Albino was undaunted by his competition.
In 1892, he, his wife Maria Madonna and their four sons planted their first vineyard and built a hand-hewn stone and redwood winery to reproduce the wines of their homeland.
Bonded Winery 935 became enormously popular – particularly with other Swiss Italians from the area who would make special trips to Albino’s winery from as far as San Francisco to refill their bottles with his fine wines. His were family wines – grown and crafted on the property – and although Albino’s achievements may have gone largely unnoticed at the time, his winery marked the beginning of artisanal winemaking in the Napa Valley.
Albino’s original property on Crystal Springs Road has since been sold to the city of Saint Helena to provide a reservoir. However, his winery still stands as a monument to this artisan’s spirit.
Henry Pestoni would follow in his father’s footsteps. He married Lena Domingos, whose family vineyard was on the western slope of Howell Mountain. Joined by her brothers, Henry and Lena would form a vineyard management crew, planting and managing vineyards throughout the upper Napa Valley. This experience taught them how soil, sunlight, rootstock, and varietal selection could affect fruit quality, and as well as one of the most valuable lessons in winemaking: the right grape in the right place. In 1923, Lena and Henry purchased what is known today as the Pestoni Ranch on Whitehall Lane. Here they raised chickens, hogs, dairy cows and continued to farm grapes, make wine, sherry and bootleg brandy. Today, the Pestoni Ranch is home to our Estate Sauvignon Blanc Vineyard.
Lena’s brothers, Uncle Fred and Uncle Manual, acquired the Ehlers’ Estate in 1923 where they bootlegged until Prohibition ended. In 1933 they renamed it Old Mill Winery and produced wines until 1958.
In the late 1970s two problems began to weigh on the local wine industry. The first: what to do with the pomace, the grape skin, pulp, seeds, and stems left over after crushing. At the time, local wineries were dumping it back into their vineyards or at their property´s edge where it would seep into groundwater. The second problem was how to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, which were also having negative effects on the Napa Valley. Bob began to experiment with an age-old farming practice that had somehow gone out of style: composting. By the 1980s, Upper Valley Recycling was processing nearly all the discarded grape seeds, skins and stems from the Up Valley wineries into compost – an innovation that landed Bob a centerfold appearance in National Geographic Magazine.
In the mid-1990s, Bob and his wife Sylvia were presented with a rare opportunity. A small winery adjacent to their family´s Rutherford property had become available for purchase. Over the years, Bob and Sylvia had always grown grapes on their land, but they had always sold their fruit to other wine producers. They hadn´t been interested in becoming vintners before, but the acquisition of this new property renewed Bob´s admiration for his family´s business – and for his heritage. In 1994, they opened the doors to Rutherford Grove Winery and resumed making the single vineyard, hand-crafted artisanal wines Bob´s father and grandfather had created there for more than a century before him. In 2017, in celebration of their 125th anniversary of Napa Valley winemaking, the winery was renamed Pestoni Family Estate Winery.
Joining us for the 2024 vintage, Aaron Pott brings more than 30 years of winemaking experience to Pestoni Family Estate Winery. A graduate of UC, Davis Dept of Viticulture and Enology, Pott began his winemaking career at Newton Vineyard in 1990. He moved to France to be the winemaker for Château Troplong-Mondot, and then spent five years as the director at Château La Tour Figeac while earning a degree in Viticulture from the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France. Upon returning to the U.S., Pott was appointed head winemaker for Beringer Wine Estates’ international brands, followed by a dual role as winemaker/general manager for Quintessa Estate. He was recognized as Food & Wine magazine’s ‘Winemaker of the Year’ in 2012. Today, Pott consults with a limited number of boutique Napa Valley producers, in addition to making wine for his own label, Pott Wine.
Jeremiah Moore is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara and began his winemaking career at Sterling Vineyards in 2004. During his thirteen-year tenure with Sterling Vineyards, Moore worked his way up to the position of laboratory manager, supervising the winery’s compliance, Napa Green certification, blending trials, bottling and annual harvest internship program. In 2017, Moore jumped into the cellar as the enologist at Blackbird Vineyards. There, he met and worked alongside Pott, who appointed him the winemaker for Blackbird’s custom crush clients and eventually winemaker of Blackbird Vineyards in 2022.
Our Estate Director, Peter Huls, is a Certified Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers and brings nearly 20 years of experience in winery sales and hospitality to Pestoni Family Estate Winery. Following graduation from Sacramento State with a degree in Hospitality Management, Pete went on to work in consumer-facing, hospitality management roles with reputed Napa Valley wineries, developing outreach plans and partnerships as well as cultivating lasting relationships with all in his path. Pete shares our belief that wine is for everyone and experiencing the Napa Valley should be as well.
As part of the 4th generation of Pestoni’s, Greg developed deep roots within the Napa Valley community yet unlike his father and siblings, he didn’t immediately join the family business. Instead, Greg spent twenty-seven years making his mark in television and film. His early exposure to the world of film, fostered by his close relationship with the Coppola family, led Greg to attend NYU Film School. He went on to work as an editor, then screenwriter, and on the production teams for numerous films, including Coppola’s Godfather III and Dracula, as well as studio projects with James Caan, Mike Judge, Johnny Knoxville, and Spike Jonze, to name a few.
In 2014, Greg returned to Napa to support his family’s winery. Leaning on his skills honed in story telling, he turned his focus on his family’s 125 years of Napa Valley winemaking and oversaw the rebranding of Rutherford Grove Winery to the eponymous, Pestoni Family Estate Winery. As our General Manager he effectively orchestrates all operations. On any given day, you might find Greg sanding picnic tables, working on the sorting or bottling line, hosting a wine dinner, or simply engaging with guests enjoying our grounds and our family wines.
