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Our father and padrino bought their own fruit up until 1980. After 1980, our father began to grow his own fruit in the Napa and Sonoma valleys. The varieties that he planted were Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and Franken Riesling. Many of his wines won county and state awards. (read article) Our mother, Mimi, was dubbed the official taster because wines were not bottled until she gave the final “ok.”
We are four brothers, Matthew, Jason, Aaron, and Nathan. In 1995, we began to produce our own homemade wines under the guidance of our father. We wanted to carry on the tradition of making fine wine for our family and friends. After positive responses to our homemade wines, a string of blue ribbons, and several upgrades in equipment, we decided to take the winemaking experience to the commercial level. In 1999 we established our winery bond. Our premier release includes a 1999 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and a 1999 Napa Valley Claret style red table wine. |
The tradition of
winemaking in the Buoncristiani family can be traced back to the late 19th
century to our great, great grandfather Nonno Angelo. The Buoncristiani
family originated in the small town of Orentano located in Italy’s Toscana
region. The wines our family produced were mainly Sangiovese, Trebbiano,
and Vin Santo. In the early 1930’s, our great grandfather Yaccipo
immigrated with half his family to the United States, bringing with him
our tradition of winemaking.Yaccipo settled in San Francisco’s North Beach
area and fermented fruit from the surrounding valleys in his basement.
Bisnonno Yaccipo would then share his wine with family and friends. During
the time period between 1940 and 1965, our Nonno Ozzie and his uncle were
wholesale wine distributors in the bay area. Between 1940 and 1965, they
had the exclusive distributorship of all Beaulieu Vineyard wines. Their
exclusive distributorship was based in San Francisco and ranged as far
north as Oregon, to the east including Nevada, and south to Santa Barbara,
California. Nonno Ozzie also managed and owned restaurants located in San
Francisco, extending his love for food and wines to others.
In
1972, our father Roberto Buoncristiani continued the tradition of making
wine. He and our padrino (Angel Sierra) built all their own equipment
including the press and crusher. Roberto made wine as “
Our
father made sure that the four of us were involved with the entire
winemaking process. His philosophy was simple; good wine is achieved
through good viticultural practices. At a very young age we were taught
the ways of the vineyard including how to prune the vines and pick grape.
Riding the tractor on Dad’s lap, stomping barefoot on the “starter batch”
of grapes, and tasting wine diluted with water were all fond childhood
memories.