History Scenic Views
Wine club members consume most of his production but he also ships bottles to Odeum in Morgan Hill, and the Capital Club and Morton’ s in San Jose. One of the unique elements of EmmaLily is that much of his bottling is done in magnums up to the 9 liter, Salmanazar, which is the equivalent of 12 standard bottles. It weighs around 50 pounds!
The wine club is active and participates in many aspects of the winemaking process. Wine tasting is by appointment only.( emmalilyvineyards. com)
Guglielmo Winery is one of the major wineries in the area. They are the“ oldest, consistently operating, family owned winery in Santa Clara Valley.” Since 1925, the Guglielmo family has managed this unique winery. It is a mix of rural, urban, and suburban settings. In the beginning, there were only 15 acres; today there are 100 acres with 70 acres of vines. Guglielmo Winery is committed to sustainable practices.
There are a lot of three’ s going on here. The three brothers— George, winemaker and president, Gene, director of sales, and Gary, the general manager— are the third generation in the business. They produce 40,000 cases under three labels: Guglielmo Private Reserve, TRÉ, and the oldest, Emile’ s.
Greg Richtarek, director of marketing, says they have a wine for every palate. Guglielmo is a busy place. In addition to their own wines, they bottle another 100,000 cases for other wineries. There is a bustling event center with weddings, corporate events, wine club activities and off-site events. The tasting room and gift shop is open seven days a week. The Christmas Boutique is a unique holiday adventure.
The winery combines a strong family history setting with modern and sophisticated winemaking operation. The Heritage Room is a favorite location for intimate to small events. The outside courtyard, stage and open space accommodates larger events
In addition to many private weddings, corporate happenings and events, Guglielmo Winery hosts many public popular events: Sherino and Chardonnay( usually a sold out event), Vines & Vibes, Wednesdays in the summer, and Bottle Your Own, four times a year.
The Guglielmo family extends a family welcome to all who visit this historic and classy winery.( guglielmowinery. com)
Heading east, up Dunne Avenue on Hill Road, is a new winery. John and Delyse Klusendorf operate Hill Road Vineyards and are in the last stages of permits to officially open.
The winery will offer tastings by appointment only. Their goal is to offer an experience“ among the grapes” with small weddings and intimate celebrations. The location has fantastic views of El Toro especially at sunset. The tasting lounge and tables are in the vineyard.
In 2002, the first vines were planted. The wines are produced on the premises. Several vintages of Merlot, Cabernet and blends are aging nicely. Reports are they are excellent.
The Klusendorf’ s are also involved in Aquaponics.( hillroadvineyards. com)
Sheldon Haynie and Jane Mika-Haynie had tinkered with vineyards and wine making. A visit to Creekview Cellars, also in San Martin, made them believers in a backyard tasking room. Not long after Lightheart Cellars blossomed in the backyard of their Roosevelt Avenue home.
Sheldon manages their vineyards and several other vineyards in the South County area. Jane is the winemaker. The combination is a good one that has produced several award-winning wines and a confortable feel to the tasting room that is epitomized by their tagline“ Good Wine, Good Times.”
As if making wine was not enough, the family also produces mead. Son, Alderin, is the mead maker. Mead uses honey instead of grapes to produce the sugars necessary for alcohol. While some mead can be very sweet, Alderin’ s tend to be more on the“ dry side of semi-sweet.” Alderin’ s Meadery is unique in the South County area. They currently produce three meads: Simple Pleasures, a semidry mead; Winter Celebration, a zesty seasonal mead; and Strawberry Mead, Frejya’ s Blessing, a refreshing spring sensation.
Some of Lightheart wines are available locally at Westside Grill in Gilroy, and Rosy’ s at the Beach and Ladera Grill in Morgan Hill. The Lightheart newsletters and blogs give some interesting insight into the vine growing, winemaking process.
The winery is open the first and third weekend of the month. Tasting appointments are available. Most of the time there is a little music. So come on by for“ Good Wine, Good Times.”( lightheartcellars. com)
Mike and Maryclaire Sempagnaro of Morgan Hill Cellars might be described as winery owners by default. Moving down from the San Jose area they were looking for a two-house country property for them and their daughter’ s family. They were about to sign on a property further
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