Mazzoni Home Ranch

History

Giuseppe Mazzoni and his fourteen-year-old brother-in-law, Abramo Trusendi, arrived from Italy in 1898 and went straight to work at the Italian Swiss Colony vineyard cooperative in Asti, California. In 1899, the two managed to acquire hillside acreage nearby overlooking Alexander Valley from the west and began planting the vineyard the next year. By 1910 they had built a winery and began making wine. Except for the Prohibition years, they produced wine there until 1978. The Mazzonis were great believers in the contribution each variety in a field blend could make to the finished wine. Accordingly, their century-old zinfandel is interplanted with carignane, which adds elegance, and petite sirah, which provides spice and depth. The Mazzoni Home Ranch was purchased in 1988 by Niccolo and Flora Oltranti who, with their son Paul, continue the tradition of quality viticulture.

Location

West side of Alexander Valley, on the northern edge of Geyserville.

Grape Varieties

9.6 acres of mixed blocks (zinfandel, petite sirah, carignane) planted in 1900, 2.3 acres of carignane, 1.6 acres of zinfandel planted in 1990s.

Soils

Gravelly clay loam

Training & Yields

Head trained (no trellis), spur pruned. 1.5 to 3 tons per acre.