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ST. HELENA, Calif. — Harvest is always an amazing time in Napa Valley Wine Country.
“I get so excited during harvest time. It’s what we live for, and this is the most magical time of year to be here,” V. Sattui President Thomas C. Davies said. “If you drive up and down Highway 29, you can smell the harvest in the air. 550 wineries are crushing grapes all at the same time. You can smell that fermentation in the air.”
This year, the harvest season is even more exciting for everyone at V. Sattui Winery. It marks their 50th anniversary crush.
“We survived 50 years. In fact, we prospered for 50 years, and we’ve been a great success story,” founder Dario Sattui said.
“We made it to 50, and we’re still family owned. That doesn’t happen a lot here in the Napa Valley,” Davies said.
President Thomas C. Davies began his career at V. Sattui 46 harvests ago.
“I was about the fifth employee hired. Very humble beginnings. My first job was the head corker. We hand corked and hand labeled every bottle,” Davies said.
“My great-grandfather emigrated from Italy in 1882 who started the winery. My great-grandfather was successful until the advent of prohibition,” Sattui said. ” As a kid, I always dreamed about resurrecting my great-grandfather’s winery, but I didn’t do so until I was 32 years old.”
In the early days of the winery, Sattui faced his fair share of challenges.
“The first wine I made wine was in 1975, 50 years ago, and it was not very good. And I admit to that,” Sattui says with a chuckle.
Since the beginning, Sattuis vision of his winery has always involved more than just incredible wine.
“A lot of wineries said: ‘Keep off the lawn. No picnicking, 50 years ago. And so I decided to put in a deli, to put it in the picnic grounds, because my family, an Italian famil,y had picnics. And so I relied on that experience,” Sattui says.
Guests at the winery can enjoy one of the most recent renovations, the Mercado del Gusto.
“The original building was only 5000 square feet. We needed more space. And so we were able to enlarge the building to accommodate more people to have more experiences,” Davies says. “And now, we have this amazing selection of cheeses and foods and wines.”
To celebrate this golden milestone, the winery threw a crush party for about 600 people, giving them a unique behind-the-scenes look at a working winery during harvest.
“From tasting grapes to seeing how wine barrels are made to actually an old-fashioned grape stomp,” Davies said. “I think we have 60 different wines you can taste.”
Davies loves the hospitality aspect of the business and invites everyone to come experience a true taste of Napa Valley history.
“We welcome families. We welcome kids. We welcome pets. Come as you are. We’re one big Italian family and we love food. We love wine,” Davies states with a smile, “so I think it’s all those things together that made V. Sattui such a special place here in the valley, and we’re just hoping it continues for the next 50 years.
For more information, visit https://www.vsattui.com/.
