WINERY

At Lattanzio Wines, we believe that great wine is made in the vineyard. This is our core belief; it guides us in the day to day crafting of our wines. We strive to showcase our source vineyards, not our winemaking skills.

Our objective is to seek out a handful of unique, cool climate vineyards on the West coast and hand craft small quantities of wine from those vineyards. The vineyards we work with must be meticulously maintained, dedicated to sustainable farming, naturally low yielding and possess that “sense of place”. Only the right combination of geographical location, soil, aspect, varietal/clone selection and sustainable farming practices makes a vineyard suitable for our program.

WINEMAKER

Justin Lattanzio moved to San Francisco from the East Coast in the Fall of 1996, knowing very little about wine. However, with all of the great restaurants and wine shops in the San Francisco Bay area, it was easy for him to find and to taste some of the finest wines from California and around the world. It wasn’t long before Justin became enamored with wine. He proceeded to spend much of his free time tasting wine as well as reading about it.

We believe it is the winemaker’s job to take perfectly ripened grapes and, through a gentle fermentation, simply coax the complex flavors and aromas into the wine bottle. To that end, our wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts, are subject to minimal handling, aged in small percentages of new French oak, and bottled without fining or filtration. Excessive manipulation in the winery only takes away from the ultimate expression of the source vineyard and the resultant wine’s inherent personality.

VINEYARDS

Grower David Umino is a third generation farmer who took a 33 year detour as a Forensic Metallurgist. In the late 90s, he decided to return to his quest for a life of peace and independence as a farmer. David grew up on a truck farm in the tiny central San Joaquin Valley town of Orosi. Included in the many varieties of fruits and vegetables his family grew was a vineyard planted to Thompson Seedless, which was probably the early catalyst for his love of vineyards.

David now lives on his 11 acre vineyard in the Sebastopol Hills, one of the coolest spots in the Sonoma Coast region for growing Pinot Noir. He planted the vineyard in 1997 to 3 Dijon clones, 115, 777, 667 and a relatively rare clone 459. Dave is one of the most passionate, dedicated farmers I’ve met. He lives on the property and does most of the farming work.

The wines made from David’s vineyard are intensely aromatic, bright and lively. Two words come to mind when I think about Umino Vineyard Pinot Noir… energetic cherries.

Buy Lattanzio Pinot Noir NOW