Peter Fanucchi of Fanucchi Vineyards (Fulton,California)
The love for vineyard tending all began for Peter Fanucchi back in 1972 at age 9, when he would tag along with his father who had purchased a very old vineyard in the Russian River Valley area of Sonoma County. (Fulton,California)
Befriending their neighbors soon proved to be of benefit to the reestablishment of the over 100 year old Zinfandel vineyard,as many of the grape growers in the area were gracious enough to share their knowledge of traditional methods of viticulture with the new folks in town. Absorbing these golden nuggets of wisdom and applying them to their own vineyards the Fanucchi’s took their lessons learned very seriously. Gathering knowledge from as many places as they could and implementing the techniques into the vineyard proved to be just what the doctor ordered for a vineyard that many would have merely cast aside as being unfruitful. Yet,perserverance paid off.
The Fanucchi’s discovered that their vineyard consisted of the traditional “field blend” of grape vines…basically this means that the rows in the vineyards were not just of one variety of grape, but of several. (A practice in Italian vineyards that dates back to the late 19th century) Within their vineyard they discovered interplantings of a grape varietal called “Trousseau Gris” planted among the Zinfandel. It was a type of grape that on their land seemed to thrive very well. So well in fact that in the early 1980′s they decided to expand the vineyard by purchasing a piece of property right next door.
It was shortly after this land acquisition to expand the vineyards that tragedy struck…about 2 weeks before the first significant harvest of the Trosseau Gris grapes,Peter’s beloved father died suddenly. But not one to give up, Peter stepped in and took the reins, applying what he had observed from his father. No doubt if his father could see what the vineyards produce now he would be a very proud man indeed.
Peter has assertively employed his learnings for decades now towards enhancing the viticultural foundation that his father, friends and neighbors bestowed upon him. His extreme attention to detail manifests itself in the vineyard, in the reputation of the vineyard and, most importantly, in the highly acclaimed wines he and others have produced from his wine grapes.
If you were able to spend an afternoon watching Peter tend to his “children” (yes,he actually does have names for his vines!), one would easily notice his instinct, talent, & passion to growing great Old Vine Zinfandel & Trousseau Gris. Peter’s motto is “growing in harmony with nature” which, simply put, means growing incredible wine grapes in the most earth friendly environment possible. This motto resides on each and every label on each bottle of wine he produces and his entire being is zeroed in on living this motto. Although not a certified organic grower in the paper work sense of “organic” , Peter’s vineyards are grown in a way that is as “close to nature” as possible.
When the vineyards were purchased by the Fanucchi’s, the common belief by others was that the grape varieties found on their property were not really worth farming at all, because at the time grape prices were low, and there were many grapes being produced all over. Resulting in many vineyards going into bankruptcy, the economy not in the best of places,and imports were easily acquired at low prices. There were some that even said that the attempts towards reestablishng the vineyard would merely result in its faster decline and that great Zinfandels would never be able to be produced in the Russian River Valley. Peter was also told that the Trousseau Gris grapes were only good to use as a “blender” to add to other grape varieties as it was just too bitter of a variety to do much with. It is a good thing that Peter learned to follow his gut and to turn off the voices of the naysayers.
Trousseau Gris wine grape clusters ready for harvest
Peter began to discover that contrary to what he had been told the Trousseau Gris grape could indeed produce a wonderful and non -bitter tasting wine. He learned that the reasons why most thought it would be a bitter wine, was because they were going about the process the wrong way and with a heavy hand. The Trousseau Gris is a thick skinned grape which also means that it contains less juice than some other types of grapes, and many that had tried to generate wine from it would press the grapes harder and harder trying to obtain as much juice as possible from the grapes thereby resulting in some of the bitterness from the seed of the grape to mingle with the juice. He learned that with the Trousseau Gris one must not press the grapes too much.
So, despite all of the naysaying that came his way, Peter kept at his work. Retraining the old vines very carefully. Pruning carefully, doing everything with patience and a sure hand,and what might be called the ‘old style” method. He managed to save the 100 plus year old vines by patiently cleaning up the vineyard after years of it having been neglected and also re-grafted Zinfandel onto the original plants which revived almost all of the vines!
After a few years of employing his “crazy” practices, growers from all over the wine region began visiting to take a close look and to learn of what he was doing, soon they also were following some of his practices, such as training the old vines on a stake to raise them from ankle height to shoulder height, spreading compost & minerals. Today nearly all of the Old Zinfandel vineyards at Fanucchi Vineyards have been retrained. In addition, all (yes 100%!) of the Old Zinfandel produced from Fanucchi Vineyards goes into specially designated wines, and is highly sought after by wineries & consumers, and regularly receives the highest awards and accolades from the most well known critics and competitors. How’s that for “never saying never”? Perseverance has proven to be rewarding for Fanucchi Vineyards.
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