Winery Overview
The Trentadue family arrived in Sonoma County long before the region gained a reputation as Wine Country. Life-long, hands-on agriculturists, Evelyn and Leo Trentadue contributed significantly to the advancement of their region over the years. In 1959, the Trentadues decided to flee the developers encroaching on their apricot and cherry orchards in Sunnyvale, the area known today around the world as Silicon Valley. To preserve their way of life, these hard-working Italian ranchers purchased 208 acres of land in Sonoma County’s then remote Alexander Valley. There was little market for the region’s dry-farmed apples, prunes, pears, and grapes in the late 1950s, so land was cheap and plentiful. Scores of ranches were for sale but because it was blessed with an excellent combination of climate, soil, and water, Leo settled on a special piece of property in the heart of the Alexander Valley. Little did he know what this ranch had once been, much less what it was to become. The piece of land, which is now home to Trentadue Winery, has a remarkable history. In 1868, a French botanist named Andrew Bouton established Heart’s Desire Nursery on this excellent site east of the railroad tracks. With a passion for breeding new and improved strains of fruit trees, Bouton devoted himself to plant propagation, becoming a major supplier of young tree stock to orchardists throughout the western United States. His reputation attracted the attention of a young man named Luther Burbank who visited Bouton frequently. Influenced by Bouton, Burbank conducted his own work in nearby Sebastopol and Santa Rosa. Leo Trentadue has a reputation for openness to new ideas. Over the years, this inveterate tinkerer has been among the first to experiment with what resulted in a number of viticultural/wine industry innovations. An overview of his unheralded achievements: From dry farming to irrigation. Horse drawn plows and dry farming were still practiced when the Trentadues arrived in the Alexander Valley. Leo introduced advanced irrigation practices common to his former home in Santa Clara County. The Trentadues were among the very first to plant new vines in Sonoma County since the days of Prohibition. Understanding the importance of growing only grape varieties that excelled in his vineyards, in 1974 Leo installed half-acre blocks of eight different varietals. The quality of the Sangiovese was extraordinary, so all other vines were replanted to this famed variety from Tuscany. The superior quality of this fruit has produced their most popular Tasting Room wine and has been the backbone for the La Storia Cuvee 32 blend, which is consistently one of the top wines produced from the Trentadue Estate. In 1987, Leo encouraged his winemaker to experiment with fortified wines. Over the years, Trentadue has become the leading producer of dessert wines in the area, including the wildly popular Chocolate Amore. The OPR “Old Patch Red” was the first wine introduced in the OPR line. This pre-prohibition era vineyard block is located within Trentadue’s estate vineyard. The block was planted to a mixture of red varietals whose identity has been lost over time. When blended together, this red wine is balanced and flavorful. The OPR white was later introduced to round out this value-driven brand.