Gargiulo Vineyards

As a lifetime farmer, Jeff Gargiulo has always been passionate about the land and agricultural, and today that passion is focused on the joys of grape growing and fine wine making. 30 years ago though, he and his wife Valerie only dreamed of one day building a premier wine estate. That dream took shape in the early 1980s when Jeff and Valerie and their young family traveled to Napa Valley to visit Valerie's cousins, Barney and Belle Rhodes. Napa Valley icons, Barney and Belle Rhodes had been in the Napa Valley since the late 1960s growing grapes in Rutherford at Bella Oaks Vineyard. Jeff and Valerie were inspired by their cousin’s Napa Valley lifestyle and confident that with their help and Jeff’s agricultural knowledge they would make some of the finest wines in the world. Twelve years later and with countless hours of coaching from Barney and Belle, Jeff and Valerie purchased their first vineyard in Oakville, Napa Valley, Money Road Ranch in 1992. Seven years later they purchased their second Oakville property, 575 ovx.

From the beginning, the Gargiulo’s committed themselves to creating a world class Cabernet Sauvignon wine estate. From his years spent farming, Jeff Gargiulo, knew that if he didn't start with the very best land, he could never expect to grow the best grapes. For this reason, the Gargiulo's chose Oakville to establish their namesake winery. Then, like today, Oakville was considered to be amongst the preeminent places to grow Cabernet Sauvignon in the world. The very first vintage of Gargiulo Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon was 2000, and since then Gargiulo Vineyards has quietly taken its place among the most highly regarded Cabernet Sauvignon producers in Napa Valley. Not ones to rest on their laurels, Jeff, Valerie, daughter, April and son in law, Mitch and the entire Gargiulo Vineyards’ team continue to strive to make Gargiulo wines the most pure and breathtaking expressions of their two esteemed Oakville vineyards.

Kristof Anderson, winemaker, has been with Gargiulo since 2004 and shares our winemaking philosophy. He favors a gentle and patient winemaking approach, 90 percent of which happens before the grapes ever leave the vine. This includes hand harvesting at dawn to ensure pristine cluster condition upon arrival at the winery; hand sorting at three different stages and taking advantage of the state of the art gravity flow winery. Incredibly, Kristof separately ferments as many as 40 individual vineyard blocks each vintage in small French oak barrels. This extensive array of fermentations offers him more components to compose the final blend, which will always be the one that most vividly expresses our distinct vineyards during a single harvest season. Our winemaking team also includes an incredible supporting cast with winemaking consultant Andy Erickson and viticulture consultant Dr. Paul Skinner.