The Wine History Project of SLO County preserves and presents two centuries of local viticulture through research, interviews, exhibitions, publications, talks and tastings. We work with local museums, galleries, archives, and wineries to organize events and exhibitions in venues throughout the county.
Together We Can Preserve the Story of Central Coast Winemaking
3592 Broad Street,
Suite 104,
San Luis Obispo,
CA 93401
(805) 439-4647
libbie@winehistoryproject.org
By Appointment
Third-generation Italian grower and winemaker at the famous Pesenti Winery and his own ZinAlley in Templeton. Frank is proud of his heritage and continues to strengthen the Legacy of both the Nerelli and Pesenti families.
A third-generation winemaker and the only one of Frank Pesenti’s twenty grandchildren who continued to work at the Pesenti Winery until it was sold to Larry Turley in 2001, Frank Nerelli is the founder of ZinAlley Winery.
Stephen Ross Dooley is a mentor and wine consultant that has helped local winemakers and wineries produce award-winning wines in both the Edna and Arroyo Grande Valleys. He founded Stephen Ross Wine Cellars after being the winemaker at Edna Valley Vineyard and Moro Bay Vineyards. He is a co-founder of the Edna Valley Vintners Association and worked with Brian Talley to establish World of Pinot and in developing the Stone Corral Vineyard.
Catharine Niven was the first woman in San Luis Obispo County to plant her own vineyard and to make wine under her own label, Tiffany Hill, in the Edna Valley. She is also the first winemaker in the Niven family, owners of the Paragon Vineyard Co., who planted extensive vineyards in the Edna Valley in 1973 and became famous for the quality of their Chardonnay grapes.
Art initiated a movement of small growers focusing on premium grapes for local winemakers crafting small production fine wines when, in 1972, he planted the first vineyards of Zinfandel and Barbera on Vineyard Drive in the Adelaida region in west Paso Robles.
Doug and Nancy Beckett enjoyed California wines in the early 1970s, never dreaming that they would found their own winery, Peachy Canyon Winery, and become internationally known for the quality of their Zinfandel wines which have been sold in every state of the nation, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Mexico.
The first vintage of Tobias 1980 Zinfandel won gold medals at the Santa Barbara County Fair and the San Luis Obispo County Fair. Tobias Vineyard was the smallest winery in San Luis Obispo County at the time.
The wines of San Luis Obispo County have traveled to Washington D.C. to be served at inaugurations, celebrations, state and holiday luncheons, and family dinners at the White House and Camp David during the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. This series of articles celebrates the wineries and winemakers who produced these historic wines.
Our fourth article on wines in the White House covers San Luis Obispo County wines served during the George H. W. Bush administration from January 1989 to January 1993.
We would love to hear from you.