"Frank Pastori was a fixture in the Alexander Valley grape-growing community, rooted on the land his immigrant Italian parents planted in 1914. With his wife "Edie" by his side, he replanted the family ranch north of Geyserville to 60 acres of Zinfandel, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Carignane - selling the fruit to local wineries and making some wines of his own."
"A natural storyteller, Pastori set up a tasting room on the ranch in a converted prune dehydrator and charmed visitors for decades with tales of Alexander Valley's colorful past. When he died in 2020 at the age of 100, it marked the end of an era for Pastori Wines. But not the end of the story."
"While growing up in Oakland, Pastori's young protégé spent weeks every summer helping out on his grandparents' ranch. When he got older, Pastori-Ng bottled wine and picked leaves from newly harvested bins of grapes. "I just loved coming up here as much as possible," he said. "I was probably just in the way of the workers, but my grandpa always tried to get me as involved as possible." Later, Pastori taught his grandson the basics of winemaking and vineyard management."
Frank Pastori rooted his vineyard on land first planted by his immigrant Italian parents in 1914 and replanted the family ranch north of Geyserville to 60 acres of varied grape varieties. He sold fruit to local wineries, produced some wines, and ran a tasting room in a converted prune dehydrator, becoming a beloved storyteller. Pastori died in 2020 at age 100. His 28-year-old grandson, Paolo Pastori-Ng, assumed the grape-growing operation in 2020 and revived the winery side. Paolo spent summers on the ranch, learned winemaking from his grandfather, attended Chico State for a year, worked construction, and moved back full-time after his grandmother's death in 2011.
Read at The Mercury News
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