\u00a0<\/b>Family memories drive passion for fine wines<\/b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Bill and Aleta Gadino\u2019s inspiration for winemaking casts back to the early 1900s when both of their immigrant grandfathers made wine for family and neighbors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWine was part of our lives growing up in New Jersey. I remember drinking wine with meals when I was a young boy. It was served in a small glass that was originally sold as a cheese container. A lot of the other kids weren’t allowed to drink wine but we were permitted to have a glass with Sunday and holiday meals,\u201d recalls Gadino.<\/p>\n
Wine with food would remain an integral part of the Gadinos\u2019 lifestyle. After successful careers in the Navy and as a defense contractor, Gadino shifted from amateur to professional winemaker, opening Gadino Cellars in 2005.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring part of my military career we were stationed in California. Aleta and I had fun visiting the growing number of wineries. Back then there was no just going directly to a tasting room. You learned about the grapes first and at the end of the tour you got to taste the wines,\u201d says Gadino.<\/p>\n
An engineer by profession—retiring as a Navy Commander—Gadino began to see winemaking as both art and science. The more he learned the more he wanted to get involved. The tipping point came in 1982 while visiting Simi Winery in Healdsburg, CA where he purchased the classic winemaking book Grapes into Wine <\/i>by Philip Wagner.<\/p>\n End of Harvest<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cI read that book cover-to-cover. The pages were getting worn out,\u201d says Gadino. The next year some friends joined him in making his first wine; a Zinfandel from fresh grapes. \u201cIt was very drinkable and at 15% alcohol I was hooked,” says Gadino laughing.<\/p>\n In the mid-80s, during a tour in Washington DC, he decided to add winegrower to his amateur vintner resume and planted ten vines of Seyval blanc—a French-American hybrid white grape–in the backyard of his Fairfax home. Growing fruit and making wine led to taking courses in viniculture and winemaking with Jim Law, owner of Linden Vineyards and one of the most knowledgeable winemakers on the East Coast.<\/p>\n Going Pro<\/strong> The family vision, now including their daughter Stephanie and son-in-law Derek was to produce food friendly wines in the tradition of their ancestors. \u201cWe wanted to create wines that people would invite home to dinner. Our goal was to focus on flavorful wines with crisp acidity that would pair well with food, says Gadino.<\/p>\n Given the winery\u2019s reputation for bottling clean, fresh tasting wines that goal has been achieved. The Italian tradition of \u201cfamily first\u201d is evident in the management of the winery. Aleta Gadino, who holds a degree in horticulture, manages the winery\u2019s grounds. Daughter Stephanie is the tasting room manager. Son-in-law Derek Pross, is the winemaker and Bill Gadino devotes himself full-time to the care of the thriving six acre vineyard.<\/p>\n Typically there are seven wines showcased in the tasting room including two Virginia classics, Viognier and Cabernet Franc. In addition, limited quantities of an elegant Italian Nebbiolo reinforce the family\u2019s old world heritage.<\/p>\n The winery produces about 2,000 cases annually, placing it in the smaller category of Virginia wineries. \u201cWe never wanted to be a big. My father owned a small diner in Westwood, New Jersey. It was a working man\u2019s restaurant and customers had fun eating there. I have wonderful memories of the place.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we opened our winery I wanted the same atmosphere. Guests are welcomed to bring their own food, enjoy a game of bocce ball, walk the vineyards, enjoy the views and take one of our wines home for dinner,\u201d says Bill Gadino.<\/p>\n![\"End](\"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/IMG_4398-150x150.jpg\")
\nUpon retirement from the Navy in 1989 and shifting to defense contracting work, the Gadinos purchased property in Rappahannock County while still living in Fairfax. The weekend commutes to their emerging vineyard began a dozen years of growing grapes for sale to a local winery and for their home use. The leap to professional winemaking began to unfold when they moved permanently to their Little Washington farm in 2002 and then opening Gadino Cellars in 2005.<\/p>\n