Gemello winery - scmwine/Wineries GitHub Wiki
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | 2003 El Camino Real, Mountain View, CA |
| Founded | 1933 (Repeal) |
| Founders | John Gemello and Mario Gemello |
| Closed | 1989 |
| Successor | Obester Winery (renamed and moved to Half Moon Bay) |
| Status | Original winery demolished; site is now Gemello Village |
John Gemello was an Italian immigrant vintner from Turin who came to California around 1912. He worked for Paul Masson for several years, learning winemaking from one of the region's most prestigious operations.
In 1933 (immediately following Repeal), John and his 18-year-old son Mario Gemello founded Gemello Winery just south of Rengstorff Avenue on El Camino Real in Mountain View.
The timing—launching immediately at Repeal—demonstrates the family's readiness to resume commercial winemaking as soon as it became legal again.
Gemello Winery operated as a family winery for 56 years:
- 1933-1944: John and Mario Gemello (father and son partnership)
- 1944-1982: Mario Gemello (sole proprietor and master winemaker)
- 1982-1989: Sold to Mario's niece; continued as Gemello Winery
At its peak, the winery produced around 20,000 cases annually.
Gemello Winery purchased grapes from multiple Santa Clara Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains sources:
- Monte Bello Ridge: Cabernet Sauvignon from what is now Ridge Vineyards' Monte Bello Vineyard
- Los Altos, Saratoga, Campbell: Valley vineyards (long since replaced by housing developments)
In 1959, Mario Gemello made the first commercial wine from the Monte Bello vineyard, using grapes from William Short who had replanted the site in the late 1940s.
This 1959 Gemello Monte Bello wine:
- Demonstrated the exceptional quality of the site
- Attracted the attention of the four Stanford engineers who would found Ridge in 1962
- Directly enabled Ridge Vineyards' emergence
The sequence—Short → Gemello → Ridge—is the most under-documented but critical thread in Santa Cruz Mountains wine history.
Mario Gemello retired in 1982 and sold the winery to his niece, who continued operations until 1989.
The winery was then renamed Obester Winery and moved to Half Moon Bay. Although Obester occasionally produced wines under the Gemello label, they were no match for the original family operation.
The original Mountain View winery was demolished and replaced by an apartment and retail complex called Gemello Village.
Many vintages of Gemello are still greatly sought after by collectors, most notably:
- 1970 Cabernet Sauvignon
- 1974 Cabernet Sauvignon (legendary vintage)
- 1968 Cabernet Sauvignon (aged gracefully for 35+ years)
These wines demonstrated mountain Cabernet quality and age-worthiness long before the 1960s revival made mountain wines fashionable.
Gemello Winery represents:
- Italian-American continuity through Prohibition and beyond (1933-1989)
- The "lost middle" period when family wineries preserved viticultural knowledge
- The Monte Bello bridge connecting pioneer viticulture to Ridge Vineyards
- Quality-focused family winemaking in the Santa Clara Valley
Mario Gemello's 1959 Monte Bello wine is the critical missing link in Santa Cruz Mountains wine history:
- 1885: Dr. Osea Perrone establishes original Monte Bello vineyard
- Late 1940s: William Short replants Cabernet Sauvignon
- 1959: Mario Gemello makes first Monte Bello wine (PROOF OF QUALITY)
- 1962: Ridge founders purchase property, inspired by Gemello's wine
- 1969: Paul Draper joins Ridge as winemaker
Without Gemello's 1959 wine demonstrating the site's potential, Ridge Vineyards might never have emerged.
Mario Gemello (1904-1982) exemplifies the continuity figures who sustained California wine between the pioneer era and the modern revival:
- Learned from Paul Masson (pioneer generation)
- Maintained family winery through Depression and WWII
- Proved Monte Bello quality in 1959
- Directly enabled Ridge's founding (1962)
- Served as President of Santa Clara Valley Winegrowers Association
- Mario Gemello (master winemaker, 1904-1982)
- John Gemello (founder, worked for Paul Masson)
- Paul Masson (John Gemello's mentor)
- William Short (Monte Bello replanter)
- Ridge Vineyards
- Monte Bello
- Perrone Ranch
- Mario Gemello obituary (SF Gate)
- SCMWA profile of Sandy Gemello
- Map to original winery location
- Historic Vineyard Society: Monte Bello
- K&L Wine Merchants historical notes
- Silicon Valley Wine Heritage
- Italian-American Wine Families
- Continuity Figures (1930-1960)
- Monte Bello Site Lineage
- Santa Clara Valley AVA
