Passalacqua Winery

Here at Passalacqua, we are proud to be a family owned winery. Our family has been making wine and growing grapes here in California for five generations, and our roots are deep in Dry Creek Valley. We believe that having control and participating in every aspect of our winery, from growing the grapes, to making the wine, to sharing it with our family of customers, is what makes us special. The story of the Passalacqua family in the United States starts in 1865, when Francesco Passalacqua emigrated from Genoa, landing in San Francisco and settling in Healdsburg, where he immediately planted grapes. In 1895 he opened Fitch Mountain Cellars. The original house and one half acre of grapes still stand on Fitch Street in downtown Healdsburg. In 1930, Francesco's widow Rachel purchased the Oliveto Wine Company in downtown Healdsburg, and in 1933 her daughter Edith opened Sonoma County Cellars in the building. Edith was one of the first females to make wine and to own and operate a winery in California after prohibition, and she did so until her retirement in 1958. Aunt Edith's original label design graces each bottle of our Estate Zinfandel. In 1979, third generation Tom Passalacqua and his wife Sandi purchased a 300-acre ranch off Mill Creek Road, at the southern tip of Dry Creek Valley. They planted one-third to Cabernet Sauvignon in 1996. In 2000, their son Jason, inspired by the Cabernet acreage and the families' history, began making wine. The current property on Lambert Bridge Road opened as Passalacqua Winery in 2004, with a Tasting Room showcasing Zinfandel from select vineyards in Dry Creek Valley and Cabernet Sauvignon from the families' TR Passalacqua Vineyard. Jason Passalacqua is proud to continue the family tradition, involving his children, the fifth generation, in the business from an early age. He continues the great tradition of female winemakers in the spirit of his Great Aunt Edith, hiring Jessica Boone Bilbro as winemaker in 2012. We are proud of our wines and excited about the guest experiences we have to offer here at Passalacqua, and we welcome you to visit us in the heart of historic Dry Creek Valley.