Wine Heritage: The Story of Italian-American Vintners Book

Mondavi, Martini, Sebastiani, Gallo, Bargetto and Pirelli-Minetti. Who could deny the importance of Italians to the development of America's wine industry? It is little known that Italians have been planting vineyards and making wine in America since the early colonial days when Filippo Mazzei was the vineyard consultant for Thomas Jefferson. Grapes were planted and nurtured in virtually every corner of America where Italians settled. Wine making was as sacrosanct as making bread or pasta. Wine is inseparable from the Italian culture and is loved and revered as the "holy blood of the grape". It is one of the secrets of the healthy Mediterranean life style now preached by health experts.