Bianchi Winery is a winery in

Paso Robles, California Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for The Pass of Oaks), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River about north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot springs, ...

. The property includes the winery, a tasting room and a vineyard house for guest accommodations, all located among the estate vineyards. Bianchi Winery produces approximately 10,000 cases annually.

History

In 1974, Glenn Bianchi and his father Joseph purchased a winery and vineyard on the banks of the

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River ( ; ) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francis ...

in the Central Valley of California. In January 2000, Glenn purchased of vineyards on the East side of

Paso Robles Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for The Pass of Oaks), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River about north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot springs, ...

to become the new home for Bianchi Winery. He then had the tasting room and wine facility / hospitality center built on the property. Glenn's son Beau Bianchi is President of Sales and Marketing for the winery. Previously, he served as the winery's Vice President of Operations and oversaw human resource decisions and marketing. Winemaker Tom Lane joined Bianchi Winery in April 2005. Throughout his career, Tom has earned several winemaking awards including the Dan Berger Winemaker of the Year in 1997 and Jerry Mead Winemaker of the Year in 1996. With a degree from UC-Davis, Tom began his winemaking career at Navarro Vineyards in 1985, where he produced Alsatian and Bordelaise-style wines. In 1992, he joined

Concannon Vineyard Concannon Vineyard is the second-largest winery in the Livermore Valley of California, producing around 30,000 cases annually. It is well known for its Petite Sirah and Concannon was the first winery to bottle this grape as a varietal wine in 196 ...

as a winemaker and a manager. While at Concannon, Tom helped the winery earn hundreds of accolades, including Wine and Spirits Magazine Winery of the Year in 1995 and 1997.

Wines

Bianchi's Heritage Selection wines each exhibit characteristics of the

terroir (; ; from ''terre'', ) is a French language, French term used to describe the environmental factors that affect a crop's phenotype, including unique environment contexts, farming practices and a crop's specific growth habitat. Collectively, th ...

of Bianchi's ranches. These wines feature estate-grown varietal grapes including

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse ...

, as well as

Zinfandel Zinfandel (also known as Primitivo) is a variety of black-skinned wine grape. The variety is grown in over 10 percent of California vineyards. DNA analysis has revealed that it is genetically equivalent to the Croatian grapes Crljenak Kašt ...

. The Signature Selection wines are made with sourced grapes from select vineyards in Paso Robles and along the Central Coast. Special lots are blended and include a Santa Barbara

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

, Arroyo Grande

Pinot grigio Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine , white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its ...

, Santa Maria

Pinot noir Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

, Paso Robles

Petite Sirah Durif is a variety of red wine grape mainly grown in Australia, California, France, and Israel. Since the end of the 20th century, wineries located in Washington (state), Washington's Yakima River Valley, Maryland, Arizona, Texas, West Virgini ...

and embracing the Bianchi's Italian heritage, a

Sangiovese Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin , "blood of Jove, Jupiter". Sangiovese Grosso, used for traditionally powerful and slow maturing red wines, is primarily grown in the central regions of Italy ...

and

Refosco Refosco is a very old family of dark-skinned grape varieties native to the Venetian zone and neighbouring areas of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Gavi, Trentino, Istria, and Karst Plateau.

References

External links

* {{Cite news , url=http://www.resortsandlodges.com/top-10/2009-09-04/top-10-california-vineyards/bianchi-winery-and-tasting-room.html , title=Bianchi Winery and Tasting Room - Top 10 California Vineyards , publisher=TravelNet Solutions, Inc. , work=ResortsandLodges.com , date=September 4, 2009 , url-status=dead, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100804183706/http://www.resortsandlodges.com/top-10/2009-09-04/top-10-california-vineyards/bianchi-winery-and-tasting-room.html , archive-date=August 4, 2010 Wineries in San Luis Obispo County, California Companies based in San Luis Obispo County, California Buildings and structures in Paso Robles, California Food and drink companies established in 1974 1974 establishments in California