Ermano Salerno & his wife Rose used to run a pizza place in North Park. After many years, they decided to move up to North County and settle in Ramona, an area which has recently received the designation of the appellation "Ramona Valley." Both of Ermano's grandparents grew grapes in the Calabria area of Italy, so winemaking runs in his blood. However, so does pizza making, as I happily found out when I visited their vineyard last month! They welcomed me in like family, gave me a tour of their beautiful property, and I had fun chatting with them a bit in my pretty rusty Italian. A couple of years ago the Salernos hired Angelo, a former engineer turned winemaker who grew up in Spain, to help them more fully develop their brand. Like most local wineries, they produce a combination of estate wines, varietal wines using grapes purchased from other appellations (and other local vineyards), and blends of all of these sources. Instead of electricity-operated machinery, all of their processes are manual, such as their grape press- a tall wooden barrel with a hydraulic balloon. All of their wines, red and white alike, are aged in 100% French oak barrels.

The Salernos have an impressive variety of wines to choose from (primarily red), ranging from Merlot, Petite Sirah and Pinot Noir to a delightful Muscat Cannelli, a naturally bubbly dessert wine. The winery is currently working on getting their tasting room permit so that they can host tastings and other public events on-site. They have a lovely, huge patio built out in preparation, including an outdoor pizza oven (in addition to many other cooking appliances!), sun umbrellas, heat lamps, and bar tables. In addition to grapes, the Salernos grow citrus, avocados, peaches, fava beans, tomatoes (for homemade sauce, of course!) and a myriad of other fruits and vegetables simply for their own consumption. They have gorgeous rose bushes of different colors marking the ends of many of their vines, making for a very pleasant stroll, along with views of rolling hills from their multi-sloped property. You can read more about them or contact them here.