In 2013 when Jon and Leanne married and honeymooned in the Tuscany and Piemonte regions of Italy, they felt so connected to the land and the grape growers of those regions. When they returned home they planned their first vineyard of Nebbiolo grapes on her parents land in El Dorado County. The Nebbiolo grapes were originally grown in the Piemonte region of Northern Italy. When trying to decide on
a name for their vineyard, they thought about how they came to this place in their life. Leanne's great grandfather Tommaso Romano emigrated from Naples in the late 1800's and brought his winemaking skills with him. He made Zinfandel wine in his basement to share with friends and family. The Romano traditions have been passed down through the family and are still celebrated to this day. Leanne and Jon came to this place in their life by-way-of or "Via" the Romano family. Because of this and the land that Leanne's family has provided for this startup, Leanne and Jon decided to name their endeavor Via Romano Vineyards. When they embarked on the journey of being grape growers, they sought the guidance of two of the masters of Italian grape growing and winemaking in the region. Ruggero Mastroserio of Mastroserio Vineyards was so excited to help them find the perfect people to not only make the land plantable, but provide the grapevines and then plant them. They then met Ken Musso of Due Vigne Winery. Not only did Ken help them with everything “Nebbiolo” but he encouraged them to move forward and connected them with all of the right people. After planting in May of 2015, their dream of being vineyard owners grew to that of owning a winery when Jon left his IT career of 28 years to fulfill that dream. In August of 2015, Jon had the opportunity to work with Ruggero during crush and that started the learning process of making wine…good wine!
