Simi Winery
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Simi Winery is a winery in California in the United States.


History

The winery was founded in
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
in 1876 by two
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
brothers, Giuseppe and Pietro Simi, who had immigrated to the United States during the
California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
. They moved operations to
Healdsburg, California Healdsburg is a city located in Sonoma County, in California's Wine Country. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 11,254. Owing to its three most important wine-producing regions (the Russian River, Dry Creek, and Alexander Valley ...
in 1881, paying $2,250 in gold coins to buy a winery on Front Street. The winery was run by Giuseppe Simi's daughter, Isabelle Simi, beginning 1904. After marrying a local banker, Isabelle continued to make wine during
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
from 1920 until 1933, which she stored in the winery's stone cellars. One of the few California wineries to survive Prohibition, Simi was forced to sell most of its vineyards to survive, but was also one of the few companies to have wine available when sales were again legal. Simi opened its first
tasting room Dégustation is the careful, appreciative tasting of various food, focusing on the gustatory system, the senses, high culinary art and good company. Dégustation is more likely to involve sampling small portions of all of a chef's signature dishe ...
in 1934. Isabel Simi sold the winery to grower Russell Green in 1970 but continued working there. In 1973 Maryann Graf, the first woman to graduate from an American university with a degree in
oenology Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...
, joined Simi. In 1979 winemaking was taken over by
Zelma Long Zelma R. Long (born 1945) is an American enologist and vintner. She is considered to be one of the female pioneers in California wine, and was the first woman to assume senior management of a Californian winery, Simi Winery, of which she was presi ...
, one of California's most prominent winemakers, who modernized and brought the winery to national prominence. The winery was sold in 1981 to Moët-Hennessy, which in turn became part of LVMH Moët Hennessy. Beginning 1982 the winery began to re-acquire its own vineyards. Long, who continued after the Hennessy sale, eventually became President and CEO. LVMH sold the winery for approximately US$50 million in 1999 to Canandaigua Brands, a division of
Constellation Brands Constellation Brands, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, is an American producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits. Constellation is the largest beer import company in the US, measured by sales, and has the third-largest market share (7.4 percen ...
. It is now owned by Icon Estates, Constellation's luxury wine subsidiary.


Production

Simi owns of vineyards in
Alexander Valley The Alexander Valley (Wappo: Unutsawaholmanoma, "Toyon Bush Berry Place") is a Californian American Viticultural Area (AVA) just north of Healdsburg in Sonoma County. It is home to many wineries and vineyards, as well as the city of Cloverdale. ...
, planted in
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
varietal wines, and the "Goldfields Vineyard" in
Russian River Valley The Russian River (Southern Pomo language, Southern Pomo: ''Ashokawna'', es, Río Ruso) is a southward-flowing river that drains of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma and Mendocino County, California, Mendocino counties in Northern California. ...
, planted to
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 French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...
clones.


See also

*
California wine California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. I ...
*
Sonoma County wine Sonoma County wine is wine made in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. County names in the United States automatically qualify as legal appellations of origin for wine produced from grapes grown in that county and do not require regi ...


References

{{coord, 38.64413, N, 122.87239, W, display=title Healdsburg, California History of Sonoma County, California Wineries in Sonoma County 1876 establishments in California