Long before Paso
Robles became “wine country,” there were only three wineries in the area:
York
Mountain,
Pesenti and Rotta.
The original
Rotta estate was founded in 1856 by Adolph Siot. He ran a successful operation
for 52 years, then sold the winery to Joe Rotta.
After
Prohibition, Joe’s brother Clement carried on, and the Rotta Winery became
known for its hearty Zinfandels.
Today, the Rotta
label is being lovingly revived by one of the brothers’ grandsons, Michael
Giubbini, who painted the redwood Rotta Winery sign when he was 10 years old.
In 1990, when not
working as a fire captain for the California Department of Forestry, he
undertook the task of replanting the old family vineyard.
The first several
harvests saw most of the fruit go to nearby Castoro Cellars, which bottled a “Giubbini Vineyard” designated Zinfandel.
These days, most
of the estate-grown grapes are used to make Rotta wines, and Giubbini also
purchases small lots of fruit from neighboring vineyards.
