Bargetto Winery

About the winery

Bargetto Winery is a family winery on Soquel Creek, in the town of Soquel. Brothers Phillip and John Bargetto, from Castelnuovo Don Bosco in Piedmont, moved onto the Soquel property in 1917 and started a wholesale wine business there when Prohibition ended in December 1933². The winery dates itself from 1933. The family's California story is older: Phillip first came over with his father Giuseppe in 1890 and worked at Casa Delmas Winery in Mountain View², and a 2001 Bargetto press release spoke of a family winemaking tradition in the Santa Cruz Mountains going back to 1890⁵.

John's son Lawrence ran the winery from 1964 until his death in 1982². He brought in stainless-steel fermentation and oak barrel aging, added Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay and Riesling, and opened a tasting room on Cannery Row in Monterey². He also started Chaucer's, the line of fruit wines and honey mead⁴, which continues today as Chaucer's Cellars, a division of the winery³.

The third generation, siblings Martin, Loretta and John Bargetto, run the winery now². In 1991 John and his mother Beverly started Regan Vineyards on a 50-acre hilltop in Corralitos, first planted in 1992². Its Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Pinot Grigio go into the estate wines², and its Italian varieties into La Vita, a blend first made from the 1997 vintage⁵. Bargetto describes itself as the oldest continuously operating winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and the winery and Regan Vineyards have been certified sustainable by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance since 2017².

Recipes from Bargetto

• Sauce, marinade or dressing

  Apricot Wine Marinade and Baste

  First shared on Web Winery in 2000.

• Soup or stew

  Beef Stew in Cabernet Sauvignon

  First shared on Web Winery in 2002. The full recipe is on bargetto.com.

• Side dish

  Braised Red Cabbage with Carignane

  First shared on Web Winery in 2002.

• Pasta

  Bright Fresh Green and Creamy Pasta

  First shared on Web Winery in 2001.

• Appetizer

  Ceviche with Bay Scallops

  First shared on Web Winery in 2003.

• Sauce, marinade or dressing

  Chaucer's Mead Fruit Dressing

  First shared on Web Winery in 1999. The full recipe is on bargetto.com.

All 42 recipes from Bargetto

In the press

• Santa Cruz Sentinel, February 14, 2001, “A woman's place is in the wine-making business”, by June Smith

  Press archive entry Wayback Machine copy

• San Francisco Chronicle, October 16, 2002, “Bargetto Winery”, by Lynne Char Bennett

  Press archive entry Wayback Machine copy

Nearby in Santa Cruz Mountains

• Soquel Vineyards SoquelOpen
• Crescini Wines SoquelNo longer trading
• Devlin Wine Cellars SoquelNo longer trading
• Aptos Vineyard AptosOpen