OUR STORY: THE JOURNEY OF GIOVANNI
Garibaldi Cellars, a boutique winery, has been a dream in the making for more than 30 years—but the family’s first venture in wine making started with the patriarch of the family Giovanni Garibaldi.
Giovanni Antonio Garibaldi was born in Manchester, England in 1905 to his parents, Giobatta and Esturla, who moved there from Chiavari, Italy. Giobatta and Esturla were ice cream and candy makers who ran a small shop and operated a horse-drawn cart from which they sold their special gelato and candies throughout the streets of Manchester. Giovanni, his parents, and his three siblings, Annie, Lillie, and James, would eventually return to Chiavari, but in 1921 at the age of 16, Giovanni and his father left their homeland to immigrate to the United States with the hope of building a better life for their family, who followed them shortly thereafter.
Giovanni later married Eleonor Casagrande and the two settled in Lodi, California where they raised four boys. He found a love for farming and developed a passion for the intricacies of raising grapes for wine, then spent over 40 years in the vineyards at McKenzie Vineyards in Acampo, California where he worked the fields and tended the vine stock. He never produced his own wine, but the sweat of his brow and his love for cultivating the vine would be instilled within every crop he tended.
Giovanni passed away in 1977, but his memory and belief in hard work and family would live on throughout the generations. His son Albert, who dreamed of following in his father’s footsteps, would eventually honor his father’s legacy. Albert and his wife Patti, with their sons and daughters-in-law, Albert, Josef, Courtney and Breana, started Garibaldi Cellars in 2016. Their first vintage and flagship wine, the 2015 Giovanni Pinot Noir, is dedicated to this very proud man who raised his family and worked hard his entire life.
As a tribute to him and his journey, his passport picture from Chiavari, Italy adorns every bottle. Our family motto, “Vita amoris et familia,” meaning “To life, love, and family,” embodies the life of Giovanni and drives what we do each day. We believe he would be proud of what we have created in his honor and would join us in raising a glass to life, love, and family.