Picchetti Winery

San Jose

The Picchetti Winery, also known as the Picchetti Ranch, is a winery located at 13100 Montebello Rd., Cupertino, California in the Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve. The Picchetti brothers, Secondo and Vincenzo, for whom the ranch was named, were among the earliest settlers to plant grapes on this ridge, which they named "Monte Bello" or "beautiful mountain." This ridge was later to become one of Santa Clara County's important vineyard areas. The complex is composed of seven buildings built between 1880 and 1920, which retain their original design details. Vincenzo and Secondo Picchetti settled on Montebello ridge in 1877 and purchased an initial 160 acres for $1,500. The ranch expanded to 500 acres by 1904. The first house on the property was built around 1882, followed by a larger residence in 1886. Both homes, plus the stone winery, were in the Picchetti family until 1976. The first grapes planted were Zinfandel, Carignane and Petite Sirah. At first, the brothers only sold the grapes to local wineries, but in 1896 they decided to make their own wine, becoming one of the early wineries in California.