a journey into winemaking

Featured in The Tasting Panel | Jul - Aug 2023

Third-generation winemaker Arianna Spoto launched her eponymous label, Arianna Wines, in 2020.

“When you grow up, you can be anything you want,” my parents told me throughout my childhood. “Just get a college education and you can do anything you dream up.” To me, that meant I could try my luck at being a racecar driver, a movie star’s stunt double, or perhaps a rodeo queen—oh, the things I could imagine!

Upon completion of high school, I was accepted into California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s liberal studies department, which I thought meant “the study of all things.” But once I realized I’d essentially signed up to become a teacher, I considered other entertaining classes to take during the first quarter, including Italian 101 and Junior Rodeo. When I ran the list by my family, my grandfather quipped, “Why not take a winemaking class while you’re at it?”

! should backtrack: I come from an Italian family with a background in agriculture and winemaking. My greatgrandfather, who emigrated from Sicily to the U.S. in 1913, was part of a family of traditional farmers who owned a nursery in Northern California. It wasn’t until my grandfather moved to Davis and started to get to know some of the professors at the local university that our family really got into winemaking: He would travel to the vineyards of Napa Valley, where he’d learn about the business with new friends and source grapes with a handshake and a promise. After harvest, we’d have several tons of beautiful Cabernet Sauvignon grapes just sitting in our garage’s makeshift winery, waiting to be turned into wine.

So, when my grandfather suggested I take a wine class, I was intrigued. While I never really loved making wine with my family, I thought it could be fun, and Cal Poly had a brand-new wine program that was up and coming. With Wine and Viticulture 101, I had set my schedule, and when the first day of class arrived I was dressed and ready, looking my best in jeans, a nice sweater, and flip-flops—aka the Californian tennis shoe. As I looked for Building 17, labeled “the Crops Unit,” my route took me past the university market and the library to the far reaches of the campus. As all of the buildings started to fade into the background, I really hoped I was in the right place as I approached what looked like a tractor barn with faded letters that read “Crops 17.”

While I looked for anything resembling a door, I started to see a few people gathering—all of them much less “dressed up” than I was in cowboy boots and flannel shirts, with pocket-sized notebooks instead of full backpacks. Man, was I overprepared. After waiting several minutes, an older man I assumed was the professor walked in. He too was wearing Levi’s, cowboy boots, and a weathered baseball cap. He announced, “Follow me, everyone, we’re headed to the vineyard”; back outside, we watched the professor as he headed straight for the closest row of thick and leafy vines with small grape clusters dangling below.

With a quick introduction, he began the class, using the vine as a model. I hung on to his every word: The way he talked about the vineyard drew you in and left you wanting more. We picked the leaves off the vine, tasted the grapes, smushed the skins between our fingers, and checked the seeds with our teeth. I had no idea a prerequisite for this class was “must enjoy the outdoors and being slightly sticky,” but the impression of passion our professor left us with at the end of class was palpable.

I rushed back to my dorm and immediately started the process of changing my major to wine and viticulture. While teaching might be a wonderful career path for some, winemaking was my calling. The motto of Cal Poly is “Learn by Doing,” and that’s exactly how I learned that making wine was the dream I had been waiting for all along.

Arianna Spoto is the owner and winemaker of Arianna Wines. She also continues to help with her family’s winery, Spoto Family Wines, and, in her downtime between vintages, sells wine barrels for cooperage Tonnellerie Leroi. For more information, visit arianna.wine.