Papapietro Perry Winery is built on friendship coupled with a passion for great wine and good food. Ben Papapietro and Bruce Perry met during their careers with the San Francisco Newspaper Agency, publisher of the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner. As their friendship developed, they discovered they both came from families where grandpa’s homemade wine was always on the dinner table and an integral part of daily life.

Another friend from work was a partner in a Sonoma County winery. He invited Ben and later Bruce to help out during harvest. It didn’t take long for Ben and Bruce to be seriously bitten by the winemaking bug.

In 1980, Ben began producing garragista wines and Bruce joined him a few years later. Inspired by a mutual love of classic Burgundies, they produced their first Pinot Noir, securing enough grapes to produce just five gallons of wine. By 1990, Ben and Bruce found consistent vineyard sources for their homemade Pinot Noir and spent the next eight years perfecting their craft.

After years of encouragement from family and friends, in 1998 Ben and Bruce produced their first commercially available wine. Only 75 cases of Pinot Noir marked the launch of Papapietro Perry Winery, but that was all it took for the wine world to sit up and take notice.

Their instincts for sourcing exceptional grapes and skill for crafting extraordinary wine immediately drew critical acclaim, which continues vintage after vintage. But what makes these former garragista winemakers truly happy is sharing their wines with the world and making others smile over a glass of their Pinot Noir or Zinfandel.

Through it all, Ben and Bruce have remained true to their roots and their original philosophies—let the fruit speak for itself, and share the joys of great wine and good food with friends and family.