History

John Balletto began farming in 1977 at the tender age of 17. He had just graduated from high school, and, due to the untimely death of his father, gave up what looked like a promising college football career. With the help of his mother, Hazel, John began farming zucchini on her 5 acres in Sebastopol, California. Eventually, John purchased his first ranch in Santa Rosa with the help of former high school counselor and friend, Pete Barbieri. As business grew, he leased more land. With the increasing costs of leased land, John and his wife Terri decided to purchase more land in order to grow vegetables, and to build a new produce facility. This land is where the winery and one of the vineyards is today. With the competition in the vegetable business extremely tough, the Balletto Family began converting their vegetable land to wine grapes. They already had 45 acres of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris vineyards on their home ranch in the hills of western Sebastopol (Russian River Valley Appellation) and felt that in order to stay in the farming business they must make a change. Today, 100 acres of Chardonnay, 60 acres of Pinot Noir and 5 acres of Pinot Gris surround the winery site.

In 2001, the Balletto Family crushed enough Russian River Valley fruit for 391 cases of Chardonnay and 689 cases of Pinot Noir. In 2002, they again crushed small amounts of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and added Pinot Gris from their Russian River Valley Appellation vineyard. For the 2003 vintage, they added Zinfandel from the BCD Farms vineyard in the Russian River Valley. The Ballettos feel fortunate enough to sell the majority of their grapes to other wineries, selecting for themselves small quantities from many different clones and soil types.

The Balletto Winery is located in the southwest area of the Russian River Valley in the middle of the 280-acre Balletto family property. The western edges of the ranch border the Laguna de Santa Rosa vital wetland habitat, a home to many species of birds and animals. The Balletto family felt that the area of land they owned along the Laguna was so beautiful that it should be shared with others. They were able to come to an agreement with Sonoma County's Agriculture Preservation & Open Space District to preserve this land for all those living in the area, and for visitors to our wonderful county! Future visions include a seasonal trail for all to enjoy.

We hope you enjoy the bounty that is Balletto!