Plantings Roots, Reaping the Harvest: the Contribution of Italian Immigrants and Their Descendents to the Napa and Sonoma Wine Industry November 9, 2006

'Planting Roots, Reaping the Harvest' traces the contributions made by Italian immigrants and their descendents to the Napa and Sonoma wine industry. The tradition of drinking table wine at home in Italy followed immigrants to the US where the majority of Italians either made homemade wine or purchased it from other families. From these beginnings, many Italians, either by growing grapes, selling grapes or making wine (some did all three) started businesses many of which have been passed down from generation to generation, shaping the California wine industry as people know it today. This is the story of visionaries, pioneers and entrepreneurs whose hard work and dedication helped make of Napa and Sonoma counties the prime wine producing area of the United States.