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Wednesday's Internet Edition, October 08, 2008.
Barsetti Vineyards taking wines across the world
Local wine makers serve as ambassadors for Lodi Appellation
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Ambassadors for Lodi Appellation wines, Richard Gray and Janis Barsetti Gray of Galt, recently took area wines to pour in Costa Rica. To their surprise, Barsetti wines were named the people’s choice for the event.
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By Rachael Ackerman
Herald Editor
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While California is known internationally as one of the world’s premier wine producers, in the international market, the entire United States enjoys only a meager five percent of the world’s wine export – a situation a local winery aims to change.
Owners of Barsetti Vineyards in Galt, Janis Barsetti Gray and her husband Richard Gray, are no strangers to the land they work or the area they live. Janis was born in Lodi and raised on the family ranch in Galt that would become Barsetti Vineyards, and while Richard spent many years traveling to and from the area employed with United Airlines at the Seattle Tacoma International Airport, it has always been to Galt, and to Janis, that he would return home.
Upon Richard’s retirement from United and Janis’ retirement from the Hertz Corporation in Stockton after over 35 years of service, the couple found themselves living the wine life and loving it. Little did they know that their first steps into the Lodi Wine Appellation would be their first steps on an international adventure to expand the reach of valley wines as far south as the sunny sands of Costa Rica, and as far away east as the challenging markets of China.
But the story starts much earlier for Barsetti Vineyards, and it’s a tale of agriculture evolution for one little plot of land, not too far from the center of Galt, but a universe away from the fast-paced world of the international wine markets of today.
The Barsetti legacy to the land was already a rich and fertile one by the time Janis and Richard took over, with Janis’ grandfather, Gottardo Barsetti, arriving in America as a young man from Switzerland in 1903. By 1912, he was farmer in Herald and, in 1941, Janis’ grandfather joined forces with his grown son, Henry Barsetti, to purchase the original 340 acres of the Barsetti ranch just east of Galt on Cherokee Road. It was then that bare land soon evolved into a working farm and cattle ranch.
“My dad and grandfather bought this property for a whopping $28 per acre,” said Janis. “My dad got into beef and growing crops, alfalfa, corn, wheat, the typical stuff, but he was also the first dairyman to ship milk to the Sego Milk Plant when it opened.”
Janis and her two brothers all attended Galt High School. Janis graduated with the GHS Class of 1968 and went on to college at University of the Pacific. A career change led her to Hertz, and family commitments to her parents and the ranch kept Janis close to home. She and Richard were married in 1980 and led what they called a “normal” life, as normal as it could be with Richard working so far away and Janis continuing to help on the ranch. Janis’ father passed away in 1993, and she spent the next few years caring for her mother who was struggling with Alzheimer’s disease.
The decision was made to convert 117 of the remaining 120 acres of the ranch into a zinfandel vineyard in 1995, a second agriculture evolution for the land the Barsetti family had already dedicated so much of their labor and love into.
“Dad would work the cows during the day and disc at night to pay for the ranch,” recalled Janis. “He really wanted this land and, to date, I still do things the way I think dad would do them, and as long as I am alive, this land will be in agriculture.”
In 1996, the Baresettis went into business with Amrik Dhaliwal, leasing the land for grapes and sharing in the profits. It wasn’t too long into the relationship when the idea of making their own wines was on the minds of Janis and Richard and, in 2001, Barsetti Vineyards became the newest boutique winery in the Lodi Appellation.
It was in 2003 when the first vintage of Zinfandel, Merlot, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio came out of the oak barrels where they had been maturing under the Barsetti Vineyards label, as wines designed by the Barsettis themselves.
From there, it has been a whirlwind of wine shows, wine tastings, and a new winery lifestyle that never failed to keep Richard and Janis on the move and discovering the industry they were now so invested in.
Enter international wine broker and Lodi valley boy Frank Gayaldo, Jr., a small Lodi wine grower himself. Gayaldo discovered a love for Costa Rica while on a vacation. While there, he also discovered that Latin America suffered a serious shortage of American wines, specifically Lodi/Galt wines that he was so fond of.
Very soon, Gayaldo found himself wanting to combine his love of Costa Rica and his love of valley wines. As fortune would have it, a friendly relationship with a Costa Rican lawyer led Gayaldo to serving Lodi wines at the inauguration of two-time Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias in May 2006.
“That event attracted world leaders from all over the Western Hemisphere,” said Gayaldo, “and when it was done, they were attracted to the Lodi Appellation wines.”
Through his business connections, Gayaldo landed an invitation to bring and pour the finest of Lodi and Galt boutique wines to the Expo Vinos Costa Rica, the first-ever major trade show in Costa Rica dedicated to the culture of wine.
Already familiar with Barsetti Vineyards, Gayaldo invited Richard and Janis to travel with him to Costa Rica in October 2007, and the rest, as they say, is history.
“Richard and Janis are ambassadors for the entire Lodi Appellation,” said Gayaldo. “They poured all of the wines we brought, not just their own, and they served as such stellar representatives of the California wines and winemakers it was a natural fit.”
For the three-day show, Richard and Janis poured wine and shared the details of California and American winemaking to many of the 4,000 visitors to the expo.
“We were dressed as Californians, and we had a bright poster of the area and just had so much fun telling the people about the region and about our wines,” said Janis. “Our wines were so well received. We had lines at our tables.”
Little did Richard, Janis or Frank know just how well the wines were being received until a surprise announcement at the end of the expo, naming Barsetti vineyards the people’s choice wine of the entire event.
“They liked it so much it was voted best wine by the public,” said Janis. “We were just having so much fun we didn’t even know they were voting.”
From the sunny sands of Costa Rica and the successes enjoyed there, Richard and Janis were inspired to take an even bigger adventure with Gayaldo and travel all the way around the world to pour and show Lodi/Galt wines to the people of the very tough markets in Hong Kong, China.
Invited to attend the first-ever International Wine Fair to be held in China, Richard and Janis looked at going to China with a little more anticipation. To their shock and amazement, in the three days they poured, more than 18,000 visitors passed thorough the doors of the fair, many of them thirsty for American wines.
“The first two days we spent with trades people telling us about Chinese consumption and what they liked and didn’t like,” said Janis. “The third day was open to the public, and what we found out was how much the trades people thought they knew about Chinese wine desires, and how much they didn’t.”
A familiar feeling came over the Barsetti tables as the people lined up for just a taste of California grapes made into a variety of fine U.S. wines.
“The people of China are ready for our wines, all they had to be was familiar with them,” said Janis. “They loved our wines and, by the third day, we were able to sell wines. We sold out.”
Unfortunately, no matter the desire to have Lodi wines in Costa Rica or in mainland China, high international tariffs and constant politics make steady trade between the nations nearly impossible – so far.
“California needs ambassadors like Richard and Janis who are passionate about their wines and their neighbors’ wines. Let’s let small entrepreneurs do what they do best,” said Gayaldo, “people who are dedicated to getting U.S. agriculture products represented in other nations, who can drive international trade. It will take passionate people like Richard and Janis, pushing everyone’s wines, to change the situation of almost zero representation in the foreign markets.”
For Richard and Janis, it’s just the beginning, or is it the middle of an agriculture rich story that needs to be told worldwide.
“My life was set by my parents as a country life. I have lived the same place my whole life, and that has set my love for agriculture,” said Janis. “There is a lot of room for our products in the world, and I am glad we are getting to be a part of that and have been allowed to get into that market. We don’t know where it will go from here, but we’re confident that, with people like Frank and wines like those produced in Lodi and Galt, we will be able to open some markets and move California wines to the top of the world class wines where they belong.”
Soon, the Barsettis will open their own boutique winery on their Galt property, complete with a crushing station, a tasting room, antiques from around the area, and a wine grape education center – all a part of the plan to move forward with their winery goals and dreams.
“Dad and grandpa would be pleased,” said Janis.
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