Giovanni Foppiano landed in New York from Genoa in 1855 and headed west chasing the Gold Rush. Mining didn't pan out, so in 1896 he bought an 80-acre farm south of Healdsburg and began supplying bulk wine. The winery survived Prohibition by selling grapes and home winemaking kits (and, in a 1926 federal raid, the loss of 100,000 gallons of bootleg wine dumped into a nearby creek). Louis J. Foppiano, Giovanni's grandson, began bottling wines under the family label after Repeal and, in 1967, introduced what would become Foppiano's signature: an estate Petite Sirah, made when the variety was barely known in California. The 1970 plantings of Petite Sirah remain the heart of the estate.
Estate Petite Sirah, Russian River Valley: the iconic bottling since 1967, from Gianna's Vineyard's 50-plus-year-old vines; inky, velvety, and built to last.
Estate Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley: from the River's Edge block, part of the winery's expanded cool-climate program.
Estate Zinfandel, Russian River Valley: a small-lot red from the family's historic estate plantings.
Estate Chardonnay, Russian River Valley: from Della's block, the oldest spur-pruned planting on the property.
Vermentino: a crisp Italian white newly planted under owner Courtney Benham's estate revamp, alongside the heritage Petite Sirah.
In 2024, after 128 years of Foppiano family ownership, the winery passed to Courtney Benham of CMB Wines (which also owns Martin Ray Vineyards in Santa Rosa and Vina Robles in Paso Robles). Benham has launched a major revamp: a modernized tasting room unveiled in October 2025 after a yearlong makeover, restoration of the long-neglected production facility, and replanting of the 130-acre estate vineyard to modern spacing. Outside, picnic pods with handcrafted cement tables, Fermob chairs from Paris, and Tuuci umbrellas look out over the historic Petite Sirah vines of Gianna's Vineyard. Tastings run $25 to $30, and the tasting room is open Wednesday to Monday on Old Redwood Highway just south of Healdsburg.
