Gilroy
– At the brink of fall each year, when the air gets a little
crisper and the heat begins to ebb, the Masoni family holds their
annual family get-together.
Unlike many other families, though, the Masonis’ gathering is
not an elaborate dinner or organized party.
Gilroy – At the brink of fall each year, when the air gets a little crisper and the heat begins to ebb, the Masoni family holds their annual family get-together.
Unlike many other families, though, the Masonis’ gathering is not an elaborate dinner or organized party. Instead, the Masonis put on their overalls, wide-brimmed hats and gloves, and they head outside to their 2.5-acre backyard vineyard. For three days, they gather their harvest and enjoy the friendly bantering and sibling rivalry typical of any family.
“It’s our annual family reunion, whether we like it or not,” joked Clorinda Masoni, granddaughter of Masoni Vineyards’ original owner, Salvatore Masoni Sr. “But the best part, I’d say, is getting to see everyone. We have a good time out here.”
The 85-year-old vineyard, owned by brothers Richard, Salvatore Jr. and Richard Masoni, lies just east of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Thomas Road. It once encompassed 12 acres and made up about one-third of a nearly 30-acre ranch blanketing where Santa Teresa is now. The land also supported a walnut grove.
The property first entered the Masoni family in 1950, when it was purchased by Masoni Sr. When he died in 1960, his son, Richard Masoni, took over, and then passed his agricultural know-how to his daughter, Clorinda Masoni.
“I remember riding around with my dad in his truck when I was little, to hand-water the walnut groves,” Clorinda Masoni said. “I have a lot of memories of that sort of thing.”
Construction of Santa Teresa trisected the ranch in the early 1970s, and the property shrunk again about a decade later to accommodate Gilroy Presbyterian Church, just east of Santa Teresa. Although the vineyard’s acreage and production has lessened considerably, the Masonis said they don’t hold a grudge.
“It’s less we have to pick,” Clorinda Masoni said jokingly. “We’re not against progress. We expected that to happen, and we know it’ll probably happen again. That’s just how it goes.”
Even so, Clorinda Masoni said, they’d like to hold on to their current property, which includes a roughly three-acre walnut grove that still sits west of Santa Teresa. Because the land has been in the Masoni family so long, she said, it’s similar to a family heirloom with its priceless value.
When the vineyard was larger, the Masonis sold their grapes to San Martin Vineyards and also to Mirassou Winery in San Jose. But when Masoni Vineyards became smaller, the family decided to sell more locally to Fortino Winery, which they still do today.
Although gathering the grapes is fun, the Masonis said they don’t particularly look forward to dusting the vineyard, which takes place four or five times per year.
“That’s one of the worst parts of the whole thing, because the sulfur gets on your skin and itches like crazy,” Clorinda Masoni said. “But you have to do it.”
The organically farmed vineyard yields about three to four tons of grapes and is not irrigated – it’s “sky-farmed,” Richard Masoni said. The fierce heat of the past few weeks left the grapes relatively unharmed, but harvest time this year came not a moment too soon: A few more days of 100-degree-plus temperatures might have wilted the crop, and “we’d be picking raisins instead of grapes,” Richard Masoni said.
Although varying schedules determine which members of the Masoni family come to help pick grapes, Clorinda Masoni said some years as many as 15 people show up. This year, harvesters included Richard, Clorinda, Clorinda’s two children, and Clorinda’s sister and her two children. The group picks grapes for about three days, starting at 7am and ending around 1pm each day.
“Teaching the value of hard work is important,” said Richard Masoni. “Nothing about it is easy. It’s a good thing for these kids to learn.”
