Press Release – 131st Blessing of the Grapes at Historic Winery

LOS GATOS, CA (August 29, 2019) Testarossa Winery, producers of premier California Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, is holding its traditional “Blessing of the Harvest” on Tuesday September 3, 2019 at 12:45pm as the first of this year’s grapes finally make their way to the winery.

Testarossa is proud to carry on the more than a century-old tradition by having a Blessing of the Harvest ceremony at the historic Novitiate Winery,” said Rob Jensen, proprietor of Testarossa Winery. “We look forward to receiving grapes from our select partner vineyards – what we believe to be the best vineyards for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the country.”

Harvest is a bit late this year according to Director of Winemaking Bill Brosseau, “The 2019 vintage consisted of very atypical weather this season with rain nearly every day in February, as well as torrential rain in May during our flowering period.  Consequently, this season with the intense spring precipitation, we are seeing very healthy vines yet diminished  berry sizes and lower yields.”

Reverend Peter Pabst, S.J. who is the Chancellor of Cristo Rey San Jose Jesuit High School,  will be the guest of honor as he blesses the first grapes of the season to arrive at the winery.  This year the Novitiate is celebrating its 131st Anniversary of consecutively making wine at this historic location, which was built by Jesuit novices in 1888 and is the 107th bonded winery in the United States.  Most of those 107 wineries are no longer in operation.

Testarossa currently has more than 200 acres of grapes under contract, the majority of their wines come from vineyards in Monterey, Santa Barbara, and the Santa Cruz Mountains. These first chardonnay grapes come to Testarossa from the Brosseau Vineyard in Monterey County’s Chalone Appellation.  Bill Brosseau has been the winemaker at Testarossa for more than 19 years. The Brosseau Chardonnay, along with the rest of the Testarossa Portfolio of Single Vineyard and Appellation wines, consistently receive outstanding scores from the most prestigious wine critics making it the Country’s Most Outstanding Wine Club (90+ point scores).

About Testarossa

Testarossa Winery is located in the historic Novitiate in downtown Los Gatos and is one of the oldest continuously operating wineries in California. Rob and Diana Jensen started Testarossa in their Silicon Valley garage in 1993 with just twenty-five cases of wine. Today, the winery has grown to national prominence working closely with top winegrowers in the Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Rita Hills, and Santa Cruz Mountains. Testarossa plays host to hundreds of social and corporate events each year including business events, conferences, weddings and private parties. For more information visit Testarossa.com.

Contact: julie@testarossa.com   408.316.4586