September 26, 2025 – In the latest Pisoni newsletter, the family announced they had recently celebrated the 100th birthday of matriarch Jane Pisoni, the woman who went out of her way to help her son Gary achieve his dream of planting vines in the Highlands. Today, vines managed by Mark Pisoni, thrive in the very spot where she and her husband Eddie ran cattle and rode horses.
While Gary’s father Eddie didn’t warm to the idea of grapes, Jane encouraged her son to forge ahead. She had a keen handle on the risk/reward part of the experiment, having overseen the finances for Pisoni Farms from the time she and Eddie were married. Before that, at age 17, she began working at Monterey Country Trust and Savings Bank in Gonzales. She kept the Pisoni Farms books, running payroll weekly for the ranch and the row crop operation, for over fifty years.
Did you know that Jane secretly paid for a drilling rig to dig a well for Gary’s vineyard expansion, while she and Eddie were conveniently away on vacation in Vegas? She returned to Vegas this spring to celebrate her 100th at the blackjack table.
Anybody who has been to the Pisoni property in the past, knows that Grandma Jane delighted in welcoming guests, and making, sharing and cooking her famous venison and boar sausage. She’d put on a feast as her grandsons poured wine for guests, sharing stories from her life with a sharp wit and sense of humor. She’d occasionally fact-check as Gary regaled the crowd with his famous tales of grape intrigue, including suitcasing cuttings from the great estates of Burgundy in his underwear to get through customs.
Sabering a magnum of something special was always a highlight, followed by more stories. As the wine flowed, the specter of all night parties, long buried in the annals of my college days, stirred to life. Let’s just say what happens in the cave, stays in the cave. Jane was usually on her way home by then.
On my most recent visit to the Pisoni property, with the Wild Wine Women, no such shenanigans occurred. There was no Gary, no Margarite, no Jane. Instead, Mark Pisoni invited his mom Rosann and her best friend, Carlene Bell, his childhood 6th grade teacher, to join us for lunch and a tour of the property. He was accompanied by special projects manager Jazmin Lopez, who has been with Pisoni Vineyards for 8 years.
It was the first time I’d met Rosann. She grew up in Gonzales, where she and Gary were high school sweethearts. The two went on to San Jose State together, where she majored in business and Gary majored in psychology. She laughed as she recalled how Gary discovered French wines at various wine shops in San Jose, becoming increasingly fond of Burgundy and Bordeaux. It was a thrilling time of discovery. This was followed by his travels abroad, learning all he could and then returning home to Gonzales, convinced the Santa Lucia Highlands could grow wine on par with France. This had already been proven at the Judgement of Paris, with wines from Napa and the Santa Cruz Mountains, so why not Monterey?
After she and Gary divorced, Rosann raised her two young sons, who lived with her in Gonzalez. “He was just a little too crazy for me!” she told me, with a wry smile.The kids always spent time with father Gary in the fields, vineyards and cellar.
At the same time, shepursued her teaching credential and taught 5th grade for 19 years in the Gonzales school system. Winemaker Jeff Pisoni admits it was kind of trippy having his mom as a substitute teacher. I can see why she chose this profession. She’s a thoughtful, calming presence who listens carefully and sizes up the situation like a veteran teacher meeting a new class on the first day of school. And by the way, she makes some of the very best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. She brought a big container of them to share with my wild wine women: generosity and hospitality run in the family.
After toasting our hosts with the punchy and fruit laden 2024 Lucy Rose of Pinot Noir, Mark took us on a walking tour of the vineyard and insectory that Lopez had installed to provide food for bees, birds and beneficial insects. We sat on a picnic table and sampled the instantly crowd-pleasing 2024 Pico Blanco, a blend of Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc, that Mark pulled from his backpack. Pulling us into the vines, he shared in some detail how he and his crew care for the vineyard, touching each vine at least ten times throughout the growing season. They had just dropped a lot of leaves to open the canopy, and they would later drop more as the rather cool season wore on. Attention to detail matters.
After sniffing and marveling at all the wonderful scents in the insectory, fully explained by Lopez, we perched at another view spot, taking in the panoramic expanse of the Salinas Valley on a blue-sky day. Mark poured us the 2023 Lucia Estate Cuvee Chardonnay, remarkable for its lithe texture and bright lemon. We were lucky to taste it, as it appears to no longer be available.
We then hiked back to the fruit orchard, where they are keeping beehives. Lopez had pulled a beautiful comb of dripping honey to enjoy with strawberries and Humboldt Fog goat cheese: most likely the very thing St. Peter feeds to the papacy and the Vatican cardinals upon arrival.
Returning to the gathering table under the arbor, Mark and his crew then grilled up sausages made with Grandma Jane’s recipe, accompanied by a fresh Caesar salad with romaine he had grown and harvested earlier that morning. It was expertly tossed with a dressing made by his wife Quinn, who he met at UC Davis. The couple live with their children on the family farm in Gonzales. She’s another one of those not very visible Pisoni women making life better for all around her.
As we feasted on sausage, salad and bread, Mark kept busy opening bottles: we had a big and thirsty group. The 2024 Lucy Gamay Noir was a big hit for its fruit forward playfulness with a serious soul, as was the stout and fleshy 2022 Soberanes Pinot Noir. The wine that stood out for me that day was a Syrah. Fittingly, it was the 2022 Lucia Syrah from Susan’s Hill, another one of the Pisoni women who fits into the story. Susan is Gary’s sister.
The wine’s amazing depth and captured the rugged spirit of the Pisoni estate in a triumphant and impressive way. In some ways, Syrah seems more like Gary’s personality than does Pinot Noir.
About this time, Rosann broke out her fabulous chocolate chip cookies, and let’s just say, there were none left at the end. Neither was there any wine left in the bottles.
Recently, I tried some additional Lucia wines, and the one that stood out most was the 2023 Lucia Soberanes Chardonnay. Utterly appealing on many levels, it begins with a bouquet of taut fresh ripe white peach and nectarine, along with Meyer lemon pie filling, heady gardenia and pate au choux. On the palate, the fresh lemon curd attacks, with a hint of lime lurking. In the background. Then the burst of white peach and white nectarine hits you like a fresh wave, over and over.
No wonder the 2021 version of this wine was named a “Top 100 Wine of the Year” by Wine Spectator. Pisoni has now been twice so honored by Wine Spectator, the first for his 2011 Lucia Pinot Noir from Garys’ Vineyard. It’s a thrill to be on such a list, and my money is on this wine to make somebody’s Top Ten of the Year.
The other powerhouse new release is the 2023 Lucia Syrah, Soberanes Vineyard, done with 100% whole cluster for 17 months in 40% new French Oak. The color is a striking opaque purple, and everything about this wine is effusive, from the explosive nose of cracked pepper, Worchestershire, salami, tomato bouillon and rosemary, leading to a fascinating interplay of white pepper, violets, tarragon, Asian Five Spice, blueberry and sage on the palate. The pliant and agreeable tannins are simply sensational. This wine entirely restored my faith in Syrah!
Let’s raise a glass, whatever your pleasure, in salute to Jane, to Rosann, to Susan, to Quinn, to Jazmin and to all the women in wine who toil in the background to make their families successful and to build a better life for their children and grandchildren. It feels particularly appropriate to recognize the fundamental life-creating and life-supporting role of women in the world today, where it seems men are bent on annihilating one another in an endless quest for power and plunder.
Can we all just open a bottle of wine and figure it out? I suppose chocolate chip cookies wouldn’t hurt, either.
About the author
Laura Ness is a longtime wine journalist, columnist and judge who contributes regularly to Edible Monterey Bay, Spirited, WineOh.Tv, Los Gatos Magazine and Wine Industry Network, and a variety of consumer publications. Her passion is telling stories about the intriguing characters who inhabit the fascinating world of wine and food.
