Carmelo Vineyards: Oasis at an Old Carmel Valley Dude Ranch

October 3, 2025 – Carmelo Vineyards co-owner Tom Albanese made his living in the family concrete business, constructing commercial properties all over Silicon Valley. 

Back when I used to work in Santa Clara and commuted on every freeway in the region, my biggest fear was getting stuck in traffic on 101 behind an Albanese concrete truck. What happens if the driver presses the wrong lever? 

No such worries need trouble you when stepping inside the tasting room at Carmelo Vineyards, an utterly charming transport to the past. Here, relics of a bygone century are brilliantly preserved, from antique sidearms to gorgeous saddle topped bar stools. Albanese along with his wife Patti Nielsen has owned this 30-acre property on Carmel Valley Road, just east of  Holman Ranch, since 2003. They also bought a parcel on the other side of the road with a cabin that they use as their escape valve from Silicon Valley. They live in Los Gatos, where he grew up and went to high school. 

Albanese is a history buff and has created a tableau of the property’s previous life as a working 1920s dude ranch that welcomed both boys and girls to experience the thrill of learning to ride horseback, shoot guns and hunt game. Campers also got to swim in the river on hot summer days.

Albanese has gathered cool old photos and brochures of the Rancho Carmelo property for the history board, showing Chief Red Eagle with one of the ranch’s prized mares, women cleaning pistols, and a map of the area highlighting attractions like Tassajara Hot Springs and Cannery Row. Overnight campouts were part of the experience, and the brochure promised that the Rancho’s high-quality water came directly from the San Clemente dam.   

The entire tasting room is like a Yellowstone set, except the creatures staring down upon you are more far-reaching, including a red stag from Argentina. He’s one handsome dude, unlike the enormous black boar who glowers down from stacked barrels with menacing teeth. 

Tom and Patti host charity events here for various causes, including the Special Olympics, with a photo of John Wayne looking on. Albanese once created a special label for his Carmelo Vineyards 2013 “Showdown” Merlot (made by Georis) that features the silhouettes of his two favorite movie gunfighters, Wayne and Clint Eastwood, in front of The Bucket, a play on The Bloody Bucket, a once a famous saloon just down the road that served as the last stagecoach stop before Cachagua. 

“I always include horseshoes or palms on my labels,” says Albanese. “Palms were a symbol of hospitality, and who doesn’t need a little bit of luck?” 

What is most unique, and seemingly anachronistic to this complete early 20th century immersion is the presence of concrete bollards that provide structure and insulation for the building.  Albanese says these are the very items his company builds for Cal Trans to bolster steep highways, and for construction companies to build garages, retaining walls and so forth. 

One reflects on the importance of concrete in making mountainous roadways like Highway 17 safer and in laying down flat surfaces in cities and towns to create infrastructure. Concrete is actually pretty cool. It’s widely used in making wine, too. 

Being inside this fascinating collection of memorabilia and wild animals is mind-opening, but the view of the 9-acre vineyard planted to Pinot Noir and Syrah that spreads out before you as you sit under one of the porticos Albanese has constructed for outdoor enjoyment, is soul-quenching. One can imagine long afternoons over Ad Astra bread and Jerome’s Market cheeses, sharing a bottle of Carmelo wine and solving the world’s problems, or perhaps escaping from them. 

Vineyard manager Frank Melicia dropped in to say hello and began pouring us some of the 2023 Pinot Noir Rosé made by Russell Joyce—the current Carmelo Vineyards winemaker of record. Nice aromas of strawberry, red grapefruit and flavors of cranberry and grapefruit make this an ideal afternoon sipper. 

We also tasted the 2023 Carmelo Chardonnay Joyce made from Arroyo Seco fruit, done in 75% neutral barrels and the remainder in concrete. 

“Patti and I don’t drink Chardonnay,” Albanese explained. “We prefer Sauv Blanc or Pinot Grigio. We like cool and crisp.” This wine, with its floral aromas of honey suckle and minerality, offers lime and pear, and keeps its cool nicely, finishing on a note of tangelo and guava. 

Talk quickly turned to Carmel Valley wineries and how there was a need to work together with other local businesses to promote the Village as a destination, an effort Michael Kohne (co-owner of Crave Wine Bar in Hollister) had undertaken back when his Mercy Cellars was in town. Kohne and Mark Chesebro were the main drivers back then, along with the late John Boekenoogen. 

Albanese is determined to forge a harmonic coalition, and kicked off the group’s collaboration with the Carmel Valley Uncorked event in September, featuring paella by chef Jerome Viel and wine poured by members of all the current village tasting rooms. Edible Monterey Bay publisher Debby Luhrman attended and declared it a lovely afternoon. 

There’s a lot of work to be done in building a marketing organization, but there’s also more wine to taste, so we moved on to the 2023 Carmelo Estate Pinot Noir, grown in this rocky soil from which Albanese has constructed many a stonewall over 20 years.

“I’ve found all kinds of things out here digging in the dirt,” says AIbanese. “Everything from horseshoes to shell casings, but mostly rocks.” It’s clearly a warm spot, as even in a cool vintage like 2023, this wine expresses ripe strawberry and pomegranate, with a sweet edge of orange peel. The acid, though, carries it. 

Still, says Albanese, reading my mind, “There’s just so much Pinot Noir in this area. We need something that differentiates us.” I suggest Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Meunier: things that make interesting reds as well as rosés. For whites, we talked about Grenache Blanc, Picpoul Blanc and even Verdelho. The couple has been mulling over this varietal conundrum with Joyce, knowing he will steer them right. 

“Russell is a real talent,” says Albanese. “We love working with him.” The couple hired him to make their wines three years ago. 

Patti, who has worked one day a week at the Ruby Hill/Rubino tasting room in Pleasanton since 2011, told me that her favorite of all the current Carmelo Vineyard wines is their estate Syrah. 

Clearly, this is one of Tom’s favorites as well, and as he poured some for my friend Karen, who used to have her own Syrah vineyard in Cachagua, she smiled approvingly. 

One whiff and I knew this was the one. Snappy, peppery and exciting aromatically, it delights with pomegranate, salami, caraway and pumpernickel on the palate, exactly the flavor profile I was expecting from this relatively warm spot. 

Albanese says they are at the crossroads of weather here, being under the influence of both the Pacific Ocean and the Salinas Valley. “Between 3 and 5pm each day,” says Albanese, “the wind really picks up.” This moderates the warm temperatures, making it an ideal spot not only for Syrah, but for olive trees. “Huge crop this year!” Albanese reports. Their olive oil is excellent. 

The couple purchased about 500 Arbequina trees from a former president of the California Olive Oil Association, who apparently sold patents to GM for assembly line robotics, and then retired here to the Carmel Valley. It’s easy to understand why. This place at the crossroads of nostalgia and just enough civilization, it’s pretty close to perfect.

While Carmelo Vineyards is not currently open for tasting, contact Tom at  wineclub@carmelovineyards.com or visit the website and to inquire about setting up a visit. carmelovineyards.com