As a dentist and mother of four, it may be hard to fathom that Mary Rocca and her physician husband Eric Grigsby ever found time to search for land that would become Rocca Family Vineyards. Their quest took several years, and in 1999 they purchased a 21-acre parcel in Yountville and named it the Grigsby Vineyard. The following year they bought a second parcel in the Coombsville area of the Napa Valley and named it Collineta, Italian for “little hill.”
With the conviction that excellent wines start with excellent vineyards, Rocca Family Vineyards applies meticulous farming practices and minimal intervention to transform its exceptional fruit into wine. Winemaker Paul Colantuoni has been with Rocca for four years and makes it his goal to faithfully express the personality of the two vineyards. “These sites have all of the pieces in place to make world-class wine, so my job is mainly to stand out of the fruit’s way,” he says.
Special Notes
Private tasting by appt, owner on site, corporate events, educational seminars, wine club events, culinary events
Judging from the top awards and accolades Rocca wines routinely receive, their efforts have proven successful. An inaugural release, the 2008 Vespera—an elegant, soft Bordeaux blend—earned a gold medal at the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and a platinum medal at the 2011 Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi. And, according to the editor of Connoisseur’s Guide to California Wine, Charles Olken,“Rocca is rapidly joining the list of wineries most likely to perform.”
Rocca Family Vineyards has recently moved to a new tasting salon located in southern Napa in a historic Victorian home built in the mid-1800s by General Mariano Vallejo. The Rocca team looks forward to receiving visitors to the salon once renovations to the historic house have been completed this summer. The salon provides a charming atmosphere for wine tourers eager to discover the wines that have won so much praise, both here and abroad.