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the Vine Bev Stenehjem Bev Stenehjem is a local wine enthusiast, author and free- lance writer focused on the wineries of Santa Clara Valley. Bev wrote “The Wineries of Santa Clara Valley,” a historical photo book published by Arcadia Publishing in 2015. Solis Winery A long with being one of Santa Clara Valley’s most popular wineries, Solis Winery is also one of Santa Clara Valley’s most historic, celebrating over 100 years of winemaking. The winery was founded in 1917 by Alfonso Bertero, an Italian immigrant, who became a bootleg- ger during Prohibition. After many years of Bertero family ownership, the winery was sold to David and Valerie Vanni in 1989 who eventually passed the winery into the hands of their sons, Vic and Michael. Solis Winery produces a wide range of award-winning wines and specializes in rich red blends and Italian varietals. Their wildly popular events include Syrah and Sausage, Cigars Under the Stars, and gourmet winemaker dinners. Do you have a degree in winemaking? If not, how did you learn to make wine? I do not but both my brother and I have agricultural degrees from Cal Poly. Michael learned to make wine as an apprentice and then through years of experience. Vic and Michael Vanni How did you and your brother, Michael, decide to split up the responsibilities of running the winery? I was still in my second year of college at Cal Poly where I was studying agriculture business. Upon graduation, the plan was for me to join my family’s cut fl ower business. How has owning a winery with over a 100 years of history behind it, impacted your business? Having such an interesting history as we do gives us a little bit of notoriety and there is some pride in that. I believe that having longevity is important and clearly there is an established quality of our vineyard that has proven resilient over the many years. Did you always know you would take over the family business or did you ever have other aspirations? I never thought I would take over the winery. I was in commercial real estate for thirteen years. It was only in 2007 when my parents decided to retire and sell that my brother, Michael and I decided to take it over. 68 GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN Did you follow the strategic vision that your parents had set out for the winery or did you make any major changes? We’ve slowly been making small changes along the way over the last twelve years. Most of the changes have been aesthetic to enhance the wine tasting experience. We extended the patio and lawn area, added gazebos and remodeled the tasting room to take advantage of the sur- rounding views. But the winemaking has pretty much stayed the same. Your winery offers a diverse selection of red, white, rose and dessert wines, with all of your reds being gold-medal winners. What has been your winemaking philosophy? Michael’s philosophy is that of a minimalist. He tinkers as little as possible with the wine. He believes that if you produce good grapes you can produce good wine. august/september 2019 gmhtoday.com Where were you and what were you doing when your parents purchased Solis Winery in 1989? It was a natural fi t for both of us – Michael makes the wine and I take care of the business side of the winery. It was a natural fi t for both of us. Michael had already been here doing vineyard management and wine making. And with my education and background in fi nance, it was a perfect separation of duties.