A True Family Affair

Family-owned and operated. It’s a marketing catch phrase we hear often enough, tossed around as it is with such seeming abandon by advertising agencies for everything from mom-and-pop shops to S.C. Johnson. (I bet at least 68% of you subconsciously filled in “a family company” after reading S.C. Johnson, didn’t you? Yes, it’s that pervasive. But I digress, and that’s a subject for another blog post.)

When we say that Basignani is a family vineyard, we truly mean it.

In fact, I’m one of very few interlopers on the premises. My first day in the small, pleasantly cluttered office above the tasting room, I met not only Bert and Lynne, but also their daughter Marisa and later her husband Griffin. My next day in the office, I met Elena and Ben, Lynne and Bert’s other daughter and son-in-law. Actually, the only adult members of the family I’ve yet to meet are Erik and Lawrence. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.

And it’s not what you’re thinking—Marisa and Griffin and Elena and Ben didn’t just stop by to check out the new foster kid. Each of them is intimately involved with some aspect of running the winery, whether in the fields or handling the business side of the operation. Meeting me was just a bonus (or, at least, I’d like to think so!).

There are a few other family members at Basignani that definitely deserve mention, even if they are of the four-legged variety. Most afternoons the Basignani Border Collies can be found outside the tasting room, or even up in the office, laying patiently (or sometimes not so patiently) at our feet in anticipation of a couple pats on the head.

You’ve probably noticed by now that I’ve left out a few very important members of the family: the wines. But as I’m still not well versed in tasting and describing wines, I think you’ll appreciate my restraint as much as Lynne and Bert in not attempting to tackle the list just yet. I will, however, share with you a few general wine facts that I’ve discovered over the past few weeks, beginning in the next post with the difference between red and white (it’s not as clear as you might think) and why wine might be considered an…acquired taste.