Pessagno Winery: Salinas Valley Gem

Salinas, CA -- I’m always enchanted when I discover a new part of California.  So when my college roommate whom I’ve known for 30 years said, “I’m taking you on the River Road Wine Trail in the Salinas Valley—John Steinbeck country,” I happily agreed to go.  The spring day was 68 degrees as we drove by agricultural fields that stretched for miles.  Farmworkers were harvesting broccoli and cauliflower in front of a stunning backdrop of the low-lying Santa Lucia Mountains. It looked like our fairy godmother had sprinkled ice plant blooms with a wand, just in time for us to gasp at the display of vibrant pink and purple blossoms.

We spent the afternoon at PessagnoWinery where owner Steve Pessagno joined us for a glass of wine, engaging us in conversation ranging from the benefits of owning a winery, “great lifestyle, good friends, wonderful wines,” to the downside of abundance, “it’s a challenge to maintain a slim waistline,” to the way of the universe. 

I said we were made of the same stuff as the stars—carbon atoms.  He of course knew better.  After all, to be a winemaker of his caliber he understood chemistry.  He corrected me with some gobbledygook about the alchemical process of transformation that involved helium, hydrogen and free neutrons that even now I can’t recall.  Still, we were in agreement.  We are the universe and the universe is us.  Cheers!