PLACE: Delicato Family Winery
LOCATION: 12001 S. Highway 99, Manteca
BUSINESS HOURS: 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
HOW TO GET THERE: From Manteca, go north along Highway 99 frontage road past Lathrop Road. From the freeway, take the French Camp Road exit, turn left, and make another left turn on to the frontage road.
INFORMATION: Call 209-824-3510 or log on to www.dfvtastingroom.com
Imagine receiving a personalized gift basket that included your favorite bottle of wine.
Delicato Family Winery can offer just that and more.
“Wine makes a fantastic Christmas gift,” said Amy Krauhs, who is a tasting hostess at the family-owned Manteca winery at 12001 S. Highway 99.
Come this time of year, the Delicato Tasting Room becomes a winter wonderland of sorts with Christmas trees and decorations. In mid-November, the winery will host its annual holiday open house to kick off the Yuletide.
According to Krauhs, Delicato can furnish either a basket or crate to help create the gift for that someone special. For example, customers can purchase wine glasses, special cheeses and other gourmet food items along with assorted holiday knickknacks at the winery. They can also bring in such items from the outside.
“Our charge would be for the basket and labor,” she said.
But first off is the bottle of wine.
What better way to find that perfect blend but to visit the Tasting Room, open daily from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Karen Workman did just that last Wednesday, stopping by to sample several of the wine choices, including those with the Gnarly Head, Irony, Domino, and Brazin labels.
Tasting is complimentary.
Delicato has over 100 different wines, but not all are available for sampling. The Tasting Room rotates the bottles regularly.
Workman found the Gnarly Head Pinot Noir much to her liking.
The DVW portfolio also includes Twisted wines, Napa Valley wines, 337 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon, Delicato Vineyard wines, Loredona wines, Beta Box and some special limited release wines not available elsewhere.
Gnarly Head recently put out an Authentic White wine, said Krauhs, who has been working for Delicato for 11 years.
“We also do a lot of shipping (of wine bottles) during this time of year,” she added.
DFW has a history of over 80 years of California winemaking and winegrowing. Founded in 1924, Gaspare Indelicato brought his knowledge of growing wine grapes passed on to him by his forefathers from his small village in Italy to the business.
It became a wine-making business only after Prohibition was repealed in 1935.
Delicato has certainly grown over the years, going from 3,451 gallons produced for its first vintage – the wine was sold locally back then – to 52 million gallons annually with international distribution.
— VINCE REMBULAT
209 staff reporter
