Description

Malvasia refers to a group of wine grape varieties historically grown around the Mediterranean, including the island of Madeira. Malvasia Bianca is the most widely planted white wine grape in Italy and Italian immigrants to California wine country, like the Bargetto family, would have been familiar with its versatility and character. This label from the 1940s was used on the Bargetto’s “California Malvasia,” a dry table wine made and bottled at their winery in Soquel, in the Santa Cruz area of California’s Central Coast. Malvasia continues to be grown in California, where it is primarily used in blending.The Bargetto family’s story reflects in many ways the history of Italians in California, with several themes threaded throughout: multiple migrations between Italy and America, opportunity and work in the wine industry, and the importance of family and community. The first Bargettos to arrive in California were Giuseppe (Joseph) and his eldest son Filippo (Philip), who left their ancestral home in Italy’s Piedmont region, in 1890. They settled among other Italians in the winegrowing area around Mountain View, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where they found work at the Casa Delmas Winery. Although Joseph moved back to Italy two years later, Philip remained until 1902, when he returned to Italy to be married. Three years later Philip and his new family arrived back in California, settling first in San Francisco, then, with remarkable prescience, to Mountain View just before the devastating earthquake and fire in 1906.In 1909, back in San Francisco, the Bargettos...

Record Contributed By

National Museum of American History

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution