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WINERY COUNTRY NEWS | WINE COUNTRY THIS WEEK
’Tis the Season at VJB Cellars
Raise a Glass To Your Loved Ones!
by Abigail P. Zimmerman
Few times of the year speak specifically to our hearts. The time
between Thanksgiving and New Year’s glitters with elements of the soul.
Clearly there’s a reason people sing outside in the cold or wrap brightly
colored presents or cook complicated dishes for gatherings of friends
and family – It is Love.
This time of year, we think back upon years past and look ahead to
our futures. We celebrate good fortune or square our shoulders and look
ahead to better times, for surely they are just around the corner.
We deeply miss our family members and friends long gone. Children
laugh and play. Friends gather for high antics and spirits while lovers
seek moments of tenderness. Holidays are times of unparalleled human
celebration as well as heartfelt reflection.
Family, friends and excellent wine are the cornerstone of VJB Cellars.
This holiday season, Henry and Vittorio Belmonte, son and father
respectively as well as owners, wish to invite you to gather your loved
ones around the fire or the table and lift a glass in honor of each other.
Because nothing is more important than family and dearest friends.
Henry should know. He lost his life-long best friend, his brother,
Victor Joseph Belmonte in September of 2000. Rather than wallow in
devastation, Henry and his family summoned their courage and in late
2000 struck out to build a living tribute to Victor’s love of life, wine and
food – wine label “Victor Joseph Belmonte” or VJB Cellars.
Making wine is a Belmonte family tradition spanning generations
and two continents. Father Vittorio worked alongside his parents and
siblings in the family vineyards in Avolina, Italy, just south of Naples.
Emigrating to the United States, Vittorio and his young bride, Maria,
made their way to Sonoma Valley in 1976 in search of a setting reminiscent
of Avolina’s bucolic hills and rolling vineyards, a setting ideal they
hoped for Henry and Victor’s childhood.
First generation Italian-Americans, Henry and Victor were raised in
a deeply hospitable, family-oriented household full of warmth and good
food. Parents Vittorio and Maria opened wine country favorite and
acclaimed Cafe Portofino and put their boys to good use. From an early
age, the brothers learned to blend their passionate, hedonistic heritage
with the upstart capitalism of their family’s new country.
No one was surprised when Henry and Victor began planning to
build on their love of great wine and create their own label. What started
as a joint venture between two brothers, tragically changed that fall of
2000 when Victor suddenly passed on, leaving Henry to pick up their
torch and carry on alone to create VJB Cellars, one of Sonoma’s premier
boutique wine labels.
24 www.WineCountryThisWeek.com