Toasting a Family Legacy
Fortino Winery Celebrates 55 Years
by Crystal Han
In January, Fortino Winery had the honor of celebrating its 55th Anniversary.
It is a special milestone for Gino Fortino, who currently runs the family business. He and his sister, Teri, have spent most of their lives at the winery. They watched their parents, Ernest and Marie, transform the dilapidated vineyard they’ d bought in Gilroy into an idyllic spot reminiscent of Ernest’ s hometown in Calabria, Italy. Gino has worked there full-time since he was 21, and when he had children of his own, he watched them grow up crushing grapes and processing wine the same way he did as a kid. It means a lot to see his family’ s journey and to be able to pass the legacy of traditional winemaking down to the next generation.
But anniversaries are as much about highlighting innovation as they are about tradition. A lot has changed in 55 years.“ When my dad started the winery in 1970, there were only maybe 350 or 400 wineries in California. Now there’ s over 6000,” Gino said. In his father’ s day, wineries could devote most of their time towards their craft and making the best wines. Although that is still an integral part of Fortino Winery today, the focus has had to shift towards business and appealing to the public’ s changing tastes.
Change is a necessary part of life and the Fortinos have always embraced new ideas, encouraging their children to follow their own vision, whether for the winery or for different endeavors. So when Gino took over in 1995, after his parents retired, he had their blessing to diversify the business. With his sister’ s help, he built an outdoor event center, complete with a kitchen and their own wait staff, so that the winery could cater and host special events.
Adapting in this way helped weather the tides in ways the family could never have anticipated, such as when the pandemic hit.“ In our 55 years, I think Covid is one of the biggest challenges we’ ve had to overcome,” Gino said. While most of the other wineries had to remain closed during lockdowns, Fortino Winery was allowed to open early because they could operate as a restaurant. Times were still rough, but they were able to get back on their feet a little easier.
Despite the changes they will continue to face, one thing that will always endure is the strong sense of family togetherness the Fortinos nurture, and the love they put into the business. In the old days, when volunteers came to help pick grapes or bottle wine for them, Marie would cook a huge feast for everyone to show they were all welcome and appreciated. That same spirit is still alive today, with everyone in the family coming to help during events and creating a warm, inviting atmosphere for their visitors. Gino feels that it’ s this spirit that sets them apart from the crowd.“ We really pride ourselves in the hospitality side of things. We try to make sure people feel at home and have a good time when they visit,” he said.
There is something uniquely special about creating something with your own hands and sharing it with the people you care about, and Fortino Winery will continue to share their carefully crafted wines with the community that welcomed them 55 years ago. They invite everyone to come raise a glass at their anniversary dinner, Saturday, September 13th, where Wine Club members will get a discounted price. They also encourage you to keep an eye out on their website, fortinowinery. com, and on Facebook for small events they’ ll be having each quarter.
Here’ s to the past, the present, and to friends and family yet to come!
26 SPRING 2025 Gilroy • Morgan Hill TODAY Magazine: Go. Make history... gmhtoday. com