By: Virginie Boone

Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel has always had a stellar reputation and one of the longest-standing reasons is the name Rafanelli.

Rafanelli was among the “R’s” responsible for the revival of dry Zinfandel, in response to the popularity of White Zin. Ridge, Ravenswood and Rosenblum Cellars were the others, many of them devoted to working with historic vines.

But Rafanelli predated the others by decades. A. Rafanelli Winery was founded outside of Healdsburg in the early 1900s by Alberto and Letizia Rafanelli, Italian immigrants, like so many others, in search of a place in their new home to grow grapes and make wine. Letizia Tonneti came from winemaking folk near Lucca and had learned how to prune grapes at a young age. She made it out to America by ship, arriving in Ellis Island at 19, getting to San Francisco by rail, traveling on her own.

The lore is she got by with a pistol in her purse, working in the cigar trade. She met Alberto in North Beach, married and was living in San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake. Alberto found work restoring damaged buildings, including the Fairmont Hotel.

Letizia made wine at home, which led to Sonoma County wine grapes, making trips up to the area by wagon and Model T to buy grapes. This was the beginning of the dream, and they soon moved up to Healdsburg, finding work building houses. The first property they bought didn’t have water and was short-lived. The second piece of land had a barn and a Zinfandel vineyard. It would do, and Letizia took on the farming. They survived Prohibition by selling grapes in San Francisco and wine, brandy and such out the back door.

At the end of Prohibition the Rafanellis were able to get a wholesale license and sell wine to restaurants.

In 1955, their son Americo moved the business to its current location in an old livestock barn on West Dry Creek Road to farm premium Zinfandel grapes. The first commercial release of A. Rafanelli wine came in 1973. In 1984 their Zinfandel won a gold medal at the Harvest Fair. The Rafanelli Cabernet Sauvignons were also highly regarded.

In a 1987 Press Democrat obituary for Americo Rafanelli, his son said that “he loved the vineyards and always claimed that good wines are made in the vineyards. He certainly proved that it doesn’t take university degrees to make good wine – it just takes good grapes.”

Generation three took things further, Americo’s son David earning a UC Davis master’s degree in viticulture and working 15 years at nearby Lambert Bridge. He and wife Patty took over after Americo’s passing with the goal of seeking out more land for growing great grapes, and the wines started to win awards.

David was quoted in a 1989 Press Democrat story again touting the importance of good grapes.

“There’s no hocus-pocus to making good wine, it just takes good fruit. You can screw up and make bad wine from good fruit, but if the quality isn’t there to begin with it will never be a good wine.”

Generation four then enters the picture in the form of Rashell (Shelly) Rafanelli, a graduate of Cal Poly who became head winemaker in 2000 after working alongside her dad. Her husband Craig Fehlman manages the vineyards, while sister Stacy oversees daily operations.

Making it past the century mark, the winery remains true to its roots, producing exceptional Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and a red blend to its loyal followers. Taste a bit of history by visiting A. Rafanelli, by appointment, and listen to more of the story from Shelly Rafanelli herself, here on The Good Stuff on KSRO.

Photo By: A. Rafanelli Winery