By: Virginie Boone

Sonoma County is well-known for its legacy of Italian families who immigrated to the area around the time of the Gold Rush and beyond. But plenty of other Europeans made their way to Northern California more than a century ago and that includes the Leras family, who are originally from Greece.

Peter Leras first bought property on Woolsey Road in Santa Rosa in 1918, farming the grapes, cows, apples, and prunes on it for many years.

Today, third-generation Nick Leras farms Leras Family Vineyards in the Russian River Valley in Piner soils, not far from the original homestead, which his mother referred to as “God’s Little Acres.” Nick remembers his father having to grow and pick prunes to get through World War II and keep the ranch going.

Nick’s father made wine and Nick learned to blend when he was in high school. The first commercial vineyard was planted by the Leras family in 1978 to mixed reds.

Nick and his wife Vina have nine children and 32 grandchildren. Their son Todd remembers growing up surrounded by pasture, before vineyards were widely planted. He now helps run the vineyard operation alongside his sister’s son Joe, saying family means everything to him as does the family legacy.

Leras’s focus today is on sustainably grown wine grapes, from Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to Pinot Noir. The Pinot was first planted in the early 1990s to five clones, including Beringer Heritage and Pommard. Leras is known for taking meticulous notes in a thick notebook throughout every growing season.

Ben Papapietro and Nick Leras met over a fence while harvesting different vineyards more than two decades ago. Papapietro asked if any of the grapes were available, but they were all sold. Leras managed to get him a bin (about a ton) of grapes, and that was that.

Leras became one of the key sources for Papapietro Perry Pinot Noir. Papapietro Perry gets about 85% of the Pinot grapes, mostly from God’s Little Acres, taking four different clones from the vineyard. The winery likes working particularly with the Pommard for its earthy minerality.

To meet Nick, Vina and Todd Leras and see the ranch, tune into a three-part video series on YouTube about Leras Family Vineyards. And congratulations to the family for farming in Sonoma County for more than a century.

Photo By: Papapietro Perry Winery