By: Virginie Boone

The year was 1908 when Michele (sometimes also written as Michael) Saini came from Genova, Italy to San Francisco to work as a garbage man. By 1917 he and his brother-in-law John Cuneo, an apprentice shoemaker, were able to buy a ranch in Dry Creek Valley they called Cuneo & Saini.

Starting out as so many did with crops like prunes, apples and pears, wine grapes eventually followed, as did the purchase of more land in Alexander Valley. John Cuneo’s wife Emilia, who was Saini’s sister, was credited with founding St. John’s Parochial School in Healdsburg in the early 1930s. In addition to being a member of the Dry Creek Farm Bureau, she was a 52-year member of the Young Ladies Institute and charter member of the Italian Catholic Federation; her other brother was Reverend Joseph Saini.

John and Emilia Cuneo had a son named Gene. Back in 1950s Dry Creek Valley, prunes from neighbors’ orchards would be custom dried at the Gene Cuneo dehydrators in the valley.

“I think it’s the best place in the country,” Gene Cuneo, a past director of the Dry Creek Farm Center, told the Press Democrat about Dry Creek Valley in December 1951.

It was reported that Gene operated a 9-car one tunnel dehydrator that could turn out 195 tons of dried prunes in a 34-day season with a five-man crew. Over time they took out prunes on the benchlands and put in grapes.

By the 1970s Gene Cuneo and his cousin Gene Saini, who went by Si, were growing 120 acres of prunes and 90 acres of grapes on Dry Creek Road, growing such grape varieties as French Colombard, Ruby Cabernet, Zinfandel and Carignane, as detailed in a 1970 PD story.

When Gene Cuneo passed away in 2007 at the age of 94, his obit described him as a second-generation rancher and grape grower who was four years old when his parents moved to Dry Creek Valley. He lived there for 89 years. Si died the year before. They were in business together for more than 56 years, following in the footsteps of their own fathers, John Cuneo and Mike Saini.

In addition to supporting many other organizations, Gene Cuneo was part of The Healdsburg Heritage Project, founded in 2005 to honor industry pioneers and the area’s cultural heritage. He was among those honored at its opening event, Enduring Spirit: Ten Lives of Healdsburg.

Gene Cuneo also helped found the California North Coast Grape Growers Association in 1962, representing 800 members across Sonoma County, Napa and Mendocino. For his efforts, he was presented with a California State Senate Certificate of Recognition by Senator Mike Thompson in 1993.

For his part, Si Saini, father to the third-generation’s John Saini and grandfather to fourth-generation Michael and Brian Saini, had lived through the loss of his own brother (also named John) during World War II. In addition to serving in the Navy, he served as a volunteer fire fighter for Geyserville. A plaque commemorates his time as “Asst. Chief Gene (Si) Saini.”

The third generation established Saini Farms, Inc. in 1985, followed by the creation of Saini Vineyards by the fourth generation, Mike and Laura Saini, in partnership with Mike’s parents John and Patti Saini and friend George Christie. Together they launched an estate-grown wine label in 2008, with Julia Iantosca making the wines. A fifth generation is now learning the ropes.

Experience a part of Dry Creek history by visiting Saini Vineyards. Tours are possible by appointment Thursday through Sunday from noon to 4pm, 2507 Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg.