Check out the radio show on The Trail 103.3FM and Fresh 104.5FM. The live stream feed is online at www.trail1033.com where you can click on “Listen Live”. The WineGuyMike™ Radio Show© airs on both radio stations Sunday mornings at 10:00AM MST.
Social Media links;
Today’s Podcast with John Balletto of Balletto Vineyards & Winery http://bit.ly/WineGuyMike2
Last week’s podcast with Yossie Horwitz, Israeli wine expert http://bit.ly/WineGuyMikeShow
NBC Montana Today TV Segment on Easter wines and food pairing; http://www.nbcmontana.com/video/30847522/index.html
YouTube; My YouTube channel of course is WineGuyMike™ or the actual URL link: http://www.youtube.com/user/WineGuyMike?feature=mhum
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Ciao Mambo, “Eat Like You Mean It”, located in Missoula on The Hip Strip. Find them online at www.CiaoMambo.com
Sleep City Missoula www.SleepCity.com
Liquid Planet “Best of Beverage” and a great place to find your holiday wine located in the heart of downtown Missoula.
Georges Distributing in Helena, Montana.
John Balletto is an entrepreneur that never gave up, this is his great American wine story. The Russian River Valley located in Sonoma County is one of best wine producing regions in the US. This is where Balletto Vineyards & Winery produce world class wines.
Balletto was a high school student with great promise. He was a hard working standout track and football athlete with high hopes of a very promising collegiate career. John’s Father succumbed to a very untimely death when John was only 17 years old. The dreams of college ended very quickly for John Balletto but his tenacity and willingness to work hard did not. Like a true entrepreneur he faced the adversity and shifted gears quickly, this is what John Balletto has been so masterful in doing throughout his life.
Facing the reality John went to his Mother who had 5 acres of land and with $200.00 dollars he became a vegetable farmer. This business grew very successfully but the cost of leasing land became prohibitive so he sought out help from his high school counselor, Mr. Pete Barbieri. John purchased his first ranch in Santa Rosa, California. The vegetable business expanded to 700 acres of land and was producing 70 varietals of vegetables, 2 million cases of vegetables a year.
Balletto had become the largest grower north of the Golden Gate Bridge, but in 1994 and 1995 the NAFTA drastically changed the vegetable business. With the floodgates opened to the outside world to import their vegetables into the U.S. it made it next to impossible to sustain meaningful business.
In 1998 three successive El Nino storms decimated successive crops. The vegetable farming business was done but John Balletto was not. He had 35 acres of Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, and Chardonnay, planted on the western hillside of his ranch in Sebastopol, California.
John had a mentor, Mr. Warren Dutton whose families farming history dates back to the 19th Century. Mr. Dutton suggested that John consider getting into the grape growing business and John did just that, and the rest is history.
John is now the largest vineyard owner in Sonoma County and produces wines under the Balletto Vineyards & Winery label. In July 2010, the Balletto Family was honored being awarded the Sonoma County Farm Bureau Farm Family of the Year.
Mother Nature took its cruel El Nino swipe at John but he never gave up. It was a blessing in disguise as the climate of the Russian River Valley provides perfect grape growing conditions, foggy until late morning and then burning off making way for sunny clear blue skies late into the day.
Balletto Vineyards & Winery produce wines that are food friendly, lower in alcohol, high in acidity, complementing food, never overpowering a dish. The price point and quality of Balletto wines makes them a true consumer value.
Balletto Pinot Gris
This pale-straw colored wine opens with musky and exotic fresh fig and floral honey tones. The secondary aromas reveal ripe red apple, melon and lemon. In the mouth, it’s lush and perfectly viscous with a dose of tartness that balances and holds the wine together.
Balletto Chardonnay
This beautiful golden-straw colored wine has lush and heady aromas of honey, cream and mango that nicely compliment its brighter green apple and pear aromas. There is a touch of spice and vanilla from oak ageing and a scent of Meyer lemon that foreshadows the wines crisp acidity.
Balletto Russian River Pinot Noir
This dark, garnet colored Pinot Noir exhibits floral aromas of rose petals intertwined with spice components of ginger, dusty earth and a hint of vanilla. Fruit aromas of raspberry and cassis form the core of the wine, and in the mouth, create a long, delicious finish.
The Balletto wines all receive the WineGuyMike™ Seal of Approval™. This brand delivers one of the top consumer values in wine today, you must try all of the Balletto wines.
You can listen to the show live on the Trail 103.3FM or U 104.5FM. These shows are podcast for your convenience and available on my blog at; www.WineGuyMike.wordpress.com
From my table to yours,
