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ABOUT BLACK HAND CELLARS
It all started with a honeymoon trip through the Russian River
Valley north towards California’s border, Humboldt County. Through
this experience, the focus from being in the fishery business
changed dramatically to the wine business, but with one thing in
common…the desire to produce quality out of God’s green earth. After
returning from this adventure, we continued the journey in a bath
tub in Ventura County with strawberries, making great “drink me now
and don’t call me early tomorrow” strawberry wine! From there we
joined “Cellarmasters” in Woodland Hills, CA and learned the ropes
of making quality wine. Many classes and awards later, we made a
commitment to our passion to produce quality wine for everyone to
enjoy!
The family at Black Hand Cellars is a husband and wife team with a
toddler to keep us awake at night. Our vineyard, Torie Ranch, is
located on the West Side of San Miguel with nearly three acres
planted in the Estrella River and French clones of Syrah. We farm
our vineyard by hand, using the latest vineyard practices to produce
quality grapes for our Syrah. Tom is our winemaker, whose background
includes over seven years experience with the Central Coast’s very
own prestigious wineries, such as Justin, Treana, and Zenaida. Today
Tom is a consulting winemaker along with being a father, husband,
running a vineyard and boutique winery, Black Hand Cellars.
The name, Black Hand Cellars, evolved through many stories from our
great grandmother on the Banish side of the family about how her
husband made great wine… and how the Black Hand Mafia found a liking
to his wine and would seek him out for it. Hence, the name Black
Hand Cellars. From this era we found the stories of our great
grandfather’s experiences interesting. With our identity chosen, we
have enjoyed focusing our theme around the lifestyle of the roaring
20’s along with saluting the stained hands of workers harvesting the
rich, red wine varietals.
Our journey in this industry has only just begun and we look forward
to enjoying it with you each step of the way! |
