Louis Martini Winery St Helena

When he opened his Napa Valley winery in 1933, Louis M. Martini was a colorful, energetic young man who believed that the best wine could only be made from the best grapes. To grow those grapes, he needed the best vineyard land he could find. He found that land in Napa and Sonoma counties. He said “my heart is in Napa, but my soul is in Sonoma,” and he put both heart and soul into his wines.

He had come to the U.S. from Italy as a boy in 1899 to join his father in San Francisco.  In 1906 Louis M. Martini made his first wine and showed great promise as a winemaker.

His father sent him back to Italy to study winemaking, and by 1911 he had returned to California to begin a long and illustrious career as a grape grower and winemaker.