Dino's Italian heritage all but ensured a wine and farming way of life, through it wasn't his only calling, at least initially. Prior to officially getting into the "grape game" in 1997, Dino studied at the University of Genoa where he uncorked a passion for the scientific aspects of medicine, which led him first to Switzerland and then the U.S. for his work with virus and infectious disease.

With some "serendipity and luck" (Dino's words) his move to the West Coast coincided with the region's biotechnology boom. Turns out the yeast used in biotechnology is the same type used in wine fermentation. A wine country way of life planted its seeds.