Over the years, Papagni has become a very diversified company bent on producing the finest grapes possible for the winemaker, and the consumer. While they guarantee that excellent wine can be produced from their grapes, and fresh grape juice, because for eighty years, their customers, and our own family have been doing just that: making exceptionally complex, quality wines using our grapes.Some of the oldest continuous wineries in the state of California. The Papagni family tradition of growing grapes for winemaking reaches back to Bari, Italy. Family members have passed down the art of grape growing from generation to generation.

The Papagni family have extended the grape growing traditions that started in Italy, to central California in 1912 and now to Madera, California.

The Papagni family dreamed of fine wines made from the San Joaquin Valley so they planted premium grape varieties, combining carefully monitored vineyards with the most modern technical advances in cultivation and irrigation with the ancient traditions that yield the finest of premium wines. Red, white, port and dessert wines.

Producers of the 1st Green Portfolio of Wines from sustainably farmed, certified organic and Biodynamic vineyards. Labels include: Ukiah Cellars, Old River Vintners, Talmage Collection, & Mendocino Farms.

I found this place several years ago and at the time, they only made two wines a rare Charbono and my favorite Sangiovese. Since those days they have now added a Cab to their line up. These wines are very small production and hard to find. The Charbono is a deep ruby red wine with intense complex flavors I think it needs to be decanted for a few hours to get the best of it.

The Sangiovese is just lovely, well balanced and goes great with a bowl of pasta or nice steak.

The whole operation is a great family story and they are most welcoming.
The Shypoke story starts back in 1904, with a fellow named Michael Heitz. Michael was an immigrant from the Alsace region of Germany (now part of France). Arriving in America with his wife, Louise, they started looking for a place to settle down and raise their growing family. In 1904 they found Calistoga and took an interest in a 50-acre parcel just south of town. They situated their home at the base of a wooded hill near a small spring-fed creek, and set about clearing some of the valley floor.