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THE
FOPPIANO LEGACY : Passing the Torch |
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It has been
said that obsessions can come in many shapes and sizes. For the Foppiano
Family the true obsession has been wine and the love of the land.
This great obsession is now being passed to the Fifth Generation.
Arriving from Genoa, Italy in 1855 it wasn’t until 1896, after moving
to Healdsburg in 1864, that Giovanni Foppiano, an Italian immigrant,
purchased a working winery known as "Riverside Farm" in Healdsburg,
Sonoma County. It would become an important supplier of bulk wine
to Northern California customers. Louis A. Foppiano born in 1877,
the first of ten, joined the business at age 19, but soon found out
that any business, family or not, can be full of challenges. One major
challenge was his disagreement with his father Giovanni on the direction
of the business. Giovanni threatened to sell the winery, while Louis
A secretly secured loans from his wife’s family to buy it. Representing
the second generation, Louis A. took control of the winery. Father
and son were no longer talking until just about Giovanni’s death.
It was at this time that Louis A. and Mathilda, his wife, grew the
winery making the Foppiano name among the most prominent in Healdsburg.
Louis J., the third generation, was born in 1910. Unfortunately, another
challenge would face them when Prohibition took effect in 1919. During
this time, the family was forced to rely on other sources of income
farming prunes, apples as well as pears. Whether this caused undue
stress and turmoil on Louis A., he passed away at the young age of
48. It was also during prohibition that federal agents raided the
winery dumping approximately 100,000 gallons of wine into a nearby
creek. Taking advantage of the situation, the creek was one of the
most popular in town.
In 1932 and at age 22, Louis J. along with his mother Mathilda began
rebuilding the family winery. Finished in 1937, they had built one
of the firsts Sonoma wineries to bottle wine under their own label.
Louis J. would also become friends with most of the California winery
owners while building the Foppiano Winery into becoming the second
largest bottling distributor from 1939 through 1945. They had an annual
production of 700 to 800,000 gallons. At age 36, Louis J. married
Della Bastoni producing one of their first non-grape products: Louis
M., the current general manager representing the fourth generation
of Foppiano’s. Rod and Susan Foppiano would soon follow over the next
few years keeping the family legacy alive. It wasn’t until 1966 that
the Foppiano family converted the fruit trees on the ranch and replaced
them with Varietal grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon. The first varietal
vintage was bottled in 1969. At age 23, Louis M. joined the family
business after graduating from the University of San Francisco with
a business degree. Rod Foppiano joined the business in 1972 only for
his life to be cut short at age 36.
From 1972 to the present day, Foppiano has become one of the premier
wineries in the Northern California area. Foppiano now ships wine
to 42 states while expanding overseas to Europe and Asia. Louis M.
and Susan Foppiano Valera, the fourth generation, who currently run
the winery (Dad, Louis J. will turn 90 this year) see many challenges
regarding the succession and the transition to the fifth generation.
Although the ranch and business has been divided up through various
estate planning techniques, they know it will get more complicated
when estate taxes will have to be dealt with along with communicating
the right message to the next generation. Both Susan and Louis M.
see issues such as respect, communication, knowledge, rivalry and
compensation that will need to be addressed over the next few years.
They both realize that issues should be addressed now and not when
they are both gone.
In 1996 Foppiano celebrated 100 years of wine making. We salute the
vision of this family. Louis J.’s tenacity at a very young age to
rebuild this winery after prohibition and for Louis M. and Susan to
see that many more challenges will come their way which they are willing
to face head on. Louis J. will continue to work, "because there are
always vines to tend." And besides, what a better legacy to leave
to Paul, James and Joseph, the fifth generation, than 100 years of
history, a fine family name, great wines and a true love of the land?
We at the University of San Francisco thank the Foppiano family for
their sharing this story with us. Here’s to the next 100 years. There
is nothing wrong with a good obsession. |
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