Owner Rickey Trombetta and winemaker Erica Stancliff are the exceptional mother-daughter duo behind Trombetta Family Wines. Founded in 2010, Trombetta offers limited production, hand harvested Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines from choice Sonoma Coast sites.
Rickey Trombetta was raised in a food centric Italian family surrounded by fellow Sonoma Coast farmers and winemakers. Her appreciation for the sustainable farm to table lifestyle was ingrained in her as the youngest child of Italian immigrants. She helped her father, a master of fruit tree grafter, in the family garden and her mother in the kitchen cooking meals comprised of carefully selected ingredients. While her parents very seldom drank, the happy gatherings of her wine enthusiast neighbors around her family table were instrumental in her passion for food and wine. This passion eventually led Rickey and her husband Roger to home winemaking, classes at their local junior college and U.C. Davis and ultimately the forming of the Trombetta brand. Recently, Rickey acted as President of the Petaluna Gap Wine Growers Alliance and worked to successfully gain TTB accredited AVA status for Petaluna Gap, California.
Erica Stancliff was 10 when Paul Hobbs, a family friend of Rickey and Roger, discovered her naturally gifted palate. She went on to receive her Degree in Enology from California State University Fresno and intern at Vina Cobbs in Mendoza Argentina as well as Rudd, in Napa Valley. Among her numerous accomplishments in the wine industry, she has returned to work with her mom, Rickey and family at the Trombetta Vineyards. Erica notes, “Great wines begin in great vineyards. Each season as I walk the vineyards I realized how our wine exemplifies the intersection of the true potential of Gap’s Crown, our clones and passion for winemaking. As the growing season progresses my constant vigil of walking the rows and monitoring the progress of the vines helps us to determine the perfect moment to harvest our fruit.”
Mother And Daughter Work Together On Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
"Tasting a wine while in the company of one whose livelihood depends on the impressions left by said wine is not always fun. Sometimes you swirl extra long, swish it around for awhile, searching for something nice to say. Sometimes it’s hard to do.
This time it was easy. Trombetta Family Wines CEO Rickey Trombetta Stancliff (on left) was dragged over my way by a publicist friend to pour wines that were made by her daughter, Erica Stancliff. The pressure was really on. If I don't like them, I insult not only her, but her daughter as well. Swirl, swirl, swirl. Swish, swish, swish..."
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- www.nowandzin.com, December 14th 2015
