The Picchetti brothers were part of a wave of Italian immigration to the Santa Cruz Mountains in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. While the valley floor below was planted in apricots and prunes, the hillsides above Cupertino and Saratoga attracted winemakers who recognized the potential of the thin, well-drained soils and moderate climate. The Picchettis built their ranch on Montebello Road, establishing vineyards and a winery that would outlast most of their neighbors. The ranch buildings they constructed -- stone cellars, a farmhouse, barn -- still stand, weathered by more than a century of mountain seasons.

The Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve surrounds the winery, managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. Hikers and mountain bikers pass through on their way to Monte Bello Open Space Preserve and beyond. The winery occupies a peculiar position at the boundary between agricultural production and conservation -- grapes grow within sight of trails that lead into protected wilderness. Visitors can taste wine in the old stone building, then walk a few hundred yards into oak woodland where deer browse and red-tailed hawks circle. The combination of working winery and open space preserve makes this one of the most distinctive wine tasting experiences in California.

Monte Bello became one of the Santa Cruz Mountains' premier wine appellations. Ridge Vineyards, located nearby on the same ridge, produces Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon that is among the most celebrated wines in California. But the Picchetti brothers were there first, planting vines and naming the landscape before anyone imagined that wine from these hills would compete with the finest in the world. Their winery endures as both a working agricultural enterprise and a historical landmark, connecting the present-day wine industry to its immigrant roots in the mountains above Silicon Valley.