The Winemaking
A QUICK OVERVIEW
Bernardo Winery produces wines from locally sourced grapes that suit the San Diego Terroir. From its founding in 1889 to the mid 1980's, Bernardo Winery wine was produced in the main winery building with its gravity-fed concrete fermenters and redwood vats. The wine production was then moved into a more modern configuration housed in the century-old building that once was the tractor barn. The winery today produces wines that are approachable and indicative of our climate and attitude in Southern California while still paying homage to the Old California winemaking styles. Wines are made with low intervention with a specific style in mind.
While our modern winemaking facility isn't open to the public, guests can stroll through the historic antique winemaking facility of yesteryear, located in the winery courtyard. The Rizzo Family made sure to leave the old winery intact for history's sake, while still making wine on the property. There you can see the old ways, using large scale redwood barrels that were built over 130 years ago.
THE EARLY YEARS
From its founding in 1889 up to the early 1970s, Bernardo Winery produced anywhere from 25,000 to 50,000 cases a year from its 350 acres of estate vineyards. After the 1970s, production decreased rapidly, as did the vineyard acreage. There were a lot of reasons why, including water prices rising and draught. In the second half of the 20th century, the public’s taste for fortified and sweet wines waned, and the demand for fine wine increased. Unlike many other older wineries producing gallon jug wines, Bernardo Winery didn’t retool into fine winemaking until the 1990s. The bulk of the vineyard property was sold off to make way for suburbia, and production decreased accordingly.
BERNARDO WINERY TODAY
As the winery transitioned, it shifted its focus toward becoming a historic destination, opening artisan gift shops, cafés, and event spaces in its vintage buildings. In more recent years, a modern winery facility was built inside a repurposed tractor shed just above the old winery building. Today, Bernardo Winery produces 7,500 cases of wine annually, all made from San Diego-grown grapes, continuing its legacy as the region’s oldest operating winery.
