The Mirassou story began when Louis Pellier came to California in 1849 and established a nursery in San Jose. He was joined two years later by his brother Pierre, who helped import a large amount of nursery stock from Europe, including many grape varieties. After a few years Pierre went to work for Clement Colombet on his winery in the east bay. Meanwhile Louis purchased over 300 acres in the foothills east of San Jose. Here he planted 150 acres of vineyards and built a winery.
Pierre took over management of the winery in 1861 and on the death of his brother in 1872, took outright ownership. With the untimely death of Pierre's son two years later succession fell to his daughter Henriette. She managed the winery until 1881, when she married Pierre Mirassou. Together they had three sons and two daughters - Peter, John and Herman, Denise and Theresa - before Pierre died in 1889. The following year Henriette married Thomas Casalegno.
At first the Mirassou boys helped Casalegno manage the Pellier Ranch. Then around 1910 Casalegno sold the ranch and moved to Oakdale. The brothers formed a partnership and together purchased around 100 acres on Aborn Road. This was planted with vineyards and a small winery was built to the northwest at Quimby and White (now a strip mall). The brothers also purchased land off Cypress Avenue which became an orchard and a ranch off McLoughlin Road. In 1918 the partnership was dissolved and the brothers split the holdings, with Peter taking the vineyards.
The family continued to grow grapes throughout Prohibition; these were shipped in refrigerated rail cars to home winemakers on the east coast or sold to other local wineries including Cribari. In the mid 1930s Peter Mirassou expressed a desire to retire and hand over to his sons, Edmund and Norbert. They decided to establish a bonded winery and, with their father's support, the winery opened in 1937.
The name changed several times, from Peter L Mirassou Winery to P.L. Mirassou & Sons before finally becoming Mirassou Vineyards. For the first 30 years the winery produced unblended, varietal wine in bulk. They specialised in white wines, growing Riesling, Sylvaner, Semillon, French Colombard and Pinot Blanc. Much of the production went to Paul Masson and Almaden and was made into sparkling wine. They also had some old Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Carignan and Mourvedre vines.
Towards the end of the 1950s the inevitability of development became apparent. The family looked around the state and eventually selected a 270 acre ranch in Salinas. At the same time Paul Masson purchased 800 acres nearby and the two companies worked together developing this new viticultural area. Together the brothers planted over 1,000 acres with ungrafted vines and installed a permanent sprinkler irrigation system, believed to be the first of its kind.
In 1966 Edmund's sons, Daniel, Jim, and Peter Mirassou, formed San Vincente Vineyards and Mirassou Sales. Together they began bottling the Mirassou Vineyard wines and selling them under the family brand. They eventually took over the winery in 1984.
In 2002 Gallo purchased the rights to the Mirassou brand name along with the current inventory, though not the property which remained in a family trust. David Mirassou still works for Gallo, the 6th generation of "America's oldest winemaking family". Brothers Daniel and Peter Mirassou launched a new label called La Rochelle in the old building, but in 2005 they sold the brand to their cousin Steven Kent Mirassou; he wanted to purchase the property too, but the asking price was too high. The La Rochelle wines continue to be made at his Steven Kent winery in Livermore.
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The historic estate is now closed, awaiting redevelopment and economic recovery. A request for access was politely refused. The old winery building is visible from the road but all the equipment has been sold and the unoccupied property has apparently suffered from vandalism. The planned redevelopment includes provisions for the preservation of the main winery building as well as the Mirassou house, built in 1924.
References
History of Santa Clara County by Eugene T. SawyersNorbert C. and Edmund A. Mirassou, "The Evolution of a Santa Clara Valley Winery," an oral history conducted in 1985 by Ruth Teiser, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1986.
Closure of the La Rochelle winery reported on sfgate.com
Obituary of Edmund Mirassou on nytimes.com
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