In 1973, Vincent and Ida Pellegrini converted a 70-acre apple and plum orchard on West Olivet Road in Santa Rosa into one of the first Pinot Noir estates in the Russian River Valley. The foresight it took to plant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir on that ground at that moment — before the Russian River Valley was a recognized AVA, before the appellation had established its reputation — is worth noting. It was a bet on place made by people who understood what the soil and climate could do.
The Pellegrini family’s roots in the California wine trade reach back to the early 1900s, when brothers Nello and Gino arrived from Tuscany and eventually became Sonoma County grape merchants. The second generation expanded into distribution. Robert Pellegrini, the third generation, studied viticulture and enology at UC Davis, spent substantial time in Burgundy and Bordeaux, and today manages Olivet Lane alongside his winery operation in Sonoma.
Olivet Lane has been a source for many of the Russian River Valley’s most significant Pinot Noir producers over the decades. The combination of a well-established estate, a family with deep institutional knowledge of the site, and ground that was recognized as exceptional before the broader market caught up — the kind of grower relationship Williams Selyem was built on.
