Joseph Filippi Winery and Vineyards
by
Kathy Sullivan
Summary: Joseph Filippi Winery and Vineyards was established in 1922. The winery is conveniently located near Ontario International Airport. Wine tastings include many types of wines.
Joseph Filippi Winery and Vineyards has been growing grapes since 1922. Today the fifth generation of the Filippi family is running the winery. The winery is easy to reach located near Interstate -10 and Interstate -15 near Ontario, California.
Tasting Room
The tasting room has a large circular tasting counter made from a humongous redwood tank. This redwood tank had once had a capacity of 30,946 gallons. The wine tasting countertop is made from the redwood tank’s top staves.
Visitors purchase poker chips for the number of wines they wish to taste. The large tasting room has an array of gift items to explore. At the back of the tasting room a museum-type display of wine history provides a view of the past. A vehicle used for wine distribution by the Italian Vineyard Company is also on display.
Numerous gifts are available to browse while tasting wines at the winery. A few gift ideas include gift baskets that can be personalized, pewter bottle stoppers, gourmet food items, jewelry and hand painted stemware.
Winery Tours
Tours are held Wednesday through Sunday at 1:00 pm. These guided tours are complimentary. Our tour was with Matt who has been with the winery for four years. We began with the museum area and discovered that the first wine grapes were planted in Cucamonga in the 1830’s. Later we moved on to the redwood barrel tanks room. According to a handout from the winery, “J. Filippi Winery is home to the largest known collection of historic redwood tanks in California.”
Vineyards
The winery has approximately 80 acres of vineyards spread throughout the Cucamonga Valley with 12 acres onsite. The onsite varietals include Tempranillo, Petite Sirah, Merlot, Sangiovese and Grenache. The grapes for the winery are hand harvested. Warm weather grapes do well in this area of California. The soil in Cucamonga Valley is sandy. The Shoshone word for sandy soil is Cucamonga.
Wines
The Filippi Winery produces 40,000 cases of wine. There is a charge for wine tastings but on Tuesdays tastings are free.
Alicanti Rosato Cucamonga Valley was estate bottled. The cheerful red color adds to the enjoyment of the wine. The aroma and taste were fruity. The finish dries and lingers. Syrah 2007 Cucamonga Valley was a reserve wine. The aroma offered berry and black fruit while the taste had black berry fruit with some earthiness. The finish had mild tannins that yielded to stone and minerals. Suggested pairings included Brie and portobello mushrooms. Mourvedre Cucamonga 2007 was in the artist wine series. This wine was dark red and there were cherry nuances on the aroma and taste. The finish was fruity and earthy with mild tannins. Zinfandel 2008 had red berry fruit on the aroma and taste. There were also stone hints. The finish had medium tannins with fruit yielding to spice.
Creme de la Creme, Cucamonga offered an aroma similar to a Port. This Sherry was sweet with notes of butter and nuts. The finish with nuances of brown sugar and nuts lingers for a long time. Alicante Bouschet Port was a dark ruby color. The aroma had raspberry jam and raisin notes. The taste was smooth with raspberry jam notes. The finish had medium tannins with a jammy finish. Fondanté Ciello Port had a dark purple color with red tones. The wine offered chocolate notes throughout the tasting and lingered on the finish.
Enjoy a visit to Joseph Filippi Winery and Vineyards where you will discover numerous wines to taste and a delightful array of gift products to browse.
Joseph Filippi Winery
12467 Baseline Road
Etiwanda, California 91739
GPS: N34º 07.273’ W117º 31.920’
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