Grandma Kay is quite opportunistic to choose her gardening window of time. The one hour a day she likely won’t be pestered about what she’s doing in the garden.
Hi Kevin. Art Goodtimes [aka Bontempi] here. My dad Vince and the Gemello's were members of the same church St. Joseph's Mountain View and friends with Fr. Doyle. Their son John and I were good buddies in grammar school (originally where St. Francis is now). He went on to be provost at San Francisco State where I matriculated in 1970. We stay in touch via an annual birthday lunch our 8th Grade class holds for our beloved assistant pastor Fr. John Coleman. Both he and Kay came to the funerals for my dad and for my brother Doug in the last few years. For a while my mom (Blanche Bontempi) and my brother lived on Marich Way near the back entrance to the winery. I have memories of visiting the winery as a young man with John and how nice Kay always was to us. I very much look forward to these chapters and to the final book. Blessings, Art
Thanks Kevin. I look forward to your book and to meeting you. By the way, a Susanne Twight-Anderson asked me on Facebook if the Gemellos might have known her grandfather:
"My grandfather, Edmund H. Twight, was quite active in the winemaking world. I wonder whether they ever crossed paths."
When I asked if he worked in California, she replied:
"Oh, yes! He taught viticulture at U.C. Berkeley. He was born in Marseilles, France in 1873 and died in San Jose, California in 1957. Maybe he was earlier than your friend's relative. He worked for two large commercial horticultural firms in Idaho and published a couple of papers, one the the possibility of grape growing in the Columbia River basin. But he went back to California and in 1911 became the wine maker at Italian Vineyards at Guasti. Prohibition stopped this in 1917 and he moved to Fresno where he spent four years with Sunmaid making various grape by-products. After prohibition he designed and organized the wine production at the new Muscat Cooperative at Kingsburg. He then went to Davisto teach and finally to the Sonoma area. From there he went to the Cresta Blanca Wine Co. at Livermore and the Petri Wine Company at Escalon. During all this time he published a number of papers. This is probably more than you wanted to know but a chance for me to revisit his history!"
Hi Art... Thx for the follow up. I'm not sure, but the California wine industry back then was a small world, so it's very possible. My grandfather was part of the California Wine Institute, a Congressional lobbying arm for the CA industry. Or at least he did a Soviet Union wine tour sponsored by the Institute in the early 1960s. I suspect viticulture professors ran in those circles. We can likely zero in on Edmund's teaching period - most likely in his last 25 years of his life, since most if not all viticulture University programs shut down during Prohibition. UC Davis did for sure. It's likely Berkeley did too. Therefore, Edmund likely taught viticulture sometime between 1934 and 1957. Shutting the program was a big deal, 14-15 years of lost winemaking education is part of why there was a stigma on CA wine in the early decades post-Prohibition (pushed mostly by the European wine industry).
I appreciate you sharing Susanne's insight about her grandfather. That's really fascinating!
Love this!
Thanks Lolly!
Thanks Kristen! I really appreciate it. 😀
Hi Kevin. Art Goodtimes [aka Bontempi] here. My dad Vince and the Gemello's were members of the same church St. Joseph's Mountain View and friends with Fr. Doyle. Their son John and I were good buddies in grammar school (originally where St. Francis is now). He went on to be provost at San Francisco State where I matriculated in 1970. We stay in touch via an annual birthday lunch our 8th Grade class holds for our beloved assistant pastor Fr. John Coleman. Both he and Kay came to the funerals for my dad and for my brother Doug in the last few years. For a while my mom (Blanche Bontempi) and my brother lived on Marich Way near the back entrance to the winery. I have memories of visiting the winery as a young man with John and how nice Kay always was to us. I very much look forward to these chapters and to the final book. Blessings, Art
Thanks Art! I really appreciate it. Your St. Joseph's network seems incredibly special. Not too many can go back six decades. 👏👏👏
Thanks Kevin. I look forward to your book and to meeting you. By the way, a Susanne Twight-Anderson asked me on Facebook if the Gemellos might have known her grandfather:
"My grandfather, Edmund H. Twight, was quite active in the winemaking world. I wonder whether they ever crossed paths."
When I asked if he worked in California, she replied:
"Oh, yes! He taught viticulture at U.C. Berkeley. He was born in Marseilles, France in 1873 and died in San Jose, California in 1957. Maybe he was earlier than your friend's relative. He worked for two large commercial horticultural firms in Idaho and published a couple of papers, one the the possibility of grape growing in the Columbia River basin. But he went back to California and in 1911 became the wine maker at Italian Vineyards at Guasti. Prohibition stopped this in 1917 and he moved to Fresno where he spent four years with Sunmaid making various grape by-products. After prohibition he designed and organized the wine production at the new Muscat Cooperative at Kingsburg. He then went to Davisto teach and finally to the Sonoma area. From there he went to the Cresta Blanca Wine Co. at Livermore and the Petri Wine Company at Escalon. During all this time he published a number of papers. This is probably more than you wanted to know but a chance for me to revisit his history!"
Any idea if there paths crossed?
Hi Art... Thx for the follow up. I'm not sure, but the California wine industry back then was a small world, so it's very possible. My grandfather was part of the California Wine Institute, a Congressional lobbying arm for the CA industry. Or at least he did a Soviet Union wine tour sponsored by the Institute in the early 1960s. I suspect viticulture professors ran in those circles. We can likely zero in on Edmund's teaching period - most likely in his last 25 years of his life, since most if not all viticulture University programs shut down during Prohibition. UC Davis did for sure. It's likely Berkeley did too. Therefore, Edmund likely taught viticulture sometime between 1934 and 1957. Shutting the program was a big deal, 14-15 years of lost winemaking education is part of why there was a stigma on CA wine in the early decades post-Prohibition (pushed mostly by the European wine industry).
I appreciate you sharing Susanne's insight about her grandfather. That's really fascinating!
I just loved this. 🌿🌼 And am delighted to hear that doing so provides Blue Zone advantages. I was in mine today pulling some rain-drenched weeds.
Seeing your grandma gardening in her driveway is a treat for me!