Testarossa Winery

Testarossa is among the top 10 rated wineries in the San Jose area^[7] and remain one of the oldest operating ones as well. The Silicon Valley Business Journal noted the winery's location as one of the reasons it's been so successful with events, noting its close proximity to Apple's Cupertino location and Cisco's San Jose location.^[8]

Dave Meniketti of the musical group Y&T recently started producing his own label, Meniketti Wines, with Testarossa and together have made a Chardonnay and Pinot Noir released in summer of 2015.

Testarossa wines have been reviewed by the Wine Enthusiast, Wine Spectator, and Robert Parker. The Wine Enthusiast named Testarossa one of the vital Pinot Noir producers of the Santa Lucia Highlands region^[9] and have given them many 90-point scores over the course of the winery's history.^[10] Both the Wine Spectator and Robert Parker have given scores of 90 or higher to multiple of Testarossa's wines.

The facility Testarossa uses was originally created by Jesuits from Santa Clara College. The Sacred Heart Novitiate produced wine from 1888 to 1986, most notably creating a Black Muscat dessert wine that won gold medals multiple times at the California State Fair.^[11] It primarily served as a training center for Jesuit novices who would then later go to Santa Clara College (now Santa Clara University).

"We loved it. It was eight hours of hard manual labor every day. Some of us were city boys — we mowed the lawn, you helped your dad build a fence — but I'd never done that. … They put our whole class, all 25 guys, in the back of the truck, wearing our denim, and drove up into the fields … We'd pick the grapes. It's where we got to know each other. The first hour you'd pick the grapes in silence, while you prayed. … They'd blow a whistle and then you could talk the rest of the day. We took our lunch there, sitting on the vines with views of the Bay Area."

The Novitiates purchased 40 acres (16 ha) of ranch land from Harvey Wilcox in 1886 and used it to grow wine as well as a variety of different fruits and vegetables.^[12] As of 2015^[update], the Novitiate primarily serves as a retirement center for Jesuits^[13] and the Sacred Heart Jesuit Retirement Center houses over 75 Jesuits.

37°12′48″N 121°58′54″W / 37.21346°N 121.98158°W / 37.21346; -121.98158