Our Story
"Grow the best fruit possible and turn it into the best wine possible with as little interference as possible."
Tanner Vineyards is owned and operated by the Tanner family—Dick and Nanette, Ron and Annie, and their children. Our goal is to produce the wines we love to drink and share with friends: bold, drinkable reds and crisp, smooth whites.
Our handcrafted, estate grown, small production wines come from our 32-acre vineyard in Vallecito, just outside the scenic gold rush town of Murphys, California. The soil is rocky and volcanic, which leads to wines that are concentrated and intense, yet beautifully balanced.
We grow and produce Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Barbera, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Vermentino, Viognier, Rosé and several blends. Our wine is available only through our website, tasting room, wine club and a few local restaurants and markets.
Our roots in winemaking date back to the mid-1800s when our great grandfather Angelo Sciaccaluga - a winemaker by trade - emigrated from Italy and became the first licensed winemaker in Calaveras County, California. Our Carignane blend – Angelo’s Red – was named in his honor. Our signature red blend – Mélange de Mère – was named after our mother, Jacqueline Tanner.
Jacqueline Tanner, circa 1940s
The Story Behind the Labels
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Pioneer
Omund Torgeson came to this area in one of the early waves of pioneers. He was born in Stavanger, in the Kingdom of Norway, and immigrated to the United States in 1855. A tanner by trade, Omund changed his last name to Tanner in a proud effort to acclimate to his new country. He mined for gold at Silver Mountain and acquired property in Murphys. He later delivered mail between Murphys and Dorrington by horse drawn stage. In the winter, the stagecoach could not make the full journey due to the snow, so Omund would finish the delivery by donning skis to complete the trip.
The label on our "Pioneer" blend shows Omund Tanner riding through the Pioneer Tree, or the Tunnel Tree, at what is now Big Trees State Park. We thought this name was fitting for a bold red blend named for an adventurous explorer.
Angelo's Red
Angelo Sciaccaluga immigrated from Genoa, Italy, to Vallecito, California in 1860, and he brought his love and artistry for winemaking with him. He grew grapes and made wine for the local miners and citizens, and was the first in the county on record to pay an alcohol tax. He married Nicoletta Vassalo, another Genoa native, in the late 1870's, and they had seven daughters.
The photograph on our label for "Angelo's Red" depicts Angelo pouring a glass of wine for a Vallecito local. It captures his spirit of hospitality, and it is this warmth that we strive to bring to our tasting room every day as we share the fruits of our labor with you.
Melange de Mere
Our matriarch, (and Angelo's granddaughter) Jacqueline Tanner, was born in 1925. She grew up in Vallecito, and was often alongside her father as he cleared the land where our vineyard now resides. She met her future husband, Norval Tanner, at a dance held at the Springfield Schoolhouse in Columbia. Her marriage to Norval united two of the original pioneer families in the region. Agriculture ran deep through both families, but Jacqueline's passion was always her family. She and Norval raised three children, Dick, Ron, and Judy, in Murphys, and they went on to have eight grandchildren. When our family's current iteration of winemaking began, they commemorated their mother by naming their first vintage "Melange de Mere", which translates to Mother's Blend, for her. So the next time you open a bottle of our flagship wine, raise a glass to toast Jackie.