[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 98 (Thursday, June 8, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E794-E795]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING BOB PESTONI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 8, 2017

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Bob 
Pestoni upon the occasion of celebrating 125 years of family winemaking 
in the Napa Valley.
  A native of St. Helena, California, Mr. Pestoni graduated from St. 
Helena High School before attending Napa Valley College and then 
joining the U.S. Army. Mr. Pestoni is the descendant of the Pestino and 
Domingos winemaking families.
  Mr. Pestoni's great-great-grandfather, Albino Pestoni, immigrated to 
Napa Valley from a small village in Switzerland near the Italian border 
in 1892. Ten years later, he, his wife Maria Madonna, and their four 
sons established Bonded Winery 935. One of those sons, Henry, formed a 
vineyard management crew and planted and managed vineyards throughout 
the upper Napa Valley. He learned how soil, sunlight, rootstock, and 
varietal selection could affect fruit quality, and, along with his wife 
Lena, he owned and operated Old Mill Winery from 1933 to 1958.
  Mr. Pestoni and his brother Marvin used their foundation in 
sustainable farming to establish Upper Valley Disposal Service in 1963. 
Paying the same careful attention to the soil as their ancestors did, 
the brothers offered composting as a solution to our local wine 
community's discarded grape skin, pulp, seeds, and stems. Upper Valley 
Disposal and Recycling has been very successful, inspiring our 
community to refer to Mr. Pestoni as the ``King of Compost.''
  After many years of growing winegrapes for other wine producers, Mr. 
Pestoni and his wife, Sylvia, opened the doors of Rutherford Grove 
Winery in 1994. This year, in celebration of their family's 125th 
anniversary of Napa Valley Winemaking, the winery was renamed Pestoni 
Family Estate Winery.
  Mr. Speaker, Bob Pestoni and his family before him have made single 
vineyard, hand-crafted wines for 125 years. They are my friends. I am 
proud that this hardworking man and family do so much for our 
community. It is fitting and proper that we honor them here today.

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