If you take ‘D’An’ from John D’Andrea, left, and ‘bino’ from Carmine Rubino and combine them, you get D’Anbino Vineyards. The music industry veterans have some wine and jam in their tasting room.
It all began when music industry veterans John D’Andrea and Carmine Rubino were looking for a retreat from Los Angeles for their large extended family.
In talking to their Paso Robles real estate agent about possible properties, the suggestion of a vineyard came up.
With no grape growing or winemaking experience in their background, they were a little apprehensive, but they said the agent assured them, “Don’t worry, it’s really easy!”
Fourteen years later, John and Carmine—cousins who are in their mid-60s—have evolved from growing grapes to making wine and then opening a tasting room under the name D’Anbino Vineyards and Cellar.
The D’Anbino name is a composite of their two last names, and the tasting room is a marriage of wine and music, complete with a stage and dance floor.
“For us when there was wine, there was always music, so it was a natural combination,” explains Carmine’s son, Mike.
To understand the family’s history with music, one simply has to look at the dozens of awards, signed celebrity photos and gold records that adorn the tasting room walls.
Most of the memorabilia that decorates the D’Anbino space was just gathering dust when Mike and his wife, Sharon, decided to go through it.
“It’s just so second nature to them, but I’m all star struck, and I said, ‘You just have to share this with everybody,’ ” Sharon says. “So we’re going through the garage, and we’re finding pictures signed by Rick James, and there’s a picture of John when he was younger with Rachel Welch, and I thought you could spend hours in here just reading all the captions.”
Among the awards is an Emmy for John’s musical composition on “Days Of Our Lives,” and an Emmy for Carmine’s sound editing work on HBO’s “Deadwood.”
The family opened the 2,000-square-foot tasting room next to the Paso Robles train depot in January.
And when they say the family does everything, the family does everything.
Mike and Sharon leave their day jobs in Los Angeles to work every weekend in Paso Robles.
John’s wife, Kathy, is also behind the tasting bar on a regular basis, and with a family that numbers more than two dozen, they plan to have up to 10 of them working next weekend during the Paso Robles Wine Festival.
Beyond staffing the tasting room, Carmine is the lead winemaker, with John and other local winemakers consulting on a regular basis.
The artwork for the amusing wine label that depicts the family band was created by John’s daughter, Laura.
And that band—consisting of Mike on piano, Carmine on base, John on saxophone and a brother-in-law on guitar — performs in the tasting room at least once a month.
Their first vintage was in 2001, and with a current production level of about 2,000 cases a year, they plan to stay small.
Using fruit from their 57 acres of cabernet sauvignon and syrah — Kathy oversees the vineyards—they make the wine at the Sylvester Winery in Paso Robles and appreciate the support they get there.
“Even though we’re very hands on, it’s still great to have other people watching, or just helping when there’s a problem,” Carmine says.
Talking to members of this family, you definitely get the sense that this is all about celebration: celebrating John and Carmine’s past accomplishments, and celebrating the strong ties of wine, music and love that bring the family together.
Although they work extraordinarily hard, they seem to always enjoy it. “It’s grueling, but it’s all stuff we’re passionate about,” Mike explains. “That makes it a lot easier.”
Next weekend will be challenging.
In addition to manning a booth in the park and the tasting room all afternoon for the Saturday Wine Fest tasting, they are hosting “Italian Night” events on Friday and Saturday nights.
In addition to Italian food and D’Anbino wine, the family band will be providing music from 7 to 10 p. m. Tickets are $35 and available on their Web site.
“As a tasting room, we’ve never experienced this, so we don’t know what to expect,” Carmine says. Mike quickly added, “So we’re excited, and scared.”
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