In 1995, John Pianetta Jr. decided to get back to his farming roots and looked atseveral parcels of land in the Paso Robles area, which along with its beauty, was known for its red winegrape growing conditions.

In 1996, he purchased a 95 acre ranch seven miles north of San Miguel above the Big Sandy river in Indian Valley, just north of the San Luis Obispo/Monterey County line. The ranch is elevated above the river along the eastern slopes of Indian Valley, where it is exposed to the sun in the day and an easy breeze in the afternoons of the growing season. The beautiful views and ideal growing conditions presented this site with the greatest potential for an estate vineyard for Cabernet and Syrah Varietals.

From 1997 to 2001, with the help of Bob Goodwin, John planted 68 acres of Cabernet, Syrah, and Shiraz grapes in 3 phases. With a total of 53 acres of Cabernet, 10 acres of Syrah Noir (a French clone of Syrah) and 5 acres of Shiraz 01, an Australian clone of Syrah. Each clone and rootstock was specifically matched with the soil and weather conditions at Pianetta Vineyards. The two different Syrah clones produce distinctly different flavors of grape which are featured at our winery.
The vines were trained onto a vertical shoot positioning system, which allows the fruit good exposure to the elements as well as ease of farming. The irrigation is on a computer controlled drip system.

Indian Valley-

Indian Valley lies just north of the historic mission town of San Miguel, located just north of Paso Robles, CA.  Mission San Miguel Archangel was founded in 1797, the 16^th of 21 missions of Alta California.  The missionaries named the unique valley after the natives of the area.  The mission in San Miguel still stands today, but is partially closed to the public after sustaining a large amount of damage in the 2003 San Simeon earthquake.  San Miguel enjoyed its heyday during WWI and WWII as a location for the soldiers of Camp Roberts to spend their time away from the base.  

Indian Valley begins just north of San Miguel, crossing the San Luis Obispo/Monterey County line and continues north all the way through San Lucas.  The seasonal creek named “The Big Sandy” forks off the Salinas River and continues up the valley in a north east direction.  In the Spring time, the water dries away and exposes the sandy loam river bottom.  This valley does not get the morning fog and high winds of the Salinas valley, and is exposed to the heat in the summer afternoons making it is a unique addition to the Monterey agricultural area. 

Pianetta Vineyards lies about 2.5 miles north of the San Luis Obispo/Monterey county line, benefiting from the warm weather influences of Paso Robles.