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It’s His Story

At the age of 13, Fred Cline began learning the family hobby of winemaking on his grandparent’s Jacuzzi ranch in Oakley, California. His grandfather, in addition to being a famed inventor of spa and pump motors, was a passionate winemaker who passed his enthusiasm to his grandson. Cline made his first batch of wine using the most rudimentary equipment of the vintner’s trade, including an old hand press and redwood open-top fermenters, when he was just 16 years old. Today he has graduated to more efficient eco-friendly equipment.

The Jacuzzi trek to America started in 1907, when Valeriano and Francesco Jacuzzi, the second- and third-born sons of Giovanni and Teresa Jacuzzi, immigrated to Washington to work on the railroad. The pair made their way to Southern California and, years later, were joined by four other brothers, all of whom went to work in the aviation industry.

In 1911, Giovanni visited his sons in America. Two weeks was enough time to convince him that his sons would not be returning to their native land, and so he returned to Italy with Valeriano to gather up the rest of the family. World War I intervened, and the trip was delayed until the war’s end. During this time, Valeriano met Giuseppina, fell in love and had their first child. The newly formed family, parents, and remaining siblings departed from Italy in 1920.

Soon after their arrival in early 1921, Valeriano started working with his brothers at their Jacuzzi Brothers factory. A tragic crash over Modesto of Jacuzzi’s first enclosed monoplane took several lives, including that of Valeriano’s brother Giocondo. It was then that Giovanni asked his sons to cease making planes. Valeriano moved his family to Northern California to buy a 161-acre farm in Contra Costa County.

During the depression, Valeriano, with help from his older children, planted a portion of the open farm fields with grapes. In 1936 he received a license to make wine for home consumption, which limited him to 200 gallons or 84 cases of wine. The vineyard was planted to zinfandel, carignan, and mourvèdre, and he was able to sell grapes for $30-$35 per ton.

In 1937 Valeriano returned to work with his brothers at Jacuzzi Brothers, Inc. in Berkeley, Ca. There they manufactured water well pumps, and eventually the bath and spa that bear their name.

Fred began producing wine under the Jacuzzi label in 1994. But it was another 13 years before he was able to fulfill the Jacuzzi family’s vision of “The American Dream” with the grand opening of Jacuzzi Family Vineyards on July 3, 2007.

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