Pound Cake (by Fior di Sole)

A bottle of Pound Cake or Centered gets you not only a tasty and affordable wine but an introduction to one of the largest wineries you have never heard of. Located in the Napa Valley, Fior di Sole (Flower of the Sun” in Italian) is the tenth-largest wine producer in California, but it is also a family-owned operation with roots in the old world. A third generation winemaker of his family’s winery in Northern Italy’s Veneto region, Stefano Migotto and his wife, Valentina Guolo, moved to the Napa Valley in 1997 to seek out new opportunities and build a future. Stefano has said that he was drawn to Napa Valley because it reminded him of Tuscany, describing it as a "blessed place if you want to grow anything…. and the place to be if you want to make great wine.”

Unlike so many others who have chased that dream, the couple did not purchase a vineyard estate or build a traditional winery; instead, they launched a wine services company called Winetech, which imported advanced Italian filtration technology and provided cellar services to other California producers. As a result, they could build connections in the industry and develop a better understanding of the demand for both quality and value among American wine consumers. 

They started Fior di Sole in the mid-2000s, quickly becoming a leader in custom winemaking and private label production. They specialize in offering turnkey solutions—managing everything for their clients, from sourcing and processing grapes from the Napa Valley and across California, through making and blending wines, to bottling and packaging. In addition to producing over 65 retailer-exclusive and client wine brands across all price tiers, from popular to super-premium, Fior di Sole offers a portfolio of their own brands that spans more than 3.5 million cases, or 8 million gallons. Pound Cake, a high-value label, and Centered (super premium) are among these. 

Fior di Sole produces wines of high quality by focusing on efficiency, advanced technology, and sustainability in their operations. For example, they can offer versatile cutting-edge winemaking technology and high-speed bottling through their six state-of-the-art bottling lines, which include a CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) certified facility, to handle various sizes and formats (such as 3L and 5L Bag-in-Box, 3L cubes, and 375ml, 750ml, and 1.5L bottles) and a range of closures (including screwcaps, crown closures, and cork finishes like micro-agglomerated and natural cork). But driving all that are core values relating to passion, authenticity, honesty, and kindness, and a mission to make fine wines by utilizing advanced technology while maintaining the traditions of winemaking in the old-world. 

Claudio Basei

USA

California