On October 9, more than 100 guests gathered at the historic Testarossa Winery on the grounds of Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California, for the 137th Blessing of the Grapes. Jesuits purchased this property in 1886 to construct a novitiate where they would house and train the growing number of young men who were joining the order. To finance the operation, they produced sacramental wine, using novices to pick the grapes on the terraced hillside of their property.
The first harvest here was October 11, 1888. The Novitiate Winery operated for 98 years until closing its doors in 1986. Eleven years later, Diana and Rob Jensen, two young Santa Clara graduates, resumed operations, naming the winery Testarossa, a nod to the nickname Rob was given during a college program in Italy, Signore Testarossa—Mr. Redhead.
To commemorate the 125th harvest in 2013, the Jensens invited the Jesuits and staff of Sacred Heart Jesuit Center over for a grape blessing and lunch. The day was such a success that they decided to do it every fall. Always in attendance are Jesuits in their 80s and 90s who had picked grapes decades ago as novices. They now live in the building up the hill, Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, the Jesuits West Province’s health care/retirement community.
This year, Brother Tom Koller, SJ, the last Jesuit director of winemaking for the Novitiate Winery, offered a prayer in recognition of all the many hands who play a role in the winemaking process. Father John Martin, SJ, then blessed the grapes with holy water.
Guests enjoyed an elegant lunch from Bistro 107, the newly opened restaurant at Testarossa, which was named for the U.S. bond number assigned to the winery as a producer of alcohol in 1888. Testarossa, which produces 30,000 cases of world-class Chardonnay and Pinot Noir annually, is open for wine tastings and tours of the 85,000-square-foot winery (the fourth oldest continuously operating in the state) and private events in the building’s old stone cellars, cask rooms and lush patios.
