History
Jean Auguste Besson, a French immigrant, settled in Gilroy and the family has farmed this ground ever since. His grandson George Besson Jr. worked it for more than forty years. Denise Besson and James Fahey are the current stewards and launched the family's own label, Besson Family Vineyards, in 2017. The Historic Vineyard Society registers the site.
The Site
On Hecker Pass Road in Gilroy, Santa Clara County. The wines carry the Central Coast appellation rather than Santa Clara Valley, and the Historic Vineyard Society's own registry lists it that way, reportedly because the site sits just below the elevation line for the neighbouring Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. It is one of the county's oldest continuously farmed vineyards.
Vines and Blocks
Two historic blocks, both own-rooted and dry-farmed: Grenache planted in 1910 and Zinfandel planted in 1922. Old-vine Grenache of that age is rare enough in California that this block is a reference point for the variety.
The Wines
Birichino has bottled the Grenache as a designate for more than twenty years, A Tribute to Grace also makes one, and Bonny Doon historically took fruit for Clos de Gilroy and Le Cigare Volant.