As the saying goes, life is what happens when you’re busy making plans. For Tina and Randy Rossi of Saluti Cellars, their venture into being a choice wedding venue in the Northern California
El Dorado wine country showed up on their unfinished doorstep over
10 years ago.
“We were pouring cement, and a woman showed up and asked to have her wedding on the property,” recalls Tina. “We were probably two years away from being ready, but she had it all planned out in her mind.” So Tina and Randy went ahead and made arrangements for it to happen, and the bride was thrilled.
Weddings have been a regular occurrence at their 250-acre canyon
vineyard ever since, with many of those couples returning with their growing families.
“Randy and I are very involved with every single bride and groom,” Tina explained of their business philosophy. “We know their families, they come back and visit us.
We have life-long relationships with them.”
Their commitment to their guests is second only to their commitment to their community. One of their largest events each year is a law enforcement appreciation night. Randy, a 30-year veteran of law enforcement, and Tina, having a long career on the administrative side of law, met while working in the field and continue to share a strong bond with first responders, including firefighters.
They were happy to have been able to help when a large fire impacted the community around them, by providing shelter for displaced horses during evacuations, and by allowing fire personnel to stage their response efforts on their property and use the water from their lake to help battle the flames. These are just two examples of their love for their community and the people
who come to share in their enjoyment of the area.
While weddings and events keep them plenty busy, their property allows for so much more than a walk down the aisle. Saluti Cellars is, first and foremost, a vineyard, yielding between 1,200 and 1,500 cases of wine per year. Their wine is known for its bold, yet smooth, handcrafted flavors and has won numerous awards, including four Double Gold medals and numerous Gold.
“We make wine how we like it,” Randy said of their views on developing their products. “It may not be the way the next person likes it, and that’s ok. We just make wine that we enjoy and that we find our club
members enjoy.”
Saluti also boasts a beautiful bed and breakfast with three separate suites to accommodate a total of six people, perfect for an intimate weekend getaway with family or friends. Guests can expect to feast on meals made from ingredients grown on the property, including organic vegetables, cage free eggs, and beef and lamb raised and cared for on site.
“Everything we try to do here is as environmentally friendly as possible,” Randy explains. “That’s why we have caves to store the wine and avoid using harsh chemicals to treat the barrels or sanitize equipment.”
In fact, Saluti has received awards for being “Fish Friendly Farming,” which denotes that any runoff they have doesn’t negatively impact their ponds or the fish that live in them.
Their solid commitment to the environment and reducing their carbon footprint includes serving the needs of their property through the utilization of solar energy, a gravity fed water system using a large lake on the property, and electric powered vehicles and forklifts.
Guests with electric vehicles also have access to two charging stations to power up while they enjoy the beautiful scenery and atmosphere of
the property.
Things have certainly come a long way since that first bride saw the potential in Saluti Cellars. As Tina and Randy reminisce about how ill-prepared they were for the event at the time, Tina can’t help but laugh.
“We must have done something right,” she said. “Because they came
back and did their 10-year vow renewal this year.”
For more information on everything Saluti Cellars has to offer,
visit their website at saluticellars.com.
