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PERMIT NO. 15
Yountville, CA
94599
Postal Patron Local
ECRWSS
a 21st century newspaper serving the heart of the Napa Valley
Vol. 17, No. 36
February 12, 2015
Jury Sustains Home’s
Eviction of Ghigliotti
Valentine Construction Zone
Liam Rooney gets a bit of assistance Saturday morning from Eva Simonsson during a free
Valentine-making workshop at Yountville’s Community Center. Some of the Valentines made at
this session and another on Monday were taken yesterday by leadership students at Yountville
Elementary School and distributed among members of the Veterans Home. (Photo by Glen Nock.)
Del Dotto Revises Theme of New Winery
By Laura Madonna
Yountvillians have followed, with keen interest, the
development of the potential
new winery atop Yountville
Hill. Perhaps less noticed is
the progress being made on
the Del Dotto family’s new
winery at Highway 29 and
Yount Mill Road, which lies
just below that hill. It is the
third Del Dotto installation in
Napa County.
Ground was broken on the
14-acre site in March 2012 to
house a 20,000 case winery
with 16,000 square feet of wine
caves dug into the hillside.
Last year, construction began
on a tasting room, caves and
grounds with enormous olive
trees brought in to line the
perimeter.
Entry gate columns were
topped with playful Italian
folkloric characters familiar to
those that have visited the Del
Dotto’s St. Helena location.
The winery was initially to be
bsundial
High Low
Wednesday 2/4 68
44
Thursday
63
45
Friday
62
57
Saturday
67
56
Sunday
63
55
Monday
68
46
Tuesday
68
42
Precipitation = 4.05
Season Total = 24.55
Last Year = 2.84
called Ca’Nani, Italian for
“house of the dwarves.”
Del Dotto’s Napa winery
features old wine caves and
Napa history, while St.
Helena’s winery follows a
Venetian theme, complete with
Murano glass chandeliers and
murals and walls painted by
famed local artist Carlo
Marchiori.
As construction on the new
location progressed, the family
realized their theme didn’t
connect with wine lovers and
needed to tell the story of wine
through history instead.
“We had a vision,” said
Desiree Del Dotto, “but we
realized we needed to be more
connected to wine and our heritage. This change is about
family, our Italian heritage, its
extensions and traditions,” she
said.
Critics scoffed at the original Disneyesque theme, and to
others it seemed downright
insensitive to the medical condition known as dwarfism.
As permits, designs and
labeling progressed, a new
name presented itself. The
winery will now be called
Piazza Del Dotto.
The two-story winery will
have an Italian country, rustic
style, which the new name
more genuinely reflects.
“Piazza is the town square,”
explained Del Dotto. “It
reflects where the action is."
While the caves are approximately two to three years
away from opening as part of
Phase II construction, the tasting room under construction
in Phase I is called the
‘Barquessa,” or barn in Italian.
Marchiori figures prominently
in that design.
When the caves are completed, visitors will tour the
story of wine, walking through
entire rooms in the caves portraying various places in wine
history.
Currently, the St. Helena
winery is experimenting with
food and wine pairings prepared by Del Dotto’s executive
chef, Joshua Schwartz, called
“Delicacies With Del Dotto.”
By appointment up to three
times per week, the fivecourse pairing offers tempting
bites paired with current
releases. Similar tastings are
planned for the Piazza winery
in the Barquessa.
The Del Dottos are known
for their highly rated estate
wines, cave tours and luxurious VIP offerings to wine club
members.
The Piazza Del Dotto product line will highlight wines
that are affordable, fun and
meant for everyday drinking.
As Del Dotto said,” It’s
about artistic, fun experiences
that also appeal to the next
generation of wine lovers.”
On Monday a jury of 12
returned a verdict validating
the California Veterans Home
eviction of veteran Jerome
Ghigliotti, 67, an unsuccesful
candidate for Yountville’s
Town
Council
in
the
November 4 election last
year.
The jury spent six days in
Judge Michael Williams’
courtroom hearing evidence
presented by the California
Department
of
Veterans
Affairs (CDVA) and Ghigliotti,
a lawyer who represented
himself.
The verdict was that the
Home had verified its right to
take possession of Ghigliotti’s
residence there and that
Ghigliotti be required to pay a
fine of $3,090, said a Napa
County Court staff member.
Ghigliotti has since left the
Home, where he had lived as a
member for nearly three years.
He did not respond to the
Sun’s request for comment.
On March 17 the California
Veterans Board is set to hold a
hearing on Ghigliotti’s appeal
of his eviction which he filed
with the CDVA. That matter
has been set for 10 a.m. in
Yountville.
The Home issued a 60-day
Notice of Eviction against
Ghigliotti on September 2,
2014.
He asserted during his
campaign that none of the
claims against him would be
sustained and continued to
live at the Home and fight the
eviction.
In the eviction notice,
Home Administrator Donald
Veverka said Ghigliotti was
being evicted because he
repeatedly failed to comply
with the Code of Conduct
Policy and other rules of the
Home, resulting in 15 Code of
Conduct violations since
March of 2014 and complaints
from other Home residents. of
the Home.
Ghigliotti cast himself in
the role of a firebrand, crusading against a myriad of perceived injustices by the
Home’s administrators and
the CDVA with a barrage of
almost daily leaflets he distributed in the Home’s Dining
Hall and on the doors of resident rooms. He also filed multiple legal claims against the
CDVA and administrators at
the Home.
Ghigliotti became a regular
at Town Council meetings,
often coming forward during
the Council Comments segment of the agenda to complain about a practice or policy at the Home with which he
disagreed and over which the
Council has no direct authority.
In the November election
he captured a scant 16 percent
of the vote.
At the Home Ghigliotti
attracted some supporters,
while others were annoyed by
his constant fault finding,
campaign tactics, inaccuracies
and shotgun approach.
Vet Hit in Crosswalk
Veterans Home member
John Callahan, 68, sustained
minor injuries Saturday afternoon when he was hit by a car
while in the crosswalk of
California Drive and the southbound Highway 29 off ramp.
Seth Streeter, 25, an
employee of the Veterans
Home, was driving his Mazda
6 on the southbound off ramp.
As he was attempting to turn
right the right fender of his car
collided with the front of
Callahan’s motorized scooter.
Callahan fell off of his scooter
and onto the ground, causing
a small contusion above his
right eye.
He was transported by
ambulance to Queen of the
Valley Medical Center as a
precaution and for further
medical evaluation, according
to Napa County Sheriff’s
Deputy
Jonathan
Zimmerman. He was later
released.
The accident occurred
about 1:30 p.m.
Front rendering Piazza Del Dotto