Run by husband and wife duo John Chewning and Leanne Davis, Via Romano is a tribute to John and Leanne’s time in Piedmont and Tuscany where they fell in love with Tuscan and Piedmontese wines as well as to Leanne’s great-grandfather, Papa Romano who immigrated from southern Italy to the U.S. in the early 1900s.
The couple love Italy so much they bought a home in Tuscany, and decided to start their own winery in 2017, after three or four years of John experimenting with winemaking for personal consumption and helping out at wineries during harvest. They opted for a property next to a few other tasting rooms and wineries, in an up and coming area of Apple Hill, and renovated the barn on the property to create a charming, open, and airy tasting room with a large patio and bocce ball courts.
The winery focuses on Italian varietal wines and blends, working with a large variety of Italian grapes including vermentino, fiano, friulano, dolcetto, primitivo, sangiovese, barbera, and dolcetto. They have one of the largest and most unique offerings of Italian varietal wines in the state.
Visitors can opt to taste indoors or outdoors next to the winery’s bocce courts. The winery also hosts live music evenings on Saturdays as well as Sunday brunches.
Next door to Via Romano, is Myka Cellars, which features a restaurant and gorgeous garden seating area, making it the perfect place for lunch while tasting in the area.