I've been around wine my whole life. If I listen closely, I can hear Louis Prima faintly orchestrating the soundtrack to my Italian upbringing. I grew up in South Philadelphia, where I helped my grandfather make wine using a hand-crank destemmer and basket press each fall of my childhood. I still have those little machines, though admittedly have upgraded to a larger basket press in my own winery. 

I wasn't always a winemaker though. After graduating university in Washington, D.C., I moved to New York to take on the dream of writing. I got a job as a book editor and made it a goal to try new restaurants all the time. That exploration in food (and subsequent wine lists) piqued my interest once more. I worked my first commercial harvest at an urban winery in Brooklyn, enrolled in an intensive sommelier program, and eventually decided to pivot entirely to focusing on wine production on the west coast. 

From New York to California and up the coast to Oregon, I've had the opportunity to work with some amazing winemaking and viticulture mentors over the years. In 2017, I started my own project called, Pray Tell. It's an exploration in earnest curiosity - to combine what I know with what I don't - and create wines that align with my own values and exploration. I own every step of the process from farming decisions to winemaking to cutting out a bunch of little pieces of paper to design the labels. 

You're welcome to join me along the way. I'll write a bit and take pictures, but the wines are the real story tellers now. 

Cheers,

Tom Caruso

Owner/Winemaker