Santa Cruz MountainsLORETTA BARGETTO MUJAL
In Italy and the United States, the Bargetto Family tradition in winemaking goes back many generations. As Loretta Bargetto Mujal grew up in Soquel, family dinner conversations were always focused on family and the winery business (in addition to history, politics and religion). Both were interconnected.
When Loretta went off to college to obtain her B.S. degree in Accounting, it was done ever mindful of how she could contribute, in her own way, to interconnecting family, the wine business, and the winery’s growing customer base.
Today Loretta serves as president of BARGETTO WINERY – where the winery’s customers are family and the quality of wines served to the extended family are ever important. For Loretta, the winery is much more than just a location. It is a destination. Loretta is blessed to have a husband and two children who support the winery’s mission and her contributions to it.
JOHN BARGETTO
Raised on the BARGETTO WINERY property in Soquel, John E. Bargetto literally grew up in the middle of the wine business, completing his homework to the sounds of the old crusher humming and men working late into the nights. With a profound love for the family winemaking tradition, John studied Enology at UC Davis (with a minor in European history).
From 1984-1986 John worked as the winemaker and enjoyed the unique opportunity to work with world famous Winemaker, Andre Tchelistcheff. Together they started the winery’s first super premium Pinot Noir program.
John studied at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, earning an MBA before returning to the family business.
Today, John serves as the Director of Winemaking at BARGETTO WINERY, and oversees both the Regan estate vineyard as well as BARGETTO varietal wine sales nationwide.
John lives in Aptos near the beach and has three children in college. Two of the three children are studying winemaking with hopes of continuing the family winemaking tradition.
MARTIN BARGETTO
Martin Bargetto was born and raised in Santa Cruz County, California. He grew up with the sights, sounds, and smells of a functioning winery on the family property in Soquel along with great-aunts, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
His first job at the winery was to pick up cigarette butts in the parking lot at age six. During his pre-teen and teenage years, Marty performed a wide variety of duties including cellar work, lab tests, construction jobs, and bottling line shifts.
After attending local schools in the Santa Cruz area, he continued his studies at the University of California Davis campus and graduated with a BS degree in Plant Science with an emphasis in Viticulture in 1980.
Upon graduation, Martin continued his involvement in the wine industry by managing a wine shop in Sacramento, California for two years. Here he gained valuable retail work experience while gaining more knowledge about the wines of the world.
In 1982, he decided to return to the family winery in Soquel to help with the harvest. It was during this time that his father passed away unexpectedly and he was encouraged to help with management of the winery and assumed the role of general manager in 1983.
After a few years in production and marketing jobs at the family winery, Marty decided to return to school to study for a Masters in Business degree in 1987. While he continued to work full-time at the winery, Martin received his MBA from the University of San Francisco in 1989.
Following the completion of his graduate business degree, Marty became the winery marketing director in 1989 and was responsible for helping to develop a national distribution system for the Company’s wines.
In 2003, Marty became the winery president while continuing his marketing director responsibilities. He held the position of president for nine years.
Marty continues to work at BARGETTO WINERY in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. He currently serves as the winery marketing director with a focus on the CHAUCER’S brand.
He is married to Barbara Anderson Bargetto and has two children, Lily and Lucas.
