George Jr., Gene and Gary Guglielmo spend their days fully
engaged in making and distributing their award-winning wines. But
the brothers still found time to cut a wide swath through South
Valley life, serving, leading and underwriting a slew of community
organizations. As a result, the Guglielmos and their mother,
Madeline, have been chosen to receive the second annual Leadership
Excellence Award from Leadership Morgan Hill.
George Jr., Gene and Gary Guglielmo spend their days fully engaged in making and distributing their award-winning wines.
But the brothers still found time to cut a wide swath through South Valley life, serving, leading and underwriting a slew of community organizations. As a result, the Guglielmos and their mother, Madeline, have been chosen to receive the second annual Leadership Excellence Award from Leadership Morgan Hill.
The award singles out a person – or several people in this case – with vision and leadership to improve their community and who inspire others to follow the same path. The Guglielmos (pronounced gool-yell-mo) have helped to support the Mushroom Mardi Gras, Gilroy Garlic Festival, Taste of Morgan Hill, Fourth of July celebrations, Morgan Hill Rotary and the Morgan Hill and Gilroy Chambers of Commerce.
Both George Jr. and Gene are past presidents of the Santa Clara County Winegrowers Association; Gene is a founding director of South Valley National Bank.
The family’s everlasting willingness to help any worthy group that asks is not unheard of in town but is definitely rare. The family supports the Morgan Hill Sister City committee – San Casciano, Italy was chosen first – and the Santa Clara County Sister County committee.
Then there was the night when the Sister City Committee and Morgan Hill American Association of University Women hosted a packed house to hear the riveting Irene Dalis of Opera San Jose and local soprano Elizabeth Schultz. Gene was there, as always, pouring wine with a smile on his face.
The winery raises the level of excitement in town with regular wine-related classes and concerts with popular, widely known artists, showing a combination of solid business sense and community spirit.
After the family installed the outdoor stage, enclosed patio and lawn area with a priceless view of vineyards and hills, it became the outdoor place in town to stage a wedding reception or have a party.
The clan’s matriarch Madeline Guglielmo said, on one hand, she was surprised at the award but, on the other, not.
“The boys have done a good job,” she said. “We brought them up to be generous to others.” Her opinion was widely shared.
“The Guglielmos have been an inspiration in Morgan Hill for more than 75 years,” said Bob Martin, Leadership Morgan Hill’s board president. “And George, Gene and Gary’s contributions to the local community and economy will transcend generations. They are to be emulated.”
Roger Knopf, who was the first Leadership award recipient, said the Guglielmos surely deserve the Leadership award.
“This family has a long standing in the community,” Knopf said. “This is the third generation of wine growers – they are responsible for building the local economy and the community. They represent the past and the future.”
“It was an easy choice,” said Walt Glines, Morgan Hill Times editor and a member of the selection committee along with Knopf.
The brothers aren’t the only members of their family who do community service. George’s wife, Jan, is active as a member of the Urban Limit Line Committee.
Each brother has a particular function in the business.
George said he became the winemaker because he was the oldest son and also because he was interested.
“I started fooling around with the quantitative analysis of wine while in high school,” George said. “Testing the acidity. I got experience from watching Michael Bo, the winemaker from San Martin Winery.”
After high school – Live Oak, of course, George moved on to Fresno State University for a degree in enology.
Only one of Madeline’s nine grandchildren, Gene’s son Jonathan, lives in town at the moment. George said he didn’t know what the future holds about the younger generation taking over in time but he does know that last year’s harvest looks good.
“The grapes had time to ripen to good sugar levels and acid balance,” he said.
Gene, who runs the local business – Gary handles the out-of-state side – said he was surprised about the award.
“I’m really honored to receive it and really pleased for mom,” Gene said. “We were all born and raised here and Morgan Hill is a special community to us. Part of being in a community is giving.”
Madeline, he said, just turned 80.
“We are happy to still have her,” he said.
Madeline moved to Morgan Hill from Almaden when she was 7 years old and has been here even since. After she married George Sr. the couple lived and worked at the winery for 40 years.
Now, Madeline lives by herself, with a new poodle and her cat on her father’s old ranch at the eastern end of Diana Road. George Sr. died in 1997.
“I’m back on the old homestead,” she said. Madeline was delighted with her 80th birthday party at the Golden Oak. It turned into a real family reunion.
“She was an inspiration to us,” Gene said.
The winery, at 1480 E. Main Ave., across the street from Live Oak High School, was founded on 10 acres in 1925 by Emilio and Emilia Guglielmo, the brothers’ grandparents. The couple, both immigrants from the Piedmont area of Italy, moved to Morgan Hill permanently in 1940.
Community service took on a different tone during Prohibition years of 1920-1933, during which time alcoholic beverages were prohibited from manufacture or sale.
Many people, especially those whose cultures found dinner without a glass of wine unthinkable – the Italian culture for example – continued to make wine in their basements.
“Even the San Jose chief of police would send his son down once a week to purchase a gallon of wine,” George said in a 1994 interview.
The founding Guglielmos’ son, George Sr., continued the business after he returned from World War II and expanded the land to more than 100 acres. He married Madeline, in 1946 and they brought up their family on the vineyard and worked hard, Madeline said, building the business.
As late as 1969 George Sr. was still delivering wine to families and businesses in San Jose the way milkmen delivered milk. That is a public service.
Since 1995 the Leadership Morgan Hill program has taught leadership skills to citizens and employees in the public, private and non-profit sectors. Its mission is to provide insight and tools that enable and inspire its graduates to give back to the community through service.
For tickets to the Aug. 14 Leadership Tribute Dinner and Benefit at the Community Center, call Sandy de la Cuesta, 779-0076. Details about Leadership Morgan Hill: 779-7211. Guglielmo Family Winery, 1480 E. Main Ave., www.guglielmowinery.com or 779-2145.
