Galante Vineyards owner Jack Galante’s roots in the Monterey area run deep. His great-grandfather, J.F. Devendorf, founded the town of Carmel. In 1969, Jack’s parents purchased a 700-acre cattle ranch in a remote part of Carmel Valley. But cattle ranching wasn’t a particularly profitable proposition, so the family began growing wine grapes on a portion of the ranch in 1983, specializing in Cabernet Sauvignon. At first the grapes were sold, but in 1994, Jack decided to build a winery and start producing wines under the Galante Vineyards label.

The winery first gained recognition for its lineup of Cabernet Sauvignon– there are two single-vineyard bottlings, Blackjack Pasture and Red Rose Hill, as well as an estate blend called Rancho Galante. But the vineyard has been diversified to include Pinot Noir, Petite Sirah, Merlot and Suvignon Blanc.

The Galante labels are a nod to the cattle ranching that still goes on at the property. The front label is a photograph of a saddle-maker’s hand-tooled leather design; the back label features a folksy piece of “cowboy wisdom” selected by Jack Galante.

I spoke with Jack recently about the climatic diversity of Carmel Valley, the promise of Petite Sirah and the challenge of overcoming Monterey’s reputation for vegetal Cabernet Sauvignon. Here’s what he had to say: