Pray Tell Fruit Snacks 2023

Grapes: Pinot Noir, Syrah, Merlot, Malbec

Region: Willamette Valley, OR 

Farming: Sustainable 

Tom Caruso grew up in Philadelphia in an Italian immigrant family. His first experiences making wine were stomping grapes with his grandfather on the streets of Philly.  However, he found his passion and true calling after wandering into Brooklyn Winery on a day off. He was so enthralled that he started working graveyard shifts for them while sticking to his day job. The team at Brooklyn Winery encouraged him to head West, where he wound up at Bedrock Wine Co. with Morgan Twain-Peterson and Chris Cottrell. It turned out that he was also able to work with Morgan’s father, and California winemaking legend, Joel Peterson, on his inaugural vintage of Once and Future Wine. After spending several years in California, Tom’s curiosity took him to the Willamette Valley. He immediately fell in love with Oregon and hasn’t looked back. He had the good fortune of being introduced to Maggie Harrison and worked with her for several vintages. In fact, some of the Pray Tell wines share fruit sources with Antica Terra. During 2023's harvest, he found himself marveling at how energetic a fermenter of red grapes was smelling. Like one of those candy stores where you can see folks pulling fresh taffy in the window. It immediately sparked a childlike whimsy and he wanted to capture every ounce of that in bottle.