How Bernardo Winery Traded Its Vineyards for a Village, and How to Spend Fair Weekend There

"Some say" the grape juice Vincent Rizzo sold during Prohibition "would ferment by the time you reached the end of the long dusty driveway." That line comes from the winery's own history page. It describes a property large enough that the driveway took real time to cross. Rizzo also pressed olive oil from the trees on the land and sold it to San Diego's tuna canning industry. He sold sacramental wine to the Catholic church as well.

That driveway is mostly gone now. Houses stand on the vineyards, and the family that has owned Bernardo Winery since 1927 made a deliberate choice about what to do with the ground it kept. That choice explains why a small winery on the North Poway edge of Rancho Bernardo holds an arts and crafts fair for its 49th year this month. It also explains why the fair spreads across the whole property and fills more than a tasting room.

The Driveway Got Shorter

The winery opened in 1889 on part of the La Cañada de San Bernardo Spanish land grant. It was founded by the Lanza and Licata families, who picked a valley with water a few feet below the surface and slopes gentle enough to move wine by gravity. Vincent Rizzo came across the winery for sale during a hunting trip in 1927 and bought it for his family. The family is now in its third generation there.

The numbers on the winery's winemaking page show how far it shrank:

The winery gives several reasons for the decline after the 1970s: rising water prices, drought, and buyers losing interest in the fortified and sweet wines it had built its business on. It did not switch to fine winemaking until the 1990s, and most of the vineyard land was sold off as suburbs grew around it. The 2012 entry is the clearest. It says the last 200 acres went to developers to build Old Winery Estates.

Winemaking still happens on the property, at a smaller scale. Production moved out of the original building, with its gravity-fed concrete fermenters and redwood vats, into a newer setup in a century-old building that used to be the tractor barn. The winery describes its wines as low-intervention and approachable, made to reflect Southern California while nodding to Old California styles. The modern facility is closed to the public. The old one was left standing on purpose, and visitors can walk past redwood barrels built more than 130 years ago in the courtyard.

What the Winery Built Instead

The key sentence on the history page covers the 1980s and 1990s. In those years, the winery says, its "focus changed from commercial winemaking to becoming a dining, artist village & shopping destination that benefitted the newly constructed communities of North Poway and Rancho Bernardo."

The family's response to development was to serve the people moving into it. The houses on the old vineyard land became the winery's customers. Its historic buildings filled with gift shops, cafés and event spaces.

The winery's directory lists these courtyard tenants, which it describes as locally owned and operated:

• Icarus Studio & Gallery, with local art, mosaics, paintings, décor and custom framing
• Clay Artists at the Vineyard, a ceramics co-op with wheels, kilns, lessons and shared glazes
• Olive & Cork, with home and garden gifts and local provisions
• The Bag Cellar and Cotton Cottage, both selling women's clothing
• Calm & Scents, with candles and bath and body goods
• Bernardo Winery Sweet Shoppe, with gelato, chocolates and candies
• The Salon at the Vineyard, offering hair, nail and skincare services
• A Fitness, for personal training
• Gently Hugged, a nonprofit

A ceramics studio with kilns, a salon and a personal trainer are the kinds of tenants a nearby community uses every week, which fits the history page's account of who the village was meant to serve. The directory notes that hours vary by shop. Treat the list as the winery's current roster and call ahead before planning a visit around one store.

The food follows family history too. The Kitchen is the walk-up restaurant on site, serving what the winery calls a rustic Old California and Sicilian menu that "sprung from Grandpa Vincent's tried and true Sicilian recipes." It serves house-made pasta and sauces, wood-fired pizza, salads and plates meant to go with wine. You order at the counter, food comes to your table, and seating is open. Parties of 12 or fewer don't need a reservation. Manzanita Roasting Co. roasts coffee on site and serves espresso drinks, tea, smoothies, toast, quiche and local pastries, with Wi-Fi and seating indoors and out.

Regular hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The winery is closed Monday and Tuesday. The tasting-room patio is 21 and over. Children can sit on The Kitchen patio and in the courtyard with a guardian.

Fair Weekend Puts the Whole Village to Work

The 49th Annual Fall Arts & Crafts Fair runs Saturday, October 17, and Sunday, October 18, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free and families are welcome. The winery calls it an all-artisan fair. Everything for sale is handmade and sold by the person who made it. More than 125 vendors from across Southern California will be there, selling jewelry, soaps, paintings, sculpture, local honey, clothing, pottery, and home and garden goods.

The fair covers the entire property. Outdoor wine bars are set up around the grounds. The Kitchen sells grab-and-go Italian food in the courtyard, and a food court with international food sits on the east side. The village shops stay open throughout. For two days the visiting artisans and the full-time courtyard tenants sell side by side, which is the arrangement the family has been running since the vineyards were sold.

The fair's FAQ lists the practical details:

1. Bring cash. Some vendors don't take cards, and there are no ATMs on the grounds.
2. Come early for coffee. Manzanita Roasting opens at 8 a.m., two hours before the fair starts.
3. Leave pets at home. No pets are allowed, with no exceptions. ADA-recognized service dogs are welcome. Emotional support animals are not.
4. Don't bring food or drinks. Outside food and beverages aren't permitted. Coffee, sodas, water and other non-alcoholic drinks are sold on site.
5. Carpool. There is on-site parking, but the winery recommends carpooling.
6. Dress for the sun. The winery suggests comfortable shoes and a sun hat.

The winery says the fair is a good time to start holiday shopping and buy local. On a crowded Saturday, the historic redwood barrels in the courtyard are an easy stop to work in between vendor booths.

The Quieter Weeks Around the Fair

The week before the fair offers a smaller-scale way to see the place. On Sunday, October 11, the winery hosts Billy Nation, a Billy Joel tribute, with general admission and VIP tickets and food and wine for sale. On Wednesday, October 14, the BW Listening Lounge has Gráinne Hunt with Jules Stewart in the historic Barrel Room. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7. Tickets are $20, seating is first come, first served, and the event is 21 and over.

Two regular offerings run year-round. A farmers market sets up in the lower lot on Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with produce, provisions, flowers, artisans and food vendors. Courtyard gazebos can be reserved Wednesday through Sunday for groups of 8 to 20, for up to three hours. The fee is $12 per person and non-refundable. Food and wine are ordered separately, and there's no dedicated server. For a birthday or a gathering of out-of-town family, a gazebo is a simple way to have your own table without booking a private venue.

The winery has also offered WSET Level 1 and Level 2 wine courses taught by Al Fischer of Freaky People Grapes, a certified WSET educator. The page lists a Level 1 class on May 3, 2026, and Level 2 dates running from June into early August, so no upcoming session appears there. Check with the winery about the next session before planning around one.

The winery describes itself as Southern California's oldest continuously operating winery. Its 7,500 cases a year come from San Diego-grown grapes and are made in the converted tractor barn above the old winery building. In the winery's 2012 timeline, the property that holds that barn, the courtyard and the shops was 13 acres, with 5 of them still in vines.

If the fair sends you home with a few bottles and a question about how to store them, or about building a small cellar around wines from your own county, James Mobbley is glad to help, with a sommelier's eye and no pressure. Let's Connect.