Chico’s LaRocca Vineyards pours final glasses after 40 years
By Ainsley Van Reusen
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CHICO, California (KHSL) — After more than 40 years of producing organic wine, celebrating milestones and building a community around the tasting room, LaRocca Vineyards is closing its doors this weekend, marking the end of an era for one of Chico’s longest-running family wineries.
The downtown tasting room will permanently close after business Sunday, Aug. 2. While the decision is bittersweet, the LaRocca family says the time felt right after decades in the business and years of unexpected challenges.
“The climate of doing business in California has changed,” Phaedra LaRocca Morrill said. “We’ve had fires, we’ve had COVID, labor issues. Our mom passed. Our assistant winemaker passed…like, just a lot of different things that led to the time where we just need to say farewell.”
Founded by Philip and Judy LaRocca in the early 1980s, LaRocca Vineyards grew from a family vineyard in Forest Ranch into one of the nation’s pioneering certified organic wineries. The winery became known for producing organic wines without added sulfites, helping carve out a niche in an industry where many believed it couldn’t be done.
Owner Philip LaRocca said his path into wine began after losing the lease on what had been California’s first certified organic apple orchard. When an opportunity arose to purchase aging vineyards, he embraced the challenge.
“The biggest challenge was I was determined to be an organic farmer,” Philip LaRocca said. “If we can put a man on the moon, I can grow an organic apple. I can make an organic wine.”
Over the years, LaRocca expanded to more than 200 acres of vineyards in Butte and Sutter counties while becoming a leader in organic agriculture. Throughout his career, Philip helped develop federal standards for organic grape growing and organic winemaking while serving for decades in leadership roles with California Certified Organic Farmers. His work earned national recognition and helped pave the way for future generations of organic growers and winemakers.
When asked what role local businesses like LaRocca Vineyards play in downtown Chico, he said being part of the community has always been just as important as making wine.
“I think local—for me, local organic—is the best you can buy,” Philip LaRocca said. “Being a part of that, being local and organic, I feel was an honor to be part of that community and to serve that purpose.”
But beyond the wine itself, the family says the relationships they built with customers are what they’ll remember most.
“Last night, our hearts were so full with all the beautiful customers and people that came out that have been in our lives, some of them since inception,” LaRocca Morrill said of the winery’s farewell celebration. “It’s been really, really great.”
For the LaRoccas, the winery wasn’t just a business — it was where they grew up.
Harvest parties, grape stomps and long days in the vineyard became family traditions, while the tasting room became a gathering place where customers became lifelong friends.
“We’ve had customers that have come into the tasting room and said, ‘I’ve met all of my community when I moved to Chico by sitting up in the LaRocca tasting room, sipping wine,'” LaRocca Morrill said. “Now I have this beautiful group of people that I get to hang out with. So it’s really special.”
For Dharma Tony LaRocca, the winery has been part of nearly every chapter of his life.
“I’ve been farming with my father and family since I was 14 years old,” he said. “It’s bittersweet. I’ve got more time now, I guess, to do other ventures in my life, but this was a wonderful ride.”
The family also credits the Chico community for supporting the winery from its earliest days, naming longtime local businesses, restaurants and retailers that carried their wines and believed in their mission before organic wine became more widely accepted.
They say LaRocca Vineyards has tried to return that support over the years through donations, fundraisers and community events, helping build lasting relationships throughout Chico and beyond.
Although the winery is retiring from commercial wine production and grape growing, the family will keep the property. Philip LaRocca said he’s looking forward to spending more time with his family as he approaches his 80th birthday.
“I’m going to be 80 pretty soon here,” he said. “Just enjoying my family and my grandkids.”
Looking back on a lifetime in organic agriculture, Philip hopes people remember more than the bottles that carried the LaRocca name.
“I think if I left a mark on this planet in the wine industry,” he said, “it’s that you can make a wine without sulfite and make it 100% organic and enjoy it to the max.”
As LaRocca Vineyards prepares to pour its final glasses, the family says they’re leaving with gratitude for the community that helped sustain them for more than four decades.
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