Susan Foppiano Valera is the third of three children born to Lou and Della Foppiano. Susan reminisces, “What I remember most about my childhood is that I was able to wander. I don’t think that that kind of freedom exists today. I would bring my dad dinner during the harvest, when they were working in the fields until dark or watching over the fermentation tanks. I remember climbing on the wine tanks, or getting to have dinner with my grandmother: just the two of us.”
After graduating from Ursuline High School in Santa Rosa, California, Susan went on to Santa Rosa Junior College, and then to Sacramento State University to get her degree in general education and her teaching certification. She did some substitute teaching in the Healdsburg school system, and then taught in Boston, where she and her new husband, Tony Valera, initially settled. Originally from Massachusetts, Tony met Susan through mutual friends in a saddle shop in Healdsburg. Their shared love of horses gave them an immediate connection. They lived in Boston for eight years. She says now with a laugh, “Let me tell you, eight years of that kind of snow is more than enough!”
Back in Sonoma County now, Susan is happily playing a key role in the winery her family has owned and operated for more than a century. She is in charge of hospitality, and all that that entails, from the tasting room to the wine club, from special events to wine dinners. Susan says, “I particularly enjoy meeting our customers, be it in the tasting room or at our special events. It is fun to watch people come into our home and discover something new; something that they didn’t know existed before. The wine business is all about building relationships, and it is so satisfying to see the loyal following we have built here over the years. People often come in, saying, ‘My grandfather and I used to come here, bringing glass jugs to be filled with wine.’ I love those kinds of stories. They are the lifeblood of what we’re about.”
Susan is defined by her passions, which she pursues during her free time: horseback riding and the Blue Angels, the US Navy’s flight demonstration squadron. On the subject of horses, Susan says, “I have been riding since I was eleven years old. Dad brought horses down from the ranch for me. I have been horse crazy since I was knee high to a grasshopper. There is something about the sensation of movement you get astride a horse that is unmatched by any other…and is almost impossible to accurately describe. Part of it is the notion of being one with nature. Part of it is the ability to control a creature that is so much larger than you. Tony and I ride together a lot, but I’m not afraid to go out on my own.” Regarding her passion for the Blue Angels, “We used to pour our wines at Fleet Week in El Centro, and we became one of the sponsors of the show. Of course, one of the advantages of being a sponsor is that you get to ride with them. One time I went up in a C-5 when they were doing a refueling flight. I got to ride in and A-6; a propeller-driven trainer, and we did some aerobatics. And then there was the YAK 54, which is a Russian turbo prop jet. We did a hammerhead, some stalls, and some spins almost all the way down to the ground! My son, Jamie, got to fly that one a little!”
Susan clearly has a love for the outdoors and of feeling the wind around her. Her feet are grounded on the soil of her family’s winery, but she loves the sensation of flight, whether she is riding horseback In the redwoods at Samuel P. Taylor Park, or riding in Naval aircraft.
