Franscioni Wines buys landmark neighbor and River Road pillar Pessagno Winery.

Pessagno Winery, at the heart of the River Road Wine Trail and Monterey County winemaking, has sold.

Before farmers and winemakers like Dan Lee and Steve Pessagno, Monterey County was dominated by massive growers.

They led the rise of smaller operations doing intuitive Pinots and elegant Chardonnays that helped lift River Road and the Santa Lucia Highlands reputation to unprecedented places.

Now, after Steve Pessagno, the winery he built from the soil is no longer owned by the family.

Pessagno passed away on in February 2012.

"His vision survives clearly, along with four sons for whom his pitch-perfect Four Boys Pinot is named: Live for family and community, industry and appellation, formidable food and worthy wines," reads my piece on Pessagno's passing that month.

"Take on any challenge, fix any farm equipment, master any fickle grape and share any story. Take pride and take pains. Make friends fast. Drink wine slow. Braise backyard favas. Have fun. And don't be afraid to make wine and tell stories with personality."

The good news: It's still family owned. And the family that owns it enjoys a similar amount of local loyalty.

Ray Franscioni of Ray Franscioni Wines is a third generation Monterey County farmer.

Only recently did he start doing his own wines, and the results are good, partly because they pluck their favorite 1 percent from hundreds of acres in three counties. 

The Ray Franscioni Wines collection of labels includes Puma Road, Lilia and Pedregal.

Now it includes Pessagno.

Reached by email, winery spokesperson Teresa Franscioni, Ray's daughter, seems enthused to take on the sizeable project. 

When asked about any closures during the realignment, she writes, "Pessagno has never and will never close. We are open the same regular hours they always were."

Those hours are 11am-5pm Thursday through Monday.

In response to chatter that her family is part of an ownership group, she has this: "We bought it and are the sole owners."

Both Pessagno and Franscioni are definite highlights on the River Road Wine Trail, which bodes well for the Pessagno experience, where the welcoming energy has extended to pioneering pop-up dinners before they were known as pop-ups.

Steve's son and winery pointman Anthony Pessagno did not return calls seeking comment.