chico
About an hour north of Sacramento, life happens at a slower pace. Nestled by the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, Chico, California, boasts a bustling college campus and a buzzy restaurant scene, but nowhere is anyone in much of a hurry. “The vibe here is really nice,” says Berton Bertagna, the fourth-generation farmer at the helm of Bertagna Orchards and Bertagna Son Kissed Vineyard. And he would know: Berton’s family has been farming in Chico for 100 years. That vibe is what drew Leigh Ann Byerly, the owner of Farwood Bar & Grill in nearby Orland, to the area from her native San Diego. “But the thing I love most about Northern California is the sense of community,” she says. “That feeling that we’re all in this together and we’re all living in the same place and raising our families together is really special.”
bertagna orchards and bertagna
son kissed vineyard
Farming has been the way of life in the Bertagna family for a hundred years. “All the pictures of my family growing up,” says Berton, “are them out with animals they raised: sheep and cattle and pigs.”
But farming isn’t just the life Berton knows, it’s also the life he chose. “Growing up, if you’re on a farm, you’re really involved because your family needs your help,” he says, “but it’s also a fun lifestyle.”
It’s a lifestyle he’s carried on and one that he’s made his own: While his great-grandfather grew enough wine grapes to make wine for his family and friends, Berton picked up wine grape farming after it skipped two generations, eventually opening the commercial winery. “Our first year it was 250 cases, the next year it was 500 and the next year it was 1,000,” he says. “Like everything we’ve ever farmed, it’s always grown not out of economics but out of passion.”
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leigh ann byerly of farwood bar & grill
Leigh Ann Byerly arrived in Orland with her husband, Jim, in the spring of 2008 to “temporarily” help her friends manage their restaurant, Farwood Bar and Grill. In November of that year—when it became abundantly clear that her connection to the Farwood far exceeded “temporary”—Leigh Ann and Jim purchased the restaurant.
“She has a really nice restaurant that does an excellent job of promoting our local agriculture,” says Berton.
Which is exactly what Leigh Ann set out to do years ago, when she started growing ties with local farmers, ranchers and cheese makers. “The opportunity to get to know the people who are making these beautiful products,” she says, “the opportunity to see where the food is coming from is like no other.”
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