I've been around wine my whole life. If I listen closely, I can hear Louis Prima faintly orchestrating the soundtrack to my Italian upbringing. I grew up in South Philadelphia, where I helped my grandfather make wine using a hand-crank destemmer and basket press each fall of my childhood. I still have those little machines, though admittedly have upgraded to a larger basket press in my own winery. 

I wasn't always a winemaker though. After graduating university in Washington, D.C., I moved to New York to take on the dream of writing. I got a job as a book editor and made it a goal to try new restaurants all the time. That exploration in food (and subsequent wine lists) piqued my interest once more. I worked my first commercial harvest at an urban winery in Brooklyn, enrolled in an intensive sommelier program, and eventually decided to pivot entirely to focusing on wine production on the west coast. 

From New York to California and up the coast to Oregon, I've had the opportunity to work with some amazing winemaking and viticulture mentors over the years. In 2017, I started my own project called, Pray Tell. It's an exploration in earnest curiosity - to combine what I know with what I don't - and create wines that align with my own values and exploration. I own every step of the process from farming decisions to winemaking to cutting out a bunch of little pieces of paper to design the labels. 

At the beginning of my professional wine journey, a long shot dream emerged: to produce world class wines in my home town of Philadelphia one day. Some thirteen years, thousands of miles, and many tons of grapes processed later, that dream has become a reality. It's no small feat to move a winery from coast-to-coast, but we recently opened our doors to a brand new winery space in the Olde Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. The very same building where my mom and grandfather started their family business over thirty years ago. 

We hope you'll join us for a glass soon!

Cheers,

Tom Caruso

Owner/Winemaker