Our Story

Jimmy and Shelly Zanoli share a passion for wine and are excited to continue sharing their project, ZANOLI.

After meeting in Paso Robles in 2008, Jimmy and Shelly were married in 2010. They share the love of food and wine, focusing on vineyards sourced with Limestone and Calcareous soils from the Central Coast of California.

Jimmy was born and raised in the city of San Luis Obispo, CA. His love for winemaking and viticulture started in 1998 when his father, Sherman Smoot planted a dry-farmed, head-trained vineyard in the Templeton Gap District of the Paso Robles AVA. After starting his career by working as the Assistant Winemaker for his family’s winery, Bella Luna, Jimmy began to work for Eberle Winery, beginning as an intern and working his way up to Assistant winemaker for four years, solidifying his winemaking experience.

Shelly, raised in Orange County, CA, found her passion for wine while working for The Mission Inn and Four Seasons Hotel. After five years in the hotel business, she decided to take a leap of faith and move to Paso Robles to take up a position as the Administrative and Marketing Assistant at JUSTIN Vineyards and Winery.

After five years in Paso Robles, Jimmy and Shelly wanted to further their career in the industry; they knew to accomplish this, they needed to move to Napa, CA. Basing themselves in the beautiful town of St Helena, Jimmy worked as the Production Assistant at Heitz Wine Cellars and moved on to Cellermaster at Sodaro Estate Winery and Failla Wines. Shelly took a position as the Event Coordinator at HUNNICUTT Winery, then as the Hospitality Manager for Wm. Harrison Winery.

In November 2014, their family presented them with an opportunity to have Jimmy as their full-time Winemaker at Bella Luna and start their label, ZANOLI. They moved home right away and began to go to work.

Jimmy and Shelly’s focus is on making wines in the style of the Rhones from Cornas, France, and non-traditional white and red wines with minimal intervention using fruit grown primarily in Limestone and Calcareous soils on the Central Coast. We hope you can come by and have a tasting of all our wines.

June 12, 2018, they welcomed their baby boy, Rocco James Zanoli.

Jimmy and Shelly hope you enjoy their wines and follow their journey to expand their range even further in the future.