The Fall Fair at the Winery That Sold Its Vineyards for Houses

"It became more profitable to grow houses than to grow grapes." Ross Rizzo Sr. is quoted saying that on Bernardo Winery's history page. The line sums up the property better than any brochure could.

On October 17 and 18, the winery holds what it calls its 49th Annual Fall Arts and Crafts Fair. The fair uses the whole property, and the property is much smaller than it used to be. A lot of the homes near the winery stand on what used to be its vineyards. The courtyard shops, the pottery studio and the coffee roaster all came out of the family's decision to stop farming that land and start serving the people who moved onto it. The fair is the weekend when all of that is on show at once.

Thirteen Acres Left, and What They Became

The winery traces its start to 1889, on land that was part of the La Cañada de San Bernardo Spanish land grant. The founders were the Lanza and Licata families. The winery describes itself as the oldest continuously operating winery in Southern California. In 1927, Vincent Rizzo came across the property on a hunting trip and bought it. During Prohibition he pressed olive oil from the trees on the land and sold it to San Diego's tuna canneries. He also sold sacramental wine to the Catholic church.

The land sales came later. According to the winery's timeline:

1. The first 200 acres were sold in 1973, after Vincent Rizzo died. North Poway grew up on the slopes of the old south vineyard blocks, and that's where the name Vineland Hills comes from.
2. Developers bought the last 200 acres to build Old Winery Estates.
3. That left the winery with 13 acres, 5 of them planted in vines.

For a sense of scale, the winery made 500 gallons in its 1990 vintage, its smallest ever. By then it was already changing. The history page says that during the 1980s and 1990s, it moved away from commercial winemaking and became a place for dining, artists and shopping that "benefitted the newly constructed communities of North Poway and Rancho Bernardo." The Rizzo family is now in its third generation there.

That change explains the fair. A winery surrounded by vineyards has no use for a courtyard of shops. A winery surrounded by neighborhoods does.

October 17 and 18 Fill All Thirteen Acres

The fair runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days, and admission is free. The winery calls it an all-artisan fair, meaning every piece is handmade and sold by the person who made it. It lists more than 125 hand-picked vendors from across Southern California. You'll find handmade jewelry, soaps, paintings, sculpture, local honey, clothing, pottery, and things for the home and garden.

The booths are spread across the whole property, and the winery's own businesses stay open alongside them:

• Outdoor wine bars are set up around the grounds.
• The Kitchen restaurant sells grab-and-go Italian food in the courtyard.
• A food court with international food is on the east side of the fair.
• The village shops are open during the fair.
• Manzanita Roasting Co. opens at 8 a.m., two hours before the vendors do.

The winery describes the Kitchen's everyday menu as rustic Old-California and Sicilian cooking, with handmade pasta and pizza. The history page says those recipes go back to Vincent Rizzo. The winery also suggests the fair as a place to start holiday shopping and buy local.

A note on the count: NBC 7 San Diego's weekend roundup from October 2025 called last year's fair the 48th, which matches the winery's 49th for 2026. The winery doesn't say what year the first fair was held.

Before You Head Over

The winery's fair FAQ has a few rules worth reading before you leave the house.

• Cash: some vendors don't take credit cards, and there are no ATMs on the grounds.
• Pets: pets aren't allowed on the grounds. ADA-recognized service dogs trained to help a person with a disability are welcome. Emotional support animals are not.
• Food and drinks: you can't bring your own. Coffee, soda, water and other nonalcoholic drinks are sold on site and at Manzanita Roasting.
• Parking: there's parking on site, and the winery recommends carpooling.
• Comfort: the winery suggests comfortable shoes and a sun hat, and says there's plenty of seating across the grounds.

The fair page doesn't list any live music, so plan your visit around shopping and eating.

The Shops That Stay After the Tents Come Down

The visiting vendors pack up Sunday evening. The winery's village stays. Its directory says every shop is locally owned and operated. The shops are open Wednesday through Sunday and closed Monday and Tuesday, and the winery suggests calling each one for hours.

Here's what the directory lists right now:

Some of these connect directly to the fair. Clay Artists at the Vineyard is a working studio, with shelves for every stage of a piece and community glazes shared by its members. If a potter's booth catches your eye at the fair, this is where you can take a class the next week. Olive & Cork sells local olive oil on a property whose owner kept the business going through Prohibition partly by pressing olive oil. The Sweet Shoppe suggests bringing a glass from the tasting room over to try with its chocolate samples.

The directory also lists a few everyday businesses. A Fitness offers personal training at what it calls its new facility on the grounds, with outdoor workouts overlooking the vineyard. It also offers adaptive and inclusive training and rehab work done alongside a doctor's orders. Farmers Insurance agent Jenna Catton and San Diego Golf Reservations are listed too. So is Gently Hugged, a nonprofit started by two public health nurses. It collects new and gently used baby clothes in sizes from preemie to 12 months, along with blankets, for San Diego families in need. If you have baby clothes put away at home, the winery is where that group is based.

That mix of an insurance office, a salon, a gym and a baby-clothes drive only makes sense for neighbors. It's the 1980s and 1990s change from the history page, still going.

The Rest of October on the Calendar

The fair isn't the winery's only event this month. Its calendar also lists two evening shows in the week before the fair.

October 11. Billy Nation, a Billy Joel tribute band, plays at 6:30 p.m.

October 14. The Bernardo Winery Listening Lounge features Gráinne Hunt and Jules Stewart in the Barrel Room. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the music starts at 7.

Ticket and reservation links for both are on the winery's Classes, Concert Tickets & Reservations page.

The season starts across the neighborhood before any of that. The Rotary club's 15th annual Rancho BEERnardo Festival takes place Saturday, October 3, from 2 to 5 p.m., with VIP entry at 1 p.m. It's at Webb Lake Park, 16826 Bernardo Center Dr. That gives Rancho Bernardo big outdoor events on the first and third weekends of October, at two different local landmarks. The winery's weekend is the one where the booths spread across all 13 acres it has left, 13 acres the family held onto after selling the rest.

The winery is at 13330 Paseo del Verano Norte. Manzanita Roasting opens at 8 a.m. on fair days, two hours before the vendors start at 10.

Many of the people we work with have lived near Bernardo Winery long enough to remember when there were more vines and fewer rooftops. If a long-time family home here is starting to feel like more house than you need, the team at Lori Ratliff is glad to talk it through, with no pressure and at whatever pace suits you. Contact Us whenever you're ready, and enjoy the fair.