Pray tell
Tom Caruso & his wife Jess Arnold
Willamette Valley, Oregon
story…
Pray Tell was established in 2017 by Tom Caruso & his wife Jess Arnold. Tom’s link to wine goes all the way back to his childhood growing up in an Italian family in Philadelphia. There surrounded by the Italian traditions of his family the seed was planted for his future. During his childhood he would often help his grandfather make wine in his yard in South Philly. His grandfather would source grapes from New Jersey & Pennsylvania to then be turned into homemade wine. Tom would help him with the hand crank destemmer & small basket press (which Tom still has) that his grandfather would set up on the sidewalk for this beloved tradition.
Tom didn’t jump straight into wine as one might think he would based on this upbringing. He first made his way to New York City where he worked as an editor for several years. Surrounded by the never dull restaurant scene his love for wine began to become more apparent. He did some stints interning at Brooklyn Winery, as well as completing the Sommelier program at the international Culinary Center before jumping head first into wine by moving west to Sonoma, then finally to Oregon where he would lay down roots. Here he would spend stints working at several wineries before finally establishing Pray Tell with their first release of a 2017 vintage Gamay, a wine they still produce today.
The winery is essentially a two member team of Tom & Jess. Jess also also holds a full-time job as the assistant winemaker over at Soter Vineyards. Helped along by generous friends in the area they craft a handful of wines from sourced fruit throughout the Willamette Valley & greater area.
Philosophy…
Pray Tell wines are reflection of Tom & Jess’s drive to play by their own rules & explore their curiosity through different grapes & production methods. They do not adhere to any specific rules or steadfast “recipe”. They follow their instincts & sense of smell & taste to make decisions in the cellar as they guide the wine to its final product. All of their fruit is is sourced from local growers who work with organic &/or biodynamic practices. Their overall cellar practices reflect this dedication to sustainability by employing simple but effective practices & avoiding the use of any chemical additions or additives to their wines. The only addition ever made to the wines is a small amount of SO2.
The labels for the wines are created by Tom along with help from his wife or in some cases his mom. Small pieces of paper are cut out & pasted together to create a larger piece of artwork that is then transposed into a label for the wines.
