Born into a family that cultivated grapes in the town of Ragusa, Sicily, Giuseppe "Papa Joe" Giumarra came to the United States with his father in the early 1900's with the dream of a new life, a dream that populated acres and acres of the finest grapes in the world.

After almost 40 years in his adopted country, Joseph realized his boyhood dream and along with his brothers purchased a small acreage of fertile farmland north of Bakersfield, California. The gently rolling land in the rich San Joaquin Valley proved ideal for growing sweet and delicious table and wine-making grapes and Giumarra Vineyards was born.

During the 1940s and 1950s, ARRA and GrapeKing table grapes (both Giumarra Vineyards' labels) became famous throughout the United States, Europe, and the Far East for their exceptional quality and flavor. Today Giumarra Vineyards farms more than 10,000 acres in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountains. It is one of the largest growers of table grapes in the country and has expanded to include stone fruit, select vegetables and citrus harvests.

Giumarra Vineyards also operates one of the most extensive cross breeding programs in the industry, developing new varieties of table grapes in countries such Israel and South Africa in addition to its own facility in California.