Matthew Picerno

Wine by Night
Try, now, to envision a municipal bond broker, in his 104th-floor office, who dreams the green and bacchanalian dream of being a winemaker. That was Matthew Picerno, 44, of Holmdel, N.J. By day he worked at Cantor Fitzgerald, rising at 5:30 a.m. Six months of the year, when the day job ended, he headed over to Jersey City, to his Bacchus School of Wine franchise, and worked there until 11 p.m. It was a former two-truck garage, well scrubbed, with Italian flags and piped-in Sinatra. The students turned out 200 barrels of wine a year, the school only broke even financially, but what does money matter in an affair of the heart?

"This was a hobby," said his wife, Petrina Marie, "but he really enjoyed it. Municipal bond broker at day, winemaker at night. He was pretty wild, very loud. This was a man if you told him this was a rule, he would try to break it just because it was a rule. Anything. Driving. He lost his license at least twice in his lifetime."

Mr. Picerno, who leaves three children, aged 9, 12 and 14, had planned to pursue winemaking full time when he left Wall Street.


Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on September 29, 2001.


Matthew Picerno, 44, 'larger than life' Matthew Picerno was a skier, a winemaker and a three-sport coach, but he was proudest of being a member of the "Dancing Dads" troupe at the Dance with Melody school in Middletown, where his 9-year-old daughter, Francesca, was a student.

For four months, Mr. Picerno and a half-dozen other fathers rehearsed their routine. Finally, at a recital in June, they were ready to perform their number -- a modern dance interpretation of the '70s disco song "Macho Man."

"He was so excited to do that," said Mr. Picerno's wife, Petrina. "He was larger than life. He made everyone feel at home, part of the party. He was so very personable."

Mr. Picerno was a limited partner and a municipal bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of One World Trade Center when it was hit by a hijacked plane on Sept. 11. He was 44.

Mr. Picerno lived with his wife and three children in Holmdel. He grew up in Jersey City, where he attended Marist and St. Mary's high schools. He graduated from Taylor Business Institute with an associate's degree.

Two years ago, the Picernos opened the Jersey City Bacchus School of Wine, where they walked clients through the process of crushing and pressing grapes and then bottling their own wine.

"The atmosphere was always fun," said Petrina Picerno. "Basically it was Matt singing Frank Sinatra the whole time."

In addition to his wife of 18 years, and his daughter, Mr. Picerno leaves two sons, Anthony, 14, and Matthew, 12; as well as his mother-in-law, Phyllis Meluso of Holmdel and many loving aunts, uncles and cousins. His parents, Anthony and Patricia (Brandoff) Picerno, predeceased him in 1986.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Benedict's Roman Catholic Church in Holmdel. Interment will follow in Holmdel Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Matthew M. Picerno's Children's Educational Fund, c/o Albert Russo, P.C., 268 Broad St., Red Bank, N.J. 07701.