Prohibition survivor
When Stefano Riboli first saw the beautiful Maddalena Satragni, she was sitting atop her family’s tractor. Riboli had cruised over in his car, which had an antenna bearing a raccoon tail – quite fashionable at the time. His style screamed “city slicker” – not Satragni’s type – or so she thought. Seventy years later, the two are still going strong.
Riboli had moved from Italy to America in 1936, joining the large community of Italians that had settled in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. His uncle, Santo Cambianica, put him to work at his almost 20-year-old business, the San Antonio Winery. Back when the winery opened, in 1917, there had been thriving vineyards spread throughout LA, the San Gabriel Valley, and San Bernardino County. But in 1920, Prohibition struck, decimating the region’s winemaking industry. Yet, San Antonio survived. Why? The Archdiocese of Los Angeles hired the devoutly Catholic Cambianica to produce sacramental wine.
Info
Address 737 Lamar Street, Los Angeles, CA 90031, +1 323.223.1401, www.sanantoniowinery.com | Getting there Free on-site lot and unmetered street parking | Hours Tours: Mon–Fri noon–4pm on the hour, Sat & Sun 11am–5pm on the hour; Maddalena Restaurant: Sun–Thu 10:30am–6pm, Fri & Sat 10:30am–7pm; Tasting room and gift shop: Sun–Thu 9am–7pm, Fri & Sat 9am–8pm| Tip Visit the very cool art gallery Hauser, Wirth & Schimmel (901 E 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013).
The ability to evolve and embrace new opportunities has been the key to San Antonio’s longevity. For instance, when it became illegal to process whole grapes on the premises and business was threatened, Maddalena hatched a plan to turn the deli into a full-blown cafeteria-style restaurant. Bearing her name, it became the first restaurant in California to open in a winery. Today, the eatery serves up tasty Italian food in rooms lined with redwood casks.
Visitors can tour the winery for free any day of the week. Inhale the tasting room’s aromatic scent emanating from its ceiling, which is made of recycled redwood planks used in the original fermentation tanks. Enter the bottling room and witness the wines clinking down a conveyer belt as they are labeled and packed.
Despite his profession, Stefano has never had more than two glasses of red wine at night. After that, the 94-year-old says, “you feel it in your knees. That’s when you have to stop.”
Back
To the online map