Italian Swiss Colony facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Italian Swiss Colony |
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Location | Sonoma, Sonoma County, California |
| Official name: Italian Swiss Colony | |
| Designated | 1881 |
| Reference no. | 621 |
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
The Italian Swiss Colony was a very important American wine company. It started in the late 1800s and continued into the 1900s. Based in Asti, Sonoma County, California, this company was once the biggest wine producer in California.
How the Company Started and Grew
In 1881, a man named Andrea Sbarboro created a farming community in Asti, California. He named it after Asti in Italy. This community mainly focused on growing grapes. Sbarboro wanted to build a successful business. He also wanted to provide jobs for the many Italian people who had moved to San Francisco.
Even though it was called "Italian Swiss Colony" because some early workers were from Ticino, Switzerland, it quickly became a business run by Italian-Americans. The company was first set up so workers could eventually own parts of it. However, this never happened, and it stayed a regular company owned by shareholders.
In 1887, the price of grapes dropped a lot. This forced the company to build its own winery and start making wine themselves. Key people in these early years included Charles Kohler, Paolo de Vecchi, and Pietro Rossi. Rossi helped the company sell its wines directly to markets in the eastern United States. Soon, their wine was sold in Europe, South America, and Asia.
Sbarboro had a huge wine tank built. It could hold about 500,000 gallons (almost 1.9 million liters) of wine! This giant tank even became a popular spot for tourists to visit. By 1905, the wines from Italian Swiss Colony had won awards at many international competitions. By 1910, the company owned over 5,000 acres (about 2,000 hectares) of land in the Central Valley.
As the movement to ban alcohol in the United States grew, Sbarboro became a strong supporter of wine. He lived to see the start of Prohibition on January 16, 1920. During Prohibition, it was illegal to make or sell alcohol.
After Prohibition Ended
.jpg)
After Prohibition ended, the Italian Swiss Colony business was bought by Louis Petri of Petri Wine in 1953. At this time, the company was owned by National Distillers. Louis Petri helped Italian Swiss Colony become a very popular brand for many people. Wine was even shipped in large tanker trucks to be bottled in New York.
You might remember their famous TV ads! An actor named Ludwig Stössel played "The little old winemaker." His voice was done by Jim Backus, and Bob Oates did the yodeling. Their catchphrase was "The little old winemaker – me!" These ads were shown regularly on national television in America.
The company later became part of a group called United Vintners. Then, it was sold to Heublein in 1969. Later, Heublein sold it to Allied Growers. By 1987, the company's name changed to ISC Wines. The brand "Italian Swiss Colony" was shortened to just "Colony."
In 1987, Allied Growers sold ISC Wines to Erly Industries. This company then combined it with Sierra Wine Company to form a new business. In 2015, the company that grew from Italian Swiss Colony was called Asti Winery. It sold wine under the Souverain brand and had one of America's largest wine production facilities. It was bought by E & J Gallo Winery.
In Movies and TV Shows
The Italian Swiss Colony brand has even appeared in popular culture!
- In the movie Grease, during a pajama party, the Pink Ladies drink a bottle of Italian Swiss Colony wine. They think it is imported from another country.
- In the TV show The Sopranos, in season 5, episode 10, called “Cold Cuts,” a character named Uncle Pat tells a story about one of his workers putting a Swiss Colony bottle on a fence post.
