The Vines That Bind
Discover L.A.'s viticultural roots
at San Antonio Winery
By Jean T. Barrett
Photography Todd Masinter

Drive past the UPS facility and the auto wrecking yard, take a left at Lamar Street, go past the concrete plant, and you're in Los Angeles wine country-or, rather, what's left of it: the 85-year-old San Antonio Winery.

It's hard to believe, but vineyards once filled this two-block site east of downtown Los Angeles. Even as recently as the beginning of World War II, nearly 50 wineries operated in Los Angeles County. Today, San Antonio is the only historic winery still operating in Los Angeles.

How did San Antonio manage to survive while all of its L.A.-area competitors bit the dust? How has it grown into a formidable winery-restaurant-distributorship empire in one of the nation's toughest wine markets?

To learn the answer, pay a visit to the winery and spend a little time with Steve Riboli, marketing director and grandnephew of founder Santo Cambianica. While you're there, you might meet Steve's sister Cathy, who runs the winery's Maddalena Restaurant, and his brother Santo, company president. You'll probably spy Steve's mother, Maddalena, bustling around the restaurant like she owns the place (indeed), and Steve's dad, Stefano Riboli, working the shop. During a tour of the winery, you might also run into Santo's son Anthony, who holds a master's degree in viticulture from the University of California, Davis, and is one of four winemakers employed by the family.

In short, this place is crawling with Ribolis. And there's your answer. While other families can't find the time to eat dinner together at night, this one has worked together, side by side, for decades. "We survived because of strong family continuity," Steve says.

    This clan's story begins in 1912, the year Santo Cambianica emigrated from Italy's Lombardy area to the Italian-American community of Lincoln Heights in Los Angeles. Five years later, he opened a small winery and named it San Antonio after his patron saint.

Santo's timing was unfortunate; Prohibition began in 1920. However, while wineries all around him closed their doors, Santo supplied sacramental wine to the Catholic Church. During the 13 years of Prohibition, little San Antonio Winery grew steadily, and by 1933, it was producing 25,000 cases annually.

After Prohibition was repealed, Santo, a bachelor, asked his nephew Stefano Riboli, from Italy, to help him run the winery. Stefano arrived in 1936 and rapidly proved indispensable to his uncle. In 1946, when Stefano married Maddalena Satragni, he gained another partner in the business, one who brought a new philosophy to the company: marketing.

"Mom is awesome at marketing," Steve says. "She is a true pioneer in this industry."

To wit: Maddalena spearheaded the opening of the winery's tasting rooms, small shops where consumers could sample and purchase San Antonio wines. The first one debuted in 1964, and by the early 1970s, San Antonio operated a network of 10 such outlets.

Then, in 1972, Maddalena decided to serve sandwiches at the winery, and she opened a tiny deli. Soon, it became immensely popular, and she set up tables, squeezing them in among the barrels and fermentation equipment. There was just one problem: The deli had many more customers than seats.

"Mom went to Dad and said, 'I need your fermentation room,"' Steve says. "He thought she was crazy." But in 1975, she got her wish, and Maddalena Restaurant opened in the former fermentation room. Today, the 350-seat trattoria-style restaurant is one of the most popular spots in downtown L.A. to have lunch.

Although the restaurant would make more money if it served dinner, it's only open for lunch. The reason behind that decision is typical of the Ribolis. "Years ago,

Mom said we wouldn't open for dinner," Steve says. "She wanted us to spend time with our kids in the evenings."

Just as popular as the restaurant are the wines. From the time of its founding until the 1970s, San Antonio's lifeblood was its hearty, inexpensive red table wines made primarily from grapes grown in nearby vineyards, the sorts of wines popular with immigrants from Western Europe. Even now, the winery sells a lot of inexpensive table and communion wines under the San Antonio label. But today, those products are almost an afterthought; in a process that began in the 1970s, the winery has reinvented itself as "Riboli Family Wine Estates" and now produces seven premium brands from up and down the California coast.

The brands include Kinderwood, a line of inexpensive varietals, and Maddalena Vineyard, produced from grapes grown at the family's vineyards in Monterey. (The aromatic, crisp Maddalena Pinot Gris is particularly good.) The best bottles from the family's Monterey and Paso Robles vineyards carry the San Simeon label; Aliento del Sol is a higher-end brand focusing on chardonnay and pinot noir; and La Quinta is a line of fortified dessert wines. The family takes justifiable pride in their two ultrapremium cabernets: Santo Stefano, from vineyards in the Alexander Valley, and Riboli Family Vineyards, produced from estate vineyards in the Napa Valley's Rutherford appellation, which compete with the best cabernets from the North Coast.

And the future looks bright. Among them, Steve, Cathy, and Santo Riboli have 10 children ranging in age from 10 to 27. Santo's son Anthony already works for the winery, and Steve hopes at least two or three more will want to join the family business. "There's plenty for the next generation to do," Steve says.

Meanwhile, the grandparents and parents are keeping an eye on things.

The San Antonio Winery, City of Los Angeles Cultural Historic Monument #42, is located at 737 Lamar Street in Los Angeles. Maddalena Restaurant is open daily 10 A.M. - 6 P.M. Winery tours are offered daily on the hour between noon and 4 P.m. For information, call (323) 223-1401 or access www.sanantoniowinery.com.

MAY/JUNE 2002