Petri Wine is a family run vineyard in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. It was founded in 1886 by Raffaello Petri. In 1953, Petri Wine was the largest domestic producer of wine in the United States. Petri originally produced their wine exclusively in kegs for bulk, local distribution. During prohibition, the Petri family closed down their wineries, sold their 250,000 gallons worth of stock, and used those profits to become involved in other industries, especially making Italian leather goods and cigars. After the repeal of prohibition, the Petri family used their profits from these enterprises to purchase a number of competing wineries. In 1935 Louis Petri decided to begin bottling their wines and distributing the wine nationally, while also maintaining their bulk business by contracting with

E & J Gallo Winery E & J Gallo Winery is a winery and distributor headquartered in Modesto, California. It was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo, and is the largest exporter of California wines. E & J Gallo Winery is the largest family-owned wine ...

. The Petri Wine company was also instrumental in founding the Allied Grape Growers, an organization devoted to stabilizing grape prices. In 1952, Petri also founded the

United Vintners United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

. In 1953, Petri wine bought the winemaker

Italian Swiss Colony Italian Swiss Colony was a 19th and 20th-century American wine company and brand. Based in Asti, Sonoma County, California, Italian Swiss Colony was at one time the leading wine producer in California. Establishment and growth In 1881, Andrea Sb ...

, which was about the same size as Petri at the time. As of 1955, Petri Wine was based in Escalon, California, and the Petri Wine name was used for wines produced by the Allied Grape Growers. Louis Petri continued to head both the Petri Wine operation and the Allied Grape Growers. Petri Wine sponsored the popular radio show, ''

The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a radio drama series which aired in the USA from 1939 to 1950, it ran for 374 episodes, with many of the later episodes considered lost media. The series was based on the Sherlock Holmes stories by Art ...

'' from 1943 until 1946, when

Basil Rathbone Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...

left the show and was replaced by Tom Conway, when the clothing company Clipper Craft became the new sponsor, and much later Kreml Hair Tonic for Men. Some of the surviving Petri Wine sponsored editions, amongst other versions, may still be found online. Petri Wine also sponsored the popular radio show, ''

The Casebook of Gregory Hood ''The Casebook of Gregory Hood'' was a radio detective program in the United States. It existed in several versions - with different stars on different networks in different years. Hood was an importer in San Francisco who dealt in rare items. Joh ...

'' (1946–1951). Harry Bartell was the company's spokesman on the show for most episodes. In 1956 Petri celebrated their 70th Anniversary and commissioned a 16mm filmed silent 30 minute documentary called "The History of Petri Wines" to run at their facility and at wine fairs. It was filmed silent to 1) save money, and 2) allow it to be shown in crowded noisy gatherings. C.R. Skinner Productions of San Francisco produced this. (A film print survives in the

Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum is located in what is now the historic district of Niles in the city of Fremont, CA. The museum is housed in the Edison Theater, a century-old Nickelodeon movie theater, just half a block from the former site ...

film archive.) In 1968, soon after purchasing United Vintners from Louis Petri, Allied Grape Growers agreed to sell United Vintners, including the Petri label, to Heublein.

External links

References

Wineries in California Food and drink in the San Francisco Bay Area {{food-company-stub