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| Landmark #621 | Sonoma County | Visited: May 9, 2012 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A plaque outside the Cellar No. 8 building at the Souverain Winery! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: Here in 1881 Italian immigrants established an agricultural colony. Choice wines produced from grape plantings from the Old World soon brought wide acclaim. By 1905, 10 gold medals had been awarded these wines at international competition.
OTHER TIDBITS: The first Italian in the mix was named Andrea Sbarbaro, who came to the USA when he was 12 years old and organized building and loan societies across California! His goal was to find a place where overlooked Italian migrants (along with a few Swiss folks) could work and prosper, so in 1881, a group of workers set to planting vineyards in the little village of Asti! Originally, this was just a grape-growing enterprise, but when grape prices plummeted from $30 to $8 a ton in 1887, the community became an actual winery with a 500,000 gallon wine cistern! The colony focused its efforts on delivering wine to the East Coast and abroad, where it won many prizes! Unfortunately, the success of the Italian Swiss colony was no match for the wave of prohibition rhetoric sweeping the country, and the 18th Amendment did in the once prosperous company! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: 10 mi S on Asti Post Office Rd from Asti Rs Thru Winery Gates, plaque at office door Asti, CA 95425 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~456mi (734km) — 7.6hrs |
| When should I go? | I can’t find exact times when the winery is open, but their phone hours are from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday, and from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM on Saturday! |