Cloverdale in Sonoma County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Italian Swiss Colony

March 28, 2017

1. Italian Swiss Colony Marker

Inscription. Here in 1881 Italian Swiss immigrants established an agricultural colony. Choice wines, produced from grape plantings from the old world, soon brought wide acclaim. By 1905, ten gold medals were awarded these wines at international competitions.

Erected 1957 by California State Park Commission. (Marker Number 621.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Industry & Commerce. In addition, it is included in the California Historical Landmarks series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1881.

Location. 38° 45.762′ N, 122° 58.434′ W. Marker is in Cloverdale, California, in Sonoma County. Marker can be reached from Asti Post Office Road near Asti Road. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 26150 Asti Post Office Road, Cloverdale CA 95425, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 6 other markers are within 12 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Icaria-Speranza Utopian Colony (approx. 1.6 miles away); Gould--Shaw House (approx. 3.9 miles away); Isaac E. Shaw Building (approx. 3.9 miles away); Frog Woman Rock (approx. 11.4 miles away); Harmon Gregg Heald (approx. 11.9 miles away); March/Heald Flour Mill (approx. 12 miles away).

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Italian Swiss Colony (wine) - Wikipedia. In 1881, Andrea Sbarboro founded an agricultural colony at Asti (named for Asti in Italy), primarily focused on grapes. Sbarboro's intent was to establish a profitable enterprise which would provide work for the many Italians who had migrated to San Francisco (although there were at first some Italian Swiss from Ticino, thus giving the colony its name, it soon became an entirely Italian-American enterprise.)...By 1910 the company owned over 5,000 acres (20 km2) in various holdings in the Central Valley...As the movement for prohibition of alcohol in the United States grew, Sbarboro became a leading spokesman for wine and temperance, but lived to see the beginning of prohibition on January 16, 1920... The Italian Swiss Colony operation (then owned by National Distillers) was acquired in 1953 by Louis Petri of Petri Wine (founded in 1886). Petri shepherded the growth of Italian Swiss Colony as a mass-market brand; wine was shipped in tankers to be bottled in New York. (Submitted on April 4, 2017, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)

March 28, 2017

2. Italian Swiss Colony Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on December 11, 2019. It was originally submitted on April 4, 2017. This page has been viewed 546 times since then and 58 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 4, 2017.