San Antonio Winery


The San Antonio Winery is a winery in the Lincoln Heights district in the city of Los Angeles It has operated since 1917 just east of downtown at 737 Lamar Street, south of North Main Street. The winery includes a wine shop, restaurant, and banquet hall.
The winery uses grapes from the Riboli family farm in Monterey, a smaller Napa Valley vineyard, and contracts with other Californian growers. Besides the bottling and distribution at the original winery site, they have an energy-efficient winemaking facility in Paso Robles and opened a tasting room there in 2016. San Antonio produces varietal, table wines, and dessert wines, both red and white.
Until fairly recently, San Antonio Winery was the only winery that operated within the city limits of Los Angeles. It had held this distinction since Prohibition.

History

In 1917, Santo Cambianica, an Italian man from the northern Italy province of Lombardy, immigrated to Los Angeles and started the winery at its current location. Hoping for good luck, he dedicated the winery to Saint Anthony by naming it as such. When Prohibition was enacted in 1920, Cambianica asked for permission from the Catholic Church to continue operating his winery for communion wine. They also sold grapes to home wine makers. The winery has been declared as historical monument #42 in the city of Los Angeles.