Post by steph1can anyone help me find this wine please!!!!!
Petri Wineries (and Mission Bell Wineries at Madera, Madera
County, are the operation and production names of Allied Grape
Growers, a co-operative winery association composed of some three
hundred members, owners of medium-sized or small wine-grape
vineyards in the San Joaquin Valley. It was to this organization
that Louis Petri, the youthful president of Petri of California,
sold the Petri and Mission Bell Wineries in 1951, retaining the
exclusive marketing rights for the whole of the co-operative's
output. Two north coast counties wineries are owned and operated
for the production of dry table wines, the Forestville Wineries at
Forestville and the Northern Sonoma Wineries at Geyserville, both
in Sonoma County.
The organization of Allied Grape Growers was created to permit
both the grower and winery to share in the profits and risks of
winegrowing and wine marketing. The arrangement made available to
the growers a nationally advertised brand of wine in which
millions of dollars were invested in advertising and sales
promotion. With Allied Grape Growers producing the wine and Petri
Wine Company selling it, the growers dispose of a complete sales
organization headed by a family of experts and, in acquiring the
wineries, the growers have come in as partners.
For the marketing of top-quality wines the Petris established
Signature Vintners of San Francisco (see there). In that city,
also, the headquarters of the various Petri enterprises are
located. In 1953 the Petri interests acquired from National
Distillers the famed Italian Swiss Colony at Asti, Sonoma County
(see there) in a winehistory-making transaction.
The Petri Wine Company, which markets one of the most popular of
the nationally advertised brands of sound standard-quality wines
under the Petri labeling, is headed by Louis Petri as president
with Angelo Petri, his father, the chairman of the board. Albert
Petri, Paul Petri, L. N. Bianchini, and Clair N. Fishell are
vicepresidents and B. Mortara is secretary-treasurer. Plant
manager of the Petri Wineries at Escalon is James Gott while
Thomas Leong is the chief chemist.
The Petri story is one of enterprise and success, the result of
hard work coupled with the necessary flair for accomplishment.
Founder of the family enterprise in California was Raphaelo Petri,
a native of Tuscany, Italy, who came to San Francisco in the early
eighteen eighties, bringing with him the family tradition for
hospitality, good food, and wine. He first entered the hotel
business and his Toscano Hotel on Broadway and later his
Cosmopolitan on Green Street became popular meeting places where
good meals and wines could be obtained at reasonable prices.
Raphaelo Petri also started a wine enterprise, buying a small
winery in San Joaquin Valley and founding the Petri Wine Company
in 1886. He shipped wine to numerous members of the
Italian-American colony in California and elsewhere, including New
York City. Gradually his wine business expanded until it claimed
the major share of his business attention. In 1916 he purchased a
large vineyard in Escalon, near the site of the principal Petri
winery at Alba Station.
With the coming of Prohibition Raphaelo Petri retired from the
wine business and his son, Angelo, concentrated his energies on
the Petri Cigar Company, founded by Raphaelo's brother, Amadeo.
During Prohibition the Petris had another interest, the
manufacturing of Italian-style boots in Tennessee.
Repeal saw the return of the Petris to the wine industry.
Vineyards and wineries were acquired in various parts of
California and wine stocks were built up. The third generation of
the family now entered the wine picture. Louis Petri, born in San
Francisco in 1913, the son of Angelo, had planned to become a
doctor. He had studied chemistry and physics at Stanford and at
the University of California and Repeal found him a medical
student at St. Louis University. He decided to use his chemistry
training in the family tradition of wine making and joined his
father and grandfather in rebuilding the Petri wine enterprise. He
started at the bottom, rolling barrels in the firm's San Francisco
warehouse, but soon rose "from dirt to decanter." In 1945, at the
age of thirty-two, he was president of the company.
During the first years after Repeal the Petri Wine Company
confined its activities to shipping wines in bulk, according to
specifications of other firms and bottlers. It was then decided to
bottle at the winery and to reintroduce the Petri brand and label
to the public, reviving the tradition set some fifty years
previously by Raphaelo. By 1941 the Petri name was starting to
become a familiar one on the retailers' shelves. In the early
fifties the Petri organization, while retaining the family's name
and label and brand, decided to devote its main energies to the
merchandising end of the business, using modern advertising and
marketing techniques, leaving the production end of the business
to a co-operative, as described above.
Allied Grape Growers was formed in 1951 with some 230 members
representing approximately 50,000 tons of grapes from the San
Joaquin Valley. Allied was born because of the disastrously low
grape prices of the late 1940's and the unstable market of the
early 1950's. Growers who had experienced the devastating prices
of the last three years of the 1940's were looking for more stable
prices for their grapes.
Louis Petri, President of Petri Wine Company, was interested in
acquiring a consistent source of grapes at prices less erratic
than had been the case of the preceding years. A series of
meetings took place between growers and Louis Petri in 1951
endeavoring to come up with a joint plan that would help to
stabilize prices to the grower and vintner alike. Those meetings
culminated in an agreement whereby the growers agreed to acquire
an Escalon, CA plant owned by the Petri family and a Madera, CA
plant that Louis Petri had acquired from the Arakelian family in
1949.
North Coast grape growers were not exempted from low grape prices.
The Geyserville Growers, a small cooperative in Geyserville in
Sonoma County and with crushing facilities in Ukiah in Mendocino
County, were also experiencing serious problems in marketing their
members' grapes. They sought to become a part of Allied.
Negotiations were consummated whereby Allied acquired their
facilities and they became a part of Allied in 1953. This was
Allied's first venture into the North Coast area. In late 1953,
Louis Petri bought Italian Swiss Colony from National Distillers.
This acquisition included the Italian Swiss Colony Plant in
Fresno, the Asti Plant in Sonoma County, the Shewan Jones Plant in
Lodi and bottling facilities in Newark and Chicago.
In 1957 the Larkmead Growers, with a substantial quantity of
unsold wine and a delivery station in Napa County, solicited to
become a part of Allied. Their unsold wine was acquired and the
Larkmead members became members of Allied. This was Allied's first
entry into Napa County. The Community Winery, a cooperative in
Lodi experiencing marketing problems and low grape prices,
solicited membership and were accepted into membership in Allied
in 1958 with Allied acquiring their facilities. The two facilities
in Lodi, the Shewan Jones Plant and the Community Winery were
merged into one with the Shewan Jones Plant being closed and sold.
By 1959, 260,000 tons per year were being processed by Allied
Grape Growers. In the summer of 1959, an agreement was reached
between United Vintners and Allied for the stock of United
Vintners. While Allied was started in a period of adversity, it
grew and prospered. The purchase of the stock of United Vintners
did not stop Allied's growth. In 1961 the Cella Plant at Reedley
was acquired with their facilities and labels. In 1964 the
Inglenook Plant at Rutherford with facilities at Oakville was
acquired along with that well-known premium label. This put
Allied, through its marketing arm, United Vintners, into all
phases of the wine business from the top premium wines to a
complete line of popular priced wines at all levels.
As United Vintners' sales increased, so did the tonnage of grapes
that was processed through Allied. With their successful track
record, growers were now eager to become a part of Allied and
there was a long waiting list to get into the Association. The
1960's saw continued growth through Allied and its marketing arm,
United Vintners. It was also a period of transition in the wine
industry from a Dessert Wine business to a Table Wine business.
1968 was the last year in the wine industry in which the sales of
Dessert Wine exceeded the sales of Table Wine. During that period
United Vintner, as well as the wine industry, was busy changing
from Dessert Wine sales to Table Wine sales to keep pace with
market demands. Sales of wine through United Vintners increased to
a point where the amount of grapes processed yearly through Allied
increased from 1,100 members and 260,000 tons in 1959 to 1,600
members delivering in excess of 410,000 tons annually in 1968.
In 1968, Heublein, Inc. approached the Allied Board of Directors
to propose a possible merger. The culmination of the deal hinged
on working out a long-term supply contract under which Allied
would be the sole supplier of grapes for the enterprise. A
committee of the Allied Board and Management went to work with
attorneys to draw up such a contract that would protect the
growers long term as well as assuring a continuous supply of
grapes for the partnership. These meetings resulted in a 20-year
supply contract, renewable in 20-year increments, for a total of
80 years, making Allied the base supplier of all grapes for the
partnership. A deal was struck between the growers and Heublein
whereby the growers were paid cash for 82% of their Capital Fund
and Heublein acquired 82% interest in United Vintners with Allied
retaining 18%.
Shortly after the merger, the St. Helena Cooperative in Napa
County became a part of Allied and their members' grapes became a
part of Allied's membership. It wasn't long after the
Heublin/United Vintner Allied merger that problems began with
sales and subsequent demand for grapes required under the supply
contract. The relationship between Allied and Heublein began to
sour.
By the mid 1970's Allied and Heublein found themselves in court
litigating the very heart of the merger, the supply contract. It
now became necessary to negotiate a new contract with Heublein, as
well as negotiating to sell grapes to other vintners. At the same
time, Allied negotiated to sell their 18% in United Vintners to
Heublein.
In 1978, contracts were signed for the first time for Allied to
deliver grapes to wineries other than those owned or part-owned by
the Association. 1982 produced the first six million-ton grape
crop and the first three million-ton crush in California. This
large crush created severe problems in the industry. It became
apparent to the Allied Board, because of the experiences of the
previous crush, that it was essential for Allied to acquire some
crushing facilities of their own. Negotiations began with United
Vintners toward the purchase of the Escalon, Asti and Reedley
wineries in addition to Colony and other labels. The name ISC
Wines was used for the company formed. ISC Wines came into being
with the 1983 harvest. Wine sales faltered and profits fell in
direct proportion. The loss factor of ISC Wines further eroded the
returns brought about by lower grape prices in the market place.
By early 1986, with ISC Wines sales and returns faltering it
became apparent to the Allied Board that drastic steps must be
taken. In 1987 the Board authorized the release of Allied's
interest in ISC Wines to Erly Industries.
In other words, this brand name no longer exists.