Riboli Family Winery: A California Wine Story

Riboli Family - 2nd and 3rd Generation-(Steve, Cathy, Santo -Papa Stefano and Maddalena) photo courtesy Riboli Family Winery

Because Riboli Family Winery got its start over 100 years ago, the winery’s story in many ways mirrors the story of California. The winery was founded in the city of Los Angeles by Santo Cambianica, an Italian immigrant who eschewed the railroad work that brought many immigrants to the state. His motto, “sempre avanti” or, always forward, aptly describes California as well. But Riboli is a family winery and family is key to the story which includes the contributions of second-generation winemaker Stefano Riboli as well as Stefano’s wife, Maddalena, (a recent celebrant of her 100th birthday,) who was  ahead of her time in countless ways and Anthony Riboli the 4th generation wine maker and board member. 

An Ongoing Connection to its Urban Winery Roots

San Antonio Winery, mid 1900_s photo courtesy Riboli Family Winery

Anthony Riboli’s great great uncle, Santo Cambianica, founded San Antonio winery in the city of Los Angeles in 1917. “People don't realize that LA County was the biggest agricultural county in the state of California back at the turn of the 20th century,” says Riboli. “Northern California came later,” as it also did for Riboli wines. 

One imagines that a winery established in Los Angeles would have to be nimble adapting to change, and urban sprawl. That the original property survived, as did a few other wineries in the state, because founder Cambianica was given permission to continue making wine for the Catholic church during Prohibition, as “luck, or divine intervention,” would have it, according to Riboli.

“In LA City, there were over 100 wineries prior to prohibition,” says Riboli. “After prohibition that number was fewer than 10.” San Antonio is still an existing brand within the Riboli Family portfolio, and the original San Antonio winery still a player in the game. While wine is no longer being made at the Los Angeles property, (though it was until relatively recently,) its tasting room and restaurant function are ever important for keeping connected not only to Riboli’s history, but to its importance in the community. “The biggest benefit of having urban roots is that it still gives us a very good pulse of what the consumer wants,” says Riboli, “and we’re selling wine directly to a lot of Los Angeles restaurants.”

“We obviously appreciate the past and we're very proud of our past,” says Riboli, of the wines that built the brand, “but my grandfather’s motto is our motto for a reason, and looking forward is the way to consistently evolve. The minute you're not looking ahead, somebody else is and surpasses you.”

Expanding to Paso Robles 

Arial shot of Harvest photo courtesy Riboli Family Winery

Like any brand with as robust a history as Riboli’s, the ways in which Riboli Family Winery has evolved since its inception are numerous. When vineyard space in Los Angeles country inevitably dwindled, the family looked to other sources for quality wine grapes, which have included Santa Barbara and Monterey, among others, and most recently Paso Robles, including the first vineyards owned and farmed by the Riboli family. “Paso was definitely an important part of our evolution, especially for red wines,” says Riboli. “I don't even know if we were ready for it when we started there,” he says, having previously bought grapes rather than grow their own. “We didn’t really have the personnel to keep pushing into Paso, but that turned out to be a huge part of our own reinvestment.”

Riboli has been instrumental in the rising tide of the Paso Robles for producing cabernets that rival Napa’s, with a more consumer-friendly price point. “It’s been an opportunity to capture some new customers that can't afford a $250 bottle on a Tuesday night, but they might do $100 if it's something that they believe is comparable,” Riboli says.

Strategically diversifying labels within the family winery is just one way the brand has been meeting consumers. Not only does this allow them to curate loyal drinkers at every price point, but also to be able to provide more Riboli wines to restaurants. “On most wine lists, you’re not typically going to have 10 wines with the same brand,” says Riboli. “Part of creating new labels was being able to offer different brands to a retailer or restaurateur,” he says. “Part of it is also about price point, no question. But it’s also about storytelling. It’s about, how do we create an identity?” 

Riboli now has over 10 brands within its portfolio, including the original San Antonio, San Simeon, which primarily showcases Paso Robles wines, Highlands 41, and Maddalena, as well as an Avanti Division — an homage to Stefano Riboli — which partners with smaller, family-owned wineries with similar values.

Maddalena: The Family Matriarch & Winery Pioneer

Santo Stefano Maddalena tasting from barrel photo courtesy Riboli Family Winery.jpg

It’s fitting that Anthony Riboli’s grandmother, Maddalena, should have a wine brand named for her. Actually, it’s more than fitting; she more or less demanded it. He tells the tale of the first Paso Robles vineyard being named Stefano in honor of his grandfather: “And so I get this call from Maddalena, and she says, ‘Anthony, it's so nice what you're doing for your grandfather. I saw the photos and the vineyard is beautiful. But where's my vineyard?’” Riboli recalls, which indeed pushed them to seek additional property in the region. 

When a property across the street from Stefano’s vineyard became available, the Maddalena vineyard became a reality. His and hers vineyards, but that wasn’t the end of it. “And then I got another phone call,” says Riboli: “‘Your grandfather's vineyard has this beautiful gate, but I have this ugly agricultural gate. Where's my gate?’”

“She's always been a force to be reckoned with, in a good way,” says Riboli, who acknowledges that as a woman in the wine industry, she had to fight harder for her place in it than did her husband. While he was the winemaker, she ran the business side of the winery, and very much took the sempre avanti principle to heart and put her strong-willed nature and vision toward the good of the business, and was one of the first to establish a restaurant in a tasting room. “Together they really have the same philosophy, and I think it was part of the success in their marriage,” says Riboli, and doubtlessly the success of the brand. (And yes, she got her gate. Of course she did.)

Looking Forward

Anthony Riboli photo courtesy Riboli Family Winery

As for the upcoming 5th generation of the Riboli family? While always looking forward, knowing that there’s a legacy to not only maintain but build upon is ever present for Anthony Riboli. “I have two daughters, and in some ways I work for them,” he says, “so that this legacy is available for the next generation. If it's something they're interested in, great. If it's not, great. I don't want anyone to ever feel pressure to come in. But we also don't want to be the generation that screws it up. It’s just more an intrinsic goal to not let it go.”