Petri Wine

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Petri Wine was the main product produced by Raphael Petri's "Petri Wine Company". The company was founded in 1896 in the San Joanquin Valley.In an effort to expand production a second vineyard was added to the company in 1916. This new vineyard was located in Escalon North of Modesto. More members of the family joined into the company as Raphael's grandson, Louis Petri, joined in 1935. 

In 1944 Louis Petri became president of the company and rapid expansion began to occur under new leadership. Petri wines began purchasing companies and Louis Petri incorporated Petri Wine Company into a wine conglomerate he created called Allied Grape Growers. Through the 1950s, Petri's wine company held a ever growing market share and in 1968 publicly sold the company to Heublein. In 1982 Heublein was sold to the R.J Reynolds Tobacco Company that would eventually merge and become incorporated into Nabisco.

The land and grape that produced Raphael's original wine is not lost though - in 2003 Bronco Wine Company purchase the 1916 expansion vineyard and from that produces over 60 kinds of wine (some of which are stocked in the low end at Trader Joe's).