30 Sep Please The Palate Pick of the Week: San Antonio Winery in Downtown Los Angeles

Each week I look for the one thing that stood out, be it a glass of wine, a particular dish or a unique experience as the Please The Palate pick of the week. A couple things came to mind this week but in the end, one of the coolest things was to visit San Antonio Winery in downtown Los Angeles. Celebrating their 100th birthday, San Antonio Winery is the Please The Palate pick of the week. I am a third generation Los Angeleno on both sides. My mother’s mother was born in Los Angeles. My father’s father was born in Los Angeles. My mother and father were both born in Los Angeles. I was born and raised in Los Angeles and have always felt that I know this city. But somehow, while I knew it existed, I had never been to San Antonio Winery located in Lincoln Heights, just east of downtown Los Angeles. Finally, as they celebrate their 100th birthday, I spent an afternoon there. I spent the day with Anthony Riboli who is the winemaker for San Antonio Winery. He is also the 4th generation in his family to run the winery, along with his cousins, and a 2nd generation Los Angeleno. San Antonio Winery was started in 1917 in Lincoln Heights by Anthony’s great-great uncle and then his grandfather came from Italy at 16 years of age to work there and eventually take over. The facility is quite large and houses the winery, barrel room and bottling line. There is also a large tasting room where the ceiling is made from the old redwood barrels that they used to use to make wine. They have wines made from their own vineyards in Paso Robles, Monterey and Napa, as well as their winery in Italy called Stella Rosa. You can taste 4 wines for only $5 and tours are free. Like most large tasting rooms, there are lots of other wine-related items available for sale as well. There is a restaurant on site as well, located in the original winery, serving up pasta dishes using Anthony’s 95-year-old grandmother Maddalena’s recipes. The lasagna is pretty darn tasty. I will be writing a story about San Antonio Winery but couldn’t wait to share them as the Please The Palate pick of the week.