L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2026 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano product was "legally" clean, because it was not sold to make alcohol. At the same time, some Italian-founded wineries survived through entirely legal channels. Sacramen- tal wine for Catholic parish- es remained permitted, and p r o d u c e r s r e o r g a n i z e d around that demand. The San Antonio Winery in L o s A n g e l e s i s a w e l l - known example, which con- tinued to operate throughout t h e 1 9 2 0 s b y s u p p l y i n g c h u r c h e s a n d p r o d u c i n g grape juice and tonics. Con- t e m p o r a r y r e p o r t i n g a n d later museum exhibits con- firm that religious demand was substantial enough to k e e p f a c i l i t i e s o p e n a n d workers employed, and when P r o h i b i t i o n e n d e d , t h e s e companies did not need to start over but simply reorga- nize work as it used to be. When repeal arrived in 1 9 3 3 , restaurants served alcohol openly again, and c o m m e r c i a l w i n e r i e s resumed normal production; w i n e c o n s u m p t i o n i n t h e domestic tradition, however, changed very little. Some families continued to buy g r a p e s e a c h a u t u m n a n d make small quantities for their own use well into the postwar years. Others moved domestic wine-making sup- ply chain came quickly into being: instead of shipping bottled wine across the coun- try, growers shipped grapes, and rail lines carried packed crates from California's vine- y a r d s t o c i t i e s w i t h l a r g e i m m i g r a n t p o p u l a t i o n s . Labels on the boxes adver- tised the contents with Ital- ian names, vineyard scenes, or familiar pastimes such as bocce, as can be seen at the Smithsonian, where some surviving crates are kept. Packing companies in areas such as Lodi even expanded acreage because demand for home winemaking grapes increased during the 1920s. Through the same pattern, our ancestors created one of the most curious products of the decade: concentrated g r a p e " w i n e b r i c k s . " These were sold as fruit con- centrate and could be pur- chased via mail orders or in neighborhood groceries, as local museums and regional history projects in California document. They came with carefully printed warnings advising buyers "not to dis- solve the block in water and leave it in a warm place for several weeks, since fermen- tation might occur," – which was exactly what you needed to do to make wine. But the into professional winemak- ing, drawing on knowledge accumulated during a period when formal training barely existed. Cinotto suggests that this transfer of practical expertise from kitchens and backyards into the modern industry shaped California viticul- ture in lasting ways. The cel- ebrated wine regions that d e v e l o p e d l a t e r d i d n o t emerge only from investors and technology but also from habits preserved when selling wine was illegal, but making it at home was accepted. If we look at it from this perspective, Prohibition did not erase wine culture among Italian Americans; it just slightly shifted its structure. Instead of taverns and store- fronts, activity moved into households, churches, and a g r i c u l t u r a l n e t w o r k s . Grapes traveled by rail rather than bottles by truck, labels advertised fruit rather than vintages, and small presses appeared beside laundry tubs and garden sheds. The ban remained real, yet daily prac- tice adjusted around it, often t h a n k s t o t r a d i t i o n s a n d familiar routine. Dinner, in t h e e n d , s t i l l c a l l e d f o r a drink, and for many Italian- American families, that drink remained wine. ed commercial production, that structure did not disap- p e a r b u t s i m p l y s h i f t e d indoors, with families who would never have opened a business still retaining the ability to produce a modest household supply. The legal framework itself s o m e h o w a l l o w e d t h i s t o happen through a significant loophole: the 18th Amend- ment banned manufacture and sale for commerce, yet the enforcement law – the Volstead Act – worked out differently in practice. Amer- icans were still allowed to produce fermented bever- ages at home within limits commonly summarized as up to 200 gallons a year per household. Religious use r e m a i n e d l e g a l , a l l o w i n g churches to purchase sacra- mental wine. Lawmakers, b a s i c a l l y , w e r e t r y i n g t o eliminate a commercial alco- hol market, not necessarily the domestic habits of mil- l i o n s o f h o u s e h o l d s . F o r immigrant families accus- tomed to treating wine as part of a meal, this distinc- tion was essential because they understood that what they were doing belonged to a tolerated domestic sphere and was, therefore, accept- able by law. A n I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n I n January 1920, the United States entered P r o h i b i t i o n . B a c k t h e n , n e w s p a p e r s framed it as a clean break with the past, a reform that would close saloons and change daily habits. In many Italian homes in California, though, the most noticeable change was not what disap- peared from the table but what …moved into the house. To understand how and why the events unfolded the way they did, we need to explain that wine, in those Italian- American households, did not function as a barroom drink; rather, it was part of meals, often diluted with water, served in small glass- e s , a n d t r e a t e d a s a f o o d accompaniment. So, when legal sales stopped, families adjusted their routines to make sure they neither broke the law nor had to renounce t h e i r g l a s s o f w i n e w i t h lunch. A p u b l i c h i s t o r y e s s a y from the University of Ams- terdam highlights how ordi- nary this continuity actually was, as many immigrants came from regions where g r a p e s w e r e g r o w n a n d processed locally, sometimes on a very small scale, and they brought practical knowl- e d g e w i t h t h e m . I n o t h e r words, they did not need a commercial winery to pro- duce a simple table wine. What really counted, on the other hand, was access to grapes and a corner of space – a garage, a backyard shed, a basement – where fermen- tation could happen without being disturbed. The result w a s r a r e l y f i n e w i n e a n d rarely intended for sale; it fit into the same seasonal cycle as preserving vegetables or making tomato passata at the end of summer. The importance of that h a b i t b e c o m e s c l e a r e r i n S i m o n e C i n o t t o ' s b o o k Soft Soil, Black Grapes, which reconstructs how Ital- ian migrants helped shape C a l i f o r n i a ' s w i n e w o r l d through family labor and cooperation. He shows that viticulture developed not only through famous entre- preneurs but through grow- ers, relatives, and neighbors who shared equipment and experience: in our early com- munities, wine-making skills were collective and portable. When Prohibition interrupt- T h e y e a r s o f t h e h o m e b a r r e l : I t a l i a n California under Prohibition CHIARA D'ALESSIO During Prohibitionism, the Italian community in California continued to make wine for family use. Wine wasn't alcohol: it was part of family rituals and consid- ered the same as food (Image created with DALL-E 2) LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE

• Cover