In 1935, when America was still coming out of the dark days of prohibition, Sebastiano "Sab" Sudano owned a produce business in Baltimore, MD. His customers were the restaurants and small grocers in the area, particularly around Little Italy sandwiched between Downtown-Inner Harbor and Fells Point. However, he would spend his evenings with his Italian friends, drinking wine, talking about family and current events.
This group of men retained all the traditions and habits of their forebears, which included drinking wine on a daily basis. Back home in Italy, wine was a way of life, but in America, beer and hard liquor seemed to be more common.
"Why not make our own wine?" one of them suggested.
Sab was in the produce business, so he knew fruit, and he just nodded his head, "Sounds like a good idea."
Soon, Sab was making calls to California, where wine grapes were plentiful. Hearing stories about Prohibition-Era fruit dealers who had shipped truckloads of grapes all across the country to home winemakers, Sab knew it could be done.
To begin, he bought a train car load of grapes; Zinfandel, Alicante, Muscat, Carignan. These were the grapes an Italian’s palate would warm to first.
Over the years, he built a business in wine grapes that paralleled his fruit business -- and the success of his venture produced an impressive parallel income. By 1960, Sab was shipping train cars of grapes each year. With the help of his sons, Benjamin and Joseph, they were buying 216 tons of grapes each year, all done in just September and October.
The family business is now in its third generation. Benny and Brian Sudano are shipping in seventeen tractor trailer loads of grapes and fresh wine juice each season. This tops their grandfathers record - now equaling over 323 tons of grapes each autumn - and increased the choice of grape varieties from Sab’s four to a menu that includes 36 varietals.
The grapes bought by S&S Wine Grapes and Equipment are grown in all areas of California, from Napa Valley, Sonoma County, and six other regions of the Golden state. With the annual crush of customers eager to purchase their grapes, from a modest 36-pound box to several tons per family, S&S added winemaking equipment to their list of items to sell.
From barrels to grape presses, crushers to cork finish bottles, S&S now offers the new or seasoned home wine maker everything necessary to fulfill the dream of making an award-winning wine.
This group of men retained all the traditions and habits of their forebears, which included drinking wine on a daily basis. Back home in Italy, wine was a way of life, but in America, beer and hard liquor seemed to be more common.
"Why not make our own wine?" one of them suggested.
Sab was in the produce business, so he knew fruit, and he just nodded his head, "Sounds like a good idea."
Soon, Sab was making calls to California, where wine grapes were plentiful. Hearing stories about Prohibition-Era fruit dealers who had shipped truckloads of grapes all across the country to home winemakers, Sab knew it could be done.
To begin, he bought a train car load of grapes; Zinfandel, Alicante, Muscat, Carignan. These were the grapes an Italian’s palate would warm to first.
Over the years, he built a business in wine grapes that paralleled his fruit business -- and the success of his venture produced an impressive parallel income. By 1960, Sab was shipping train cars of grapes each year. With the help of his sons, Benjamin and Joseph, they were buying 216 tons of grapes each year, all done in just September and October.
The family business is now in its third generation. Benny and Brian Sudano are shipping in seventeen tractor trailer loads of grapes and fresh wine juice each season. This tops their grandfathers record - now equaling over 323 tons of grapes each autumn - and increased the choice of grape varieties from Sab’s four to a menu that includes 36 varietals.
The grapes bought by S&S Wine Grapes and Equipment are grown in all areas of California, from Napa Valley, Sonoma County, and six other regions of the Golden state. With the annual crush of customers eager to purchase their grapes, from a modest 36-pound box to several tons per family, S&S added winemaking equipment to their list of items to sell.
From barrels to grape presses, crushers to cork finish bottles, S&S now offers the new or seasoned home wine maker everything necessary to fulfill the dream of making an award-winning wine.