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Sutter Home Winery is the fifth largest winery in the United States. The history of the winery dates back to 1874, when a Swiss-German immigrant named John Thomann established a small winery and distillery in St. Helena, the heart of Napa Valley in California. After his death, the winery and Victorian home beside it were sold to another Swiss family, the Leunbergers. They rechristened the estate, Sutter Home. As with most Napa Valley wineries, Sutter Home was shut down during Prohibition. The winery remained abandoned until 1947, when John and Mario Trinchero purchased it. They were immigrant brothers from New York City whose family had been active in the Italian wine business. The Trincheros refurbished the winery and began producing Napa Valley wines. For years they operated “mom-and-pop†style, selling to their Napa Valley neighbors who filled their barrels and bottles at the winery’s back door. A turning point occurred in 1968, when Bob Trinchero (Mario's oldest son) sampled a homemade Zinfandel made from grapes grown in the Sierra foothills, California’s famed Gold Rush country. Impressed by the character and intensity of this robust, spicy red wine, Bob began vinifying Amador County Zinfandel. In 1972, another of Bob Trinchero’s innovations provided the American wine consumer with a new style of premium wine known as White Zinfandel. This prompted the Trincheros to increase its production while refining the wine’s style to accentuate the fruitiness his customers found so appealing. White Zinfandel made Sutter Home a household name and one of the largest, independent family-run winery in the U.S. Still very much family-run, Bob and Roger Trinchero and Vera Trinchero Torres, along with Vera’s sons, Anthony and Robert Torres, manage a large winemaking organization, overseeing all operations from grapegrowing and production, to marketing and sales. The Trincheros are noted for their industry leadership, commitment to sustainable agriculture and preserving the environment.