Description
About Patritti Wines
Giovanni Patritti was among the first Italian immigrants to arrive in South Australia. In 1925, a 25 year old Giovanni boarded a ship at the port of Genoa and left his Piedmontese village of Carru for a brighter future. He believed he was on his way to America to meet his sister. Instead he landed at Port Adelaide, South Australia, on the 28th of April, 1925.
With not a word of English, Giovanni still managed to swiftly gain employment. He changed his Italian name to the more ‘Australian’ John, and after a number of different jobs, began selling ice-cream at the gates of the Botanic Gardens in Adelaide.
Just one year later, Giovanni was leasing vineyards in the Brighton District, 15km south of Adelaide City (now the City of Marion), and making wine for the ‘new Australians’.
By the late 1920s Giovanni owned a number of acres of vineyard and had built a winery with his best friend, Cristiano (Jimmy) Bissacca. From the late 1920s until the 1960s, Patritti predominantly produced dry red table wines and fortified wines.
Out of a need to diversify and continue business growth in the early 1970s, the Patritti family came up with an ingenious and resourceful solution – one that has remained a unique point of difference for more than 40 years. 1974 saw the first release of 100% natural non-alcoholic sparkling grape juices from wine grapes. Some years later apple juice was introduced.
Since the late 2000s, Patritti has shifted their focus towards premium wines and adopted ‘new’ and rare grape varieties, adding depth and diversity to an already extensive range.
