The Franzia Brothers Winery – the oldest in Ripon – was reopened after Prohibition when matriarch Teresa (Carrara) made a monumental decision with her sons at her side underneath a walnut tree and huller outside their rural home. She went to the Bank of Italy in Stockton where she applied for a loan to start the family winery once again while her husband Giuseppe was away on a trip. She was lauded for “thinking outside the box” in their new homeland as she signed the loan for $60,000 to start the winery still located along Highway 120 east of Murphy Road on the way to Escalon.
Ripons First Family of Wine
Matriarch thought out of the box
