We give V. Sattui Winery stars: Yelp | Trip Advisor

Italian winemaker Vittorio Sattui arrived in San Francisco in 1882 with his new bride, Kattarina, to begin their life in America. Born in Genoa, Vittorio, like his father before him, was by trade a baker from the small hilltown of Carsi. In San Francisco, Vittorio at first worked as a baker, making wine in his spare time, while Kattarina took in washing. Soon the industrious Sattui family had saved enough money to start a boarding house in the Italian colony of North Beach.

Vittorio continued to make wine, serving it to his patrons at the boarding house. By 1885, the reputation of Vittorio's wines allowed him to quit the bakery and devote himself full-time to his real passion, winemaking. Vittorio quickly established a thriving commercial venture (located at 722 Montgomery, now Columbus Avenue) called St. Helena Wine Cellars, taking the name of the small, bucolic, Napa Valley town were he obtained his grapes. Vittorio always said, "there is nothing like St. Helena grapes!" He would personally select the grapes during the harvest and then haul them by horse-drawn wagon to Napa for transfer to San Francisco by ferry.

When Vittorio moved his expanding winemaking business and family (Kattarina and Vittorio eventually had six children) to the Mission district at 2507 Bryant Avenue, near the corner of 23rd Street, he adopted the new name, V. Sattui Wine Company. Vittorio continued to ferry his grapes from St. Helena, crushing them at his new winery. The V. Sattui Wine Company's high quality wines were sold directly to the customers and delivered to their houses in barrels and demijohns (usually one to 25 gallon sizes) throughout the Bay Area by horse-drawn wagon. Eventually, Vittorio's clients reached as far north as Oregon and Washington state. The family business thrived.