Tiny Asti was once one of California's biggest tourist attractions

The tiny community of Asti, nestled between Cloverdale and Healdsburg, was once the home to a population of Italian Swiss immigrants who helped to popularize wine in the United States in the 1950s. Established in 1881 by northern Italian immigrant Andrea Sbarbaro, the town grew up around the Italian Swiss Colony, a winery that produced affordable table wines. The winery prospered and the prominent Italian families built substantial villas near the winery estate. By the 1930s, the community had about 300 residents, many of whom worked at the winery or nearby vineyards. Before and after World War II, the Italian Swiss Colony competed with Disneyland as one of the biggest tourist attractions in California. But by the 1970s, the appeal of larger wine towns with sleeker vintages competed with the raffia- covered wine bottles produced at Asti. The community began to lose its appeal, and by the 1980s it was nearly deserted when comedian Pat Paulsen bought the town and declared himself mayor in 1985. These days the historic winery is the property of another prominent Italian wine company, Gallo, which purchased the estate in 2015.

Janet Balicki Weber