Angelo Petri: Establishing the Roots of Cigar and Wine in the US

Angelo Petri was a French tobacconist and vintner. He was born in 1883 in Marseilles, France. In 1895, Petri moved to the US after his family’s cigar business also migrated to American soil. Petri served the family’s company. During his presidency, Marca Petri, the company’s flagship product, became the leading brand of cigar in the US. Revenues rose to levels far greater than what the company has achieved in previous years.

After the success of Marca Petri, Petri also revived his family’s winemaking business in 1933. The company was later known as United Vintners. Petri used innovation and marketing expertise to propel United Vintners to the top and become the world’s largest wine distributor by the time he retired in 1956.

The SS Angelo Petri, a wine tanker named after Petri became the first wine tanker in the world. On its maiden voyage in September 1957, SS Angelo Petri carried over 2.4 million gallons of wine from Stockton to Texas and New Jersey. It was unfortunate that SS Angelo Petri sank off the coast near San Francisco in 1960.