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Our Story

We are fortunate to have exclusive import rights to feature wines that have been produced by true artisans and it brings us great joy to be able to share their life’s work with our customers. We want our wines to be the first bottles emptied at the dinner table and the longest remembered.

Our Past

Just 7 days after prohibition lifted in December 1933, the first bar was installed and our family wine service began. Anthony J. Paterno started selling wine and beer “by the glass”. 5 cent for wine and 10 cent for beer as well as gallon purchases kept the customers happy…..perhaps a little too happy. With patrons consuming more every day, He began giving an appetizer and eventually selling the Sicilian style pizza bread now famous throughout Chicago. After building his own commercial size oven, the first commercial pizzerias in Chicago was born.

Anthony J Paterno

Grand and Western Ave Chicago, IL

In 1946, Anthony J. Paterno purchased a local domestic wine distributorship called Pacific Wine Company. At that time, Pacific Wine bottled bulk California Wines for distribution in Chicago. In the late 40’s and 50’s, Pacific Wine expanded under Paterno’s leadership to include estate bottled California wines (Charles Krug and CK) and European wines including Bolla, Fazi Battaglia, Lancers and Mateus.

Retail Liquor Store

Pizzeria

Circa 1938

The creation of Paterno Imports facilitated his desire to share the very best products he could find. Paterno Imports brought quality wines, oils, and other premium old world products into the new world market primarily Sicilian Gold from Marsala, Sicily, Extra Virgin Olive Oil from his home town of Buccheri, Sicily, and Gancia Asti Spumante produced in Piedmont in the north along with many quality wines and products from everywhere in between. Anthony J. Paterno believed in sharing the very best products from the old world with everyplace he called home.

Greve in Chianti

Nestled in a small picturesque town in the Florentine countryside, Paterno found a new home, GREVE IN CHIANTI. Home to Giovanni da Verrazzano, down the road from the home of Amerigo Vespucci and the heart of Chianti wine making production, the town proved the perfect location to link quality Old-World Italian manufacturing and his New-World American distribution network which forever linked the Paterno family name to quality wine. Anthony Paterno and his daughter Michelin fell in love with Greve and the explorer’s spirit that dwell within it’s people.

In 1960, Paterno purchased a bottling facility in Greve from the Gancia Family. The property served as another family home, a manufacturing plant for the world-famous Chianti “Fiasco” Wine Bottles, and a bottling facility for wines from Mirafiore, Colli Senese, S.E.V.A., and Mazzoni. These wines were sold in modern wine bottles and the traditional “Fiasco” or straw covered bottles. Most of the wines bottled were shipped to Chicago for sale throughout the United States. Thus continued a life long legacy of importing quality Italian products from his Sicilian home in Buccheri, Chianti home in Greve, to share with his true American home in Chicago.

Constructed in 1893 by Ernesto Leproni, the property was used as cellars by the Union of Chianti Classico producers and subsequently purchased in 1913 by Count Emanuele Mirafiori d’Alba, until being sold to the Gancia di Canelli brothers in 1932. In 1960, Paterno made the facility his home and base of operations for Chianti production. After his death in 1978, the property ceased production and served many purposes for the town until falling into disrepair. In 1999, the property was purchased by the Bencista Falorni family of Greve and remodeled to include the very first Enomatic Dispensers. The property has continued to serve both as a home and business to many of the families in the town including the present proprietor, the Bencistà Falorni family and the new Enoteca Falorni.

Anthony J. Paterno worked with many Italian And Sicilian companies from Gancia in the north, to Mirafiore in Chianti, to Pellegrino in Sicily to provide unique solutions further exposing the American Marketplace to the quality products from Italy he enjoyed in his daily life. Many of the bottles he created are still coveted by collectors and wine lovers throughout the United States. These bottles are currently on display at Wine Vault located in Skokie IL. Headquarters.

A Legacy Reborn

Sicilian Gold is the flagship brand of Lentino Imports. Created by Anthony J. Paterno in the 1950’s as a flavored Marsala. Sicilian Gold began a revolution in wine marketing with its iconic triangle bottle shape and by using decanters molded into famous statues such as the Michelangelo’s Pietà and David. After his death in 1978, Sicilian Gold appeared to have passed alongside him. In 2004, the search began to renew a legacy and usher in a second generation of Sicilian wines. Sicilian Gold Syrah and later Sauvignon were created by Les and Michelin Lentino to honor her father’s legacy and showcase the premium quality capacity of new winemakers in Sicily using International well known Varietals.

While traveling throughout Sicily in search of high quality wine vintages, the Lentino family discovered a new family winery and a new partnership was born.

The vision for the company was simple: to provide wine of the highest quality that reflect the history of the brand at an affordable price. More than a half century later, the Sicilian Gold label has been reinvented and the adventure begins anew.

Our Present

Michael J. Lentino established Lentino Imports to showcase third generation of Sicilian Gold creating a line of Sicilian varietals from all throughout the island. Sicilian Gold Nero d’ Avola, Nerello Mascalese, and Grillo are made from fruit native to Sicily. The versatility of these grapes allows for adaptability to Sicily’s numerous micro-climates, ultimately resulting in well-balanced, highly enjoyable wines.

Going back to our roots, Sicilian Gold Marsala is once again available in the USA exactly 20 years after the renaissance and over 70 years since the birth of Sicilian Gold.

Lentino Imports fuses familial passions: love of history, wine, food, created and natural beauty, and above all else, family! Representing the highest quality brand in modern wine technology, providing secured and temperature controlled storage and distribution, along with showcasing Sicilian Gold and family labels throughout the globe.

Contact Us on how Lentino Imports and Wine Vault can create a custom wine experience for you today!

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LENTINO IMPORTS

We represent the best wines of each region from the South to the North of Italy!