Sponsor
Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Preferred Citation
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Biographical / Historical
Scope and Contents
Arrangement
Related Materials
Processing Information
Title: Louis Cherpin Winery Collection
Creator: Louis Cherpin Winery
Identifier/Call Number: 0080
Contributing Institution: California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Special
Collections and Archives
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 0.21 Linear
Feet(1 box)
Date (inclusive): circa 1934-1980, 2006
Abstract: The
collection contains photographs, wine labels, and ephemera from the Louis Cherpin
Winery, which operated from 1934 to 1980 in Fontana, California. There are also
photographs of Louis Cherpin and his family members.
Sponsor
The processing of this collection and the creation of this finding aid was funded by the generous support of the National
Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. Permission to publish, quote, or
reproduce must be secured from the repository and the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation
[Box/folder# or item name], Louis Cherpin Winery Collection, Collection no. 0080,
Southern California Wine and Wine Industry Collection, Special Collections and
Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Materials were gathered from Special Collections' Southern California Wine and Wine
Industry Collection files.
Biographical / Historical
The Louis Cherpin Winery was a winery in Fontana, California that operated from 1934
to 1980, although it closed for several years during World War II. The winery was
founded by Louis Cherpin, who was originally from France. Cherpin, his father, and
other family members had left France for Canada in about 1915 and then moved to
California in 1922.
Before he started the winery, Cherpin worked in the vineyards with the Fontana Farms
Company and then was a sharecropper. In the early 1920s, Cherpin bought 30 acres of
land in Fontana. He sold 10 acres of land each to his brother, Eugene Cherpin, and
his sister, Mary Liabeauf. Both Eugene Cherpin and Mary Liabeuf opened their own
wineries near the Louis Cherpin Winery.
Louis Cherpin was the original winemaker for his winery but he was later joined in
the business by his sons: Joe, Eugene, Marcel, and Leon. The winery closed for about
four years, beginning in 1943 but the Cherpin brothers started it up again in about
1947. Louis Cherpin died in September of 1956.
The winery made dry, red table wines, with Burgundy being its biggest seller. Louis
Cherpin Winery also sold dessert wines, but those were made by Regina Winery in
Etiwanda. The winery would bring grapes to Regina, which would produce the dessert
wines and Louis Cherpin Winery would sell the wines under its own label. After
Regina was bought out by the beverage producer Heublein, the Cherpin brothers turned
to other wineries, including Brookside in Guasti and a winery near Bakersfield, for
producing dessert wines. The Louis Cherpin Winery also sold brandy that was bottled
in Los Angeles by Trojan Distributing Company.
The Cherpin family operated sales rooms in Los Angeles and Fontana. They would also
sell to customers in homes and restaurants in the Los Angeles area. Additionally,
the family would would sell its wines in bulk to other wineries, including Charles
Krug Winery in Napa Valley.
The Cherpin brothers faced challenges with the winery after the death of their
parents, including financial difficulties with the business and steeper competition
from Northern California wineries that sold their products in Los Angeles. The
brothers also started leaving for other jobs. In 1973, Joe Cherpin left to work for
the Cucamonga Vineyard Company. That same year, Eugene Cherpin - Louis Cherpin's son
and the nephew of the Eugene Cherpin who ran his own winery - took over operation of
the Louis Cherpin Winery. The winery no longer produced its own wine but continued
buying wine in bulk to sell under its own label. Eugene Cherpin operated the winery
until 1980 before closing it down and leaving for a job with Heublein.
Scope and Contents
The collection contains photographs and wine labels from the Louis Cherpin Winery in
Fontana, California; photographs of Louis Cherpin and his family members; and
ephemera from the winery, including Louis Cherpin's business card, an envelope and
letterhead from the winery and a winery invoice. There is also a folder that
contains written descriptions of the photographic prints. The Cherpin family members
in the photographs include Louis, Eugene, Leon, Marcel, and Joe.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Related Materials
Southern California Wine and Wine Industry Oral History Collection, Collection no.
0024, Southern California Wine and Wine Industry Collection, Special Collections and
Archives, University Library, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Rob Strauss in September 2018.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Louis Cherpin Winery
Wine and wine making - California
Photographs
Wine labels