Ernest Gallo, California Wine Magnate, Is Dead at 97

“Ernest Gallo, whose pioneering use of advertising helped develop the U.S. mass market for wine and built the family-owned E&J Gallo Winery into the largest U.S. maker, died this afternoon of natural causes at his home in Modesto, California. ‘The American wine industry, particularly the California wine industry, owes an enormous amount of gratitude to the Gallo brothers,’ Robert Koch, president of trade group Wine Institute, said in a statement. As chairman of the company, Ernest Gallo worked until his mid-90s, although he passed his duties as chief executive office to his son, Joseph E. Gallo, in 2001. The company ranks as the second-largest wine company in the world after Constellation Brands Inc., selling 65 million to 70 million cases each year in more than 90 countries. Although Joseph E. Gallo spearheaded the global expansion, he spoke deferentially of his father’s business skills… Ernest Gallo was born March 18, 1909, in Jackson, California, 125 miles east of San Francisco. His parents, Giuseppe and Assunta Gallo, were Italian immigrants who operated a boardinghouse in the Sierra foothills in the waning days of the Gold Rush.”