| Ernest, Julio, and Joseph Gallo |
EasyNews, UseNet made Ea .. |
| ::darkshadows:: (bat@cave.org) |
2009/05/11 01:43 |
Ernest, Julio, and Joseph Gallo
It was under unhappy circumstances that the Gallo brothers inherited
the family vineyard. In 1933, their father murdered their mother and
then killed himself. Ernest and Julio, in their early twenties, took
on the responsibility of raising their teenaged brother, Joseph.
With the money their father had left, they invested in a winery. At
the time, the young men had no idea how to make wine, Julio checked
out some books on winemaking from the public library, and they were on
their way. In the 1950s, Ernest discovered that poor blacks were,
buying large quantities of 40- proof port and mixing it with lemon
juice. He decided to develop a wine suited to those tastes. The result
was Thunderbird. The wine earned the company a great deal of money
(2.5 million cases were sold in the first year), but it also earned
Gallo an unwanted reputation as a producer of cheap wine.
The Gallos survived, however, to produce more Gallo wine and the
popular wine cooler Bartles and Jaymes. Today Ernest and Julio Gallo
is the largest producer of wine in the United States. The youngest
Gallo grew up and bought himself a ranch where he raised cattle and
sold Gallo cheese. In 1986, a family feud erupted. The older Gallos
sued the younger for the use of the Gallo name. Ernest and Julio won,
so today you will find no Gallo cheese to go with your Gallo wine.
|
|
|