California Ag Network

Tag: E. & J. Gallo Winery

  • E. & J. Gallo Winery Completes Acquisition of Over 30 Brands From Constellation

    E. & J. Gallo Winery (Gallo) today announced that it has completed the acquisition of more than 30 wine brands from Constellation Brands, Inc.  The closing of the agreement between Gallo and Constellation was approved by the Federal Trade Commission on December 23, 2020.

    The acquisition includes well known wine brands such as Arbor Mist, Black Box, Clos du Bois, Estancia, Franciscan, Hogue, Manischewitz, Mark West, Ravenswood, Taylor, Vendange, and Wild Horse that will join the Gallo portfolio. With this acquisition, Gallo will expand its operational footprint with the addition of five wineries located in California, Washington, and New York, along with Constellation’s Polyphenolics business. Gallo will also acquire the Nobilo New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc brand in a separate transaction with Constellation.

    “The closing of this transaction represents our company’s long-term commitment to the wine industry,” said Chief Executive Officer, Ernest J. Gallo. He added, “We are pleased to welcome the new employees joining the Gallo family.”

    The acquisition was first announced by Gallo and Constellation on April 3, 2019. Pursuant to the FTC consent order, Gallo will also divest two of its legacy dessert brands, Fairbanks and Sheffield, to Precept Brands LLC. Terms of the transaction between Gallo and Precept were not disclosed.

    About E. & J. Gallo Winery
    Founded by brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo in 1933 in Modesto, California, E. & J. Gallo Winery is a family-owned winery with more than 7,000 global employees and is the acclaimed producer of award-winning wines and spirits featured in more than 110 countries around the globe.  A pioneer in the art of grape growing, winemaking, sustainable practices, marketing and worldwide distribution, Gallo crafts and imports wines and spirits to suit a diverse range of tastes and occasions, from everyday offerings to boutique, luxury bottlings.

    The Gallo portfolio is comprised of more than 100 unique brands, including Barefoot Cellars, Dark Horse, and Gallo Family Vineyards, as well as premium box wines The Naked Grape and Vin Vault.  Premium offerings include Apothic, Carnivor, Chateau Souverain, Columbia Winery, Ecco Domani, Edna Valley Vineyard, J Vineyards & Winery, Louis M. Martini, MacMurray Estate Vineyards, Mirassou, Orin Swift, Talbott Vineyards, and William Hill Estate, along with highly acclaimed imports, such as Alamos, Brancaia, La Marca, Las Rocas, Martín Códax, Whitehaven, and LUX Wines, importers of Allegrini, Argiano, Jermann, Pieropan and Renato Ratti.  Gallo Spirits currently offers New Amsterdam Vodka and Gin, Familia Camarena Tequila, RumHaven, Lo-Fi Aperitifs, E&J Brandy, Argonaut Brandy, Germain-Robin Brandy, Diplomático Rum, as well as imported Scotch whiskies from Whyte & Mackay, including The Dalmore, Jura and John Barr.

  • Bringing Space Technology to Water Needs in California Vineyards

    Beltsville, Maryland, (December 18, 2017) – ARS scientists are saving water in California’s vineyards by using satellite data and computer models to better manage water resources.

    Bill Kustas and Martha Anderson are fine-tuning computer models at the ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, to help vineyard managers determine how much water to apply and when to apply it. The models tap into satellite data that measure land surface temperature providing information about soil and vine moisture levels and rates of water use or “evapotranspiration.”

    ARS hydrologist Bill Kustas measures grapevine canopy width at a California vineyard to help evaluate satellite data used in models of vine water use.

    Winemakers want grapes of uniform quality, and that can be a challenge with vineyards that have different soils and climatic conditions across thousands of acres. Even a single vineyard can have a variety of irrigation needs, according to Kustas, an ARS hydrologist.

    The ARS model uses satellite measurements of land surface temperature in a unique way by separating out the vine canopy from the soil surface temperatures. This gives the model greater precision and enables researchers to better evaluate vine stress, says Kustas.

    Known as precision agriculture, the approach is helping the E. & J. Gallo Winery cut water use by allowing the grower to identify specific vineyard areas that are under stress and need irrigation. Gallo owns and operates 25,000 acres of vineyards in California and contracts with grape producers operating another 200,000 acres. The results also will be shared with other vineyard operators, offering the potential to save water across more than a million acres of vineyards in California.

    With water supplies critical in California, the state’s nut and fruit orchard operators are also likely to benefit from these efforts, Kustas says.

    Over the next two years, the ARS researchers plan to develop a daily digital map of evapotranspiration in California’s Central Valley, which includes some of the world’s most productive agricultural lands, at a resolution that will give growers a firm grasp of conditions in specific areas within their fields.

    You can read more about this research in the December 2017 issue of AgResearch magazine.

    For more information contact Dennis O’Brien, ARS Office of Communications.

  • Winemaker Gina Gallo of E. & J. Gallo Winery to Keynote at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium

    SACRAMENTO, CA, November 20, 2017 – Third generation winegrower and artisan winemaker Gina Gallo of E. & J. Gallo Winery will deliver the keynote luncheon speech on opening day of the 2018 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium on Tuesday, January 23, in Sacramento at the Sheraton Grand.
    “As a member of one of America’s historic winemaking families, Gina embodies a sense of tradition, family legacy, craft and business acumen that transcends generations and inspires future growth amongst colleagues,” says John Aguirre, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG), a co-organizer of the event along with the American Society for Enology and Viticulture (ASEV).
    Gina Gallo oversees the Gallo Signature Series and Ernest & Julio Gallo Estate wines. In her role, she is intimately engaged with the Gallo family’s premier estate vineyards in Napa, Sonoma and Monterey counties. As the Senior Director of Winemaking, she views winemaking as both a creative expression of the land and as a demonstration of the unique qualities of a specific vintage. Her values stem from her family’s entrepreneurial history, using her experience and creative vision to craft luxury wines from her favorite blocks from the family’s estate vineyards.
    Gallo was a 2016 inductee to the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America. Fortune magazine named her one of the “Most Innovative Women in Food and Drink,” and she was named #17 on Decanter magazine’s “Power List” of the most important men and women in wine. She is a board member of the American Farmland Trust, which works to preserve agricultural land, and Taste of the NFL, which raises funds and awareness for food banks and anti-hunger initiatives.
    Unified’s Tuesday keynote luncheon was first introduced in 2014 and has since become a feature of the Unified Symposium. Tuesday also includes a welcome reception in the late afternoon — an added benefit with every general registration. 
    The 2018 Unified Symposium will again take place at the Sacramento Convention Center, located in downtown Sacramento, January 23-25.
    Built with the joint input of growers, vintners and allied industry members, the Unified Symposium serves as a clearinghouse of information important to wine and grape industry professionals. The Unified Symposium also hosts the industry’s largest trade show of its kind, with over 650 vendors displaying their products and services. For additional information, visit www.unifiedsymposium.org.