• The Bakersfield Californian, Wednesday, March 7, 2007 11:45 AM

Ernest Gallo--who co-founded the E.&J. Gallo Winery at the end of Prohibition with his brother Julio and directed sales, marketing and distribution for the company--died yesterday at 97. Peter Mondavi Jr., a competitor, called Gallo an "icon" who was instrumental in the development of the U.S. wine industry, and in making the beverage "accessible at all levels."

In private, Gallo was known for his Old World manners. But in business, he was tenacious, shrewd, aggressive and secretive. Gallo grew to become the world's largest wine company by volume, a title since taken by Constellation Brands of New York. But Gallo remains second, selling an estimated 75 million cases under more than 40 labels. Its grapes are grown throughout California's wine-producing regions, from Napa to the Central Valley.

By the early 1990s, Gallo wines were widely seen as a low-cost alternative to top wines. The winery introduced new labels, including Ernest and Julio Gallo Estate Bottled, a higher-priced line of wines made with grapes from some of the state's best growers.

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