Word: gallos
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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California had its own cataclysm in the 1920s: Prohibition. Many of Haraszthy's precious vines were ripped up. By the time of repeal in 1933, only a handful of vintners were left, turning out spirits supposedly for sacramental or pharmaceutical purposes. Against this dismal backdrop, Ernest and Julio Gallo entered the business...
...made the rounds of local grape growers and soon had enough grapes to make all the wine that the tanks could hold-but no customers for it. A few days before Prohibition ended, the brothers received a form letter from a would-be wine distributor in Chicago. Ernest Gallo immediately hopped a plane for Chicago and sold the distributor 6,000 gallons at 50? each. Emboldened, he continued East and found enough customers to take his entire production. The Gallos' first-year profit was $34,000, all of which was plowed back into the company...
...attempted nationwide marketing for their early sherries and muscatels. They recruited their own salesmen and instructed them to see that their product gained a prominent position on liquor-store shelves. The salesmen's zeal gave the company a reputation for ruthlessness. Some oldtimers say that teams of Gallo men would stride into a store and tough-talk the proprietor into keeping competitors' wine on less visible shelves. Others insist that Gallo salesmen merely used economic incentives, such as offering a month's free supply if Gallo wine were given good display...
Another element of the Gallos' success is technology. Their staff of 25 graduate oenologists is the nation's largest. Automation has cut production costs to the stalk: Gallo Hearty Burgundy, for instance, is made from more expensive grapes than a number of comparable competing Burgundies, but mass production helps keep the price about the same. The Gallos have the industry's first winery-owned bottlemaking plant, producing up to 1,500,000 bottles a day-all tinted in shades of green created by Gallo researchers to screen harmful ultraviolet rays. Though the Gallos' oenologists have developed...
Unlike nearly every other California winery, Gallo officially discourages visitors. This secretive, all-business tone is set by Ernest Gallo. He often spends his Sundays inspecting the vineyards and his vacations checking up on retailers. In a Texas town four years ago, a policeman became suspicious of a stern-faced man who was intently surveying a liquor shop after closing hours; anticipating a burglary attempt, the cop stopped the man for questioning. The suspect protested: "But I'm Ernest Gallo." Replied the cop: "Yeah, and I'm Lyndon B. Johnson." In business transactions, Gallo...