Gallo vineyards in Sonoma County, originally uploaded by Eugene Hill

Ernest Gallo, the marketing genius behind the success of the American wine industry, and co-founder of one of the world’s largest wine companies, has died at the age of 97.

A son of Italian immigrants, after the repeal of Prohibition Ernest and his younger brother Julio founded the E&J Gallo Winery in 1933, fighting wine’s then snob image by making cheap jug wine for the masses, They took the then-provincial California wine industry to the international market.

During the 60’s their Thunderbird wine seemed to be a standard on college campuses, at least at UC Berkeley.

Later, when the California quality wine boom took off, they left behind their cheap wine image, bought more vineyards in Sonoma Country, and added high priced vintages. The “Santa Rosa Press-Democrat” writes:

The Gallos’ roots in Sonoma County go back to the founding of their winery. They started buying Sonoma County grapes in 1934 and in 1977, E. & J. Gallo purchased the Frei Ranch and Winery.

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Gallo of Sonoma now controls some 6,000 acres of land in Sonoma County, half of that in grapes. Among the holdings are the Gallo Family Vineyards in Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley’s storied MacMurray Ranch.

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The Gallo brothers together made a forceful business pair, with Julio overseeing the winemaking and vineyard management, and Ernest making the business and marketing decisions. It was Ernest who introduced modern techniques of merchandising and brand management to the wine industry, including such techniques as a dedicated sales force, point of sale displays, outdoor billboards and TV advertising.

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The brothers often joked that their goal was to outdo each other - Julio’s to make more wine than Ernest could sell and Ernest’s to sell more wine than Julio could make.

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Younger by a year, Julio died in a jeep accident in 1993.

As an Italian-American, the Gallos were an inspiration to our community, a confirmation of the American dream that immigrants can become anything they set their minds to.

In Memory of Ernest Gallo from Gallo.com