Ernest Gallo, co-founder of the E. & J. Gallo Winery empire, passed away peacefully on Tuesday at his home in California, two weeks shy of his 98th birthday. As children, the family lived in Modesto, California where Ernest and his brother Julio worked in the family vineyard. In 1933, after the tragic death of their parents and at the end of prohibition, the two brothers founded the company as we know it today with $5900 in borrowed money and a recipe for wine from the Public Library. They sold their first bottles at 50 cents a gallon, just half of the going price at the time, and reportedly made $30,000 in their first year of sales.
At one point they became the largest wine company by volume, though that title now belongs to Constellation Brands of New York. Gallo still holds strong in second place though - generating, according to their website, sales of more than 75 million cases under 40 different labels.
Ernest was predeceased by his brother and co-founder of E. & J. Winery, Julio, who passed away in 1993.
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