The Passing of an Icon
This will go largely uncovered in most blogs, as they go on about their latest cult Pinot mailing lists, or pontificate on other minutiae, but I want to put out a virtual moment of silence for the passing of Ernest Gallo.
[...........]
Say what you will about the quality of the wines or the various "skid-row" products, Gallo did something important and monumental in this country - they got Americans to drink wine. You may turn your nose up at it and joke about how your grandmother drinks it, but you cannot deny that Gallo got people drinking wine. That hugely significant fact, in a country that previously did not drink wine (save largely for Gallo's fellow Italian immigrants), brought many of us to where we are today in wine. Whether you are a consumer, producer, retailer, or distributor, you owe E&J a debt of gratitude. I know I do.
Godspeed, Ernest.
[...........]
Say what you will about the quality of the wines or the various "skid-row" products, Gallo did something important and monumental in this country - they got Americans to drink wine. You may turn your nose up at it and joke about how your grandmother drinks it, but you cannot deny that Gallo got people drinking wine. That hugely significant fact, in a country that previously did not drink wine (save largely for Gallo's fellow Italian immigrants), brought many of us to where we are today in wine. Whether you are a consumer, producer, retailer, or distributor, you owe E&J a debt of gratitude. I know I do.
Godspeed, Ernest.
posted by St. Vini at 9:17 AM
3 Comments:
Well said, Vini.
I probably would not be a wine geek without Gallo's jug wines that were cheap, widely available and provided good value. Although I haven't had them in years, I think I'll pick up a bottle of hearty burgundy this weekend and toast Ernest Gallo's legacy. And I'll even post my tasting notes ;-)
Cheers,
--
Tim Elliott
Winecast
You may like ot know you were quoted in Modesto's local paper as they reported Gallo's death. We were quoted too at the end.
Here's the link
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13359985p-13982530c.html
PS - your Credo - I think you may appreciate what we're about at Via Vecchia Winery
Here here!
Having grown up in New Orleans, the land of good food, good wine and good times, I grew up loving wine but found that my friends in college had not had the same experience with wine. Thankfully, Gallo made wine accessible to all, so they knew Something! There is a great new wine website called Bottlenotes.com that does even more to teach about wine by matching your taste preferences for things like salt and coffee to the wine in their portfolio, and then sends you wine according to your preferences. Brilliant! Check it out: www.Bottlenotes.com
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