"With perfection as our goal, we have always tried to do
our best -- grape growing, winemaking, production, marketing, salesmanship. It
is a goal for which we continue to strive in every aspect of our business."
--Ernest Gallo Ernest and Julio Gallo traveled extensively throughout
California seeking the highest quality grapes. They quickly developed an affinity
for Sonoma County, about 60 miles north of San Francisco. Sonoma County is a unique
growing region. With the Pacific Ocean to the west and the San Francisco and San
Pablo Bays to the South, cool breezes and fog produce the classic climate required
for the highest quality grapes.
For years the Winery purchased grapes from the Frei Brothers Winery in Sonoma's
Dry Creek Valley. In 1977, the Gallo Vineyards Inc. (GVI), a subsidiary of the
E. & J. Gallo Winery, purchased Frei Brothers, which included a winery and two
parcels of property that would become the Frei Ranch Vineyard and Laguna Ranch
Vineyard. Over the next two decades, GVI purchased and developed six additional
properties in Sonoma County.
Today, GVI, is one of the largest vineyard proprietors in California's prestigious
North Coast growing region (Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Mendocino, Solano and Marin counties),
with eight world class vineyards in four different Sonoma County appellations.
