[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 163 (Thursday, November 29, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 RECOGNITION FOR ERNEST AND JULIA GALLO

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. GARY A. CONDIT

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 29, 2001

  Mr. CONDIT. Mr. Speaker, it is a distinct privilege to rise today to 
honor two giants in the world of business and agriculture--Ernest and 
Julio Gallo.
  Ernest, and his late brother Julio, are being inducted into the 
Stanislaus County Agricultural Hall of Fame. That alone speaks volumes 
about these two men in a region of the country known as the 
agricultural leader of the world.
  The sum of their contributions is nearly impossible to evaluate. They 
easily take their place in history with great men of vision such as 
Henry Ford and Sam Walton who through hard work and determination 
transformed their dreams into reality.
  Starting with a small family vineyard and winery, they strove for 
perfection and set a path others would struggle to find. They are part 
of a disappearing breed of hands-on discoverers and entrepreneurs who 
blazed a trail, proving the value of hard work, dedication and 
ambition.
  Rarely in history does a name or a single word draw such a 
connotation as Gallo. The name alone is synonymous with wine and wine 
making in the same way Ford is synonymous with quality automobiles.
  Mr. Speaker, volumes could be written about the contribution these 
men have made and will continue to make to the Central Valley of 
California from research to industry operation, production and 
viticulture. All of these things are intertwined in the history of the 
Gallo family enterprise.
  Ernest and Julio Gallo have greatly impacted agriculture through 
their decades of leadership in the wine industry. Starting with a small 
family vineyard and winery, they strove for perfection, inventing the 
tools they needed when none existed, setting the path for others to 
follow. They built their business into the largest winery in the world. 
Their shared ambition to produce and market quality wines at affordable 
prices motivated them to continuously improve their operations, 
extending the family business to include grape growing, wine making, 
production of the bottles, warehousing, distributing, transporting and 
marketing wines throughout the country, and now throughout the world.
  Ernest and Julio Gallo were instrumental in transforming the economy 
of grape growing, offering long-term contracts to independent farmers 
by encouraging growers to upgrade the varieties of grape planted to 
meet future consumer demand for quality. California grape growers were 
able to then transform the California wine industry into the 
international phenomenon it is today. Ernest and Julio invested heavily 
in agricultural research and shared their learning with local farmers.
  Through this investment and sharing, the Gallos helped improve the 
quality of grapes available in the region through better farming 
practices such as plant nutrition, irrigation and harvesting regimes. 
The Gallos helped educate generations of vineyard managers and wine 
makers by their support of curricula throughout the University of 
California and California State University systems. They undertook 
extensive research in wine making techniques to help build and sustain 
the market by introducing new types of wines and methods of wine 
production. Today this global enterprise employs thousands of people 
worldwide, nearly 3,500 in and around Stanislaus County.
  On a shoestring budget, Ernest and Julio created the ``flagship'' 
winery in the United States and put California on the map for wine. 
Their dream has translated into a global force for wine and wine 
making.
  Mr. Speaker, Ernest and Julio always gave ``All their best.'' It is 
with great pride that I ask my colleagues to rise and join me in 
honoring two great men--Ernest and Julio Gallo--on the occasion of 
their being inducted into the Stanislaus County Agricultural Hall of 
Fame.

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