
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 3, 1993                   TAG: 9305030134
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TRACY, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Short

WINEMAKER JULIO GALLO KILLED IN CRASH

Julio Gallo, who with his brother Ernest founded the world's largest winemaking business, was killed Sunday when a four-wheel-drive vehicle he was riding in plunged off a road and down an embankment. He was 82.

Gallo's wife, Aileen, and another family member were injured in the crash, which occurred on the family's ranch, said fire Capt. Larry Fragoso. A fourth passenger was unhurt.

Gallo was believed to be driving the vehicle when it went out of control and plunged down the embankment and into a pond, Fragoso said.

Gallo and his brother began their winemaking enterprise in 1933, shortly after Prohibition. They rented a ramshackle building where they and their families pitched in to produce wine for 50 cents a gallon, then half the going price. They made $30,000 their first year.

Their privately held E.&J. Gallo is now a $1 billion-a-year business that boasts a 26 percent share of the U.S. wine market. Each brother's personal fortune has been estimated at $300 million.

by CNB