By Kevin McCallum, The Press Demcrat Writer

Gallo of Sonoma, the Healdsburg-based fine wine division of the world's largest wine company, is changing its name to Gallo Family Vineyards.

The move, announced earlier this year but only recently becoming apparent on store shelves, is part of a broader effort to bring consistency to different labels and highlight the Modesto-based E&J Gallo's family ownership.

"What we really wanted to do was to create a global brand of Gallo Family Vineyards upon which to unify all these brands," said Stephanie Gallo, the division's marketing director and granddaughter of Ernest Gallo, who founded the company with his late brother, Julio, in 1933.

The new label will combine the Gallo of Sonoma line of wines, which are produced in Healdsburg and retail for between $12 and $15 a bottle, and the company's Twin Valley wines, which are produced in the Central Valley and retail for about $5. The grape sources and winemaking for each line will remain separate.

The move was prompted by the company's realization that many of its Twin Valley customers were trading up to the Gallo of Sonoma wines. The company felt a common marketing theme would help encourage this trend, Gallo said.

The decision does not signal the Gallo of Sonoma brand has failed to performed or that the company wants to de-emphasize its connection to Sonoma, Gallo said.

"We're not abandoning Sonoma," she said. "It's Gallo Family Vineyards Sonoma Reserve."
The goal is simply to further emphasize that Gallo remains family owned in an industry increasingly controlled by large wine conglomerates, she said.

The new label has "Sonoma Reserve" prominently displayed in red letters on the center of the label, and the wines will continue to be made mostly from Sonoma County grapes, she said.
In addition to Gallo of Sonoma's Sonoma County appellation wines, the line also includes two limited production brands: vineyard specific wines that retail for between $20 and $35 a bottle, and estate wines for between $50 and $75.

Gallo is one of the largest vineyard owners in Sonoma County, with more than 3,100 acres in production.

About 500,000 of the 2 million cases of wine produced at the Dry Creek Valley winery are Gallo of Sonoma, said spokesman Tim McDonald. The company produces several other brands at the facility, including its Rancho Zabaco and Frei Brothers labels.

Other local Gallo brands, such as Louis M. Martini and Napa Valley Vineyards, are unaffected by the brand changes.

Last year, Gallo won approval to expand the Healdsburg winery to be able to produce 4.9 million cases of wine, which would make it the largest winery in Sonoma County. The name change has nothing to do with the facility expansion, Gallo said.

Gallo began buying vineyards in Sonoma County in 1971 with its purchase of the Frei Brothers ranch in the Dry Creek Valley. It launched the Gallo of Sonoma brand in 1994 with great fanfare. The local wine industry welcomed the launch of the new brands because the new label was seen as helping equate Sonoma with fine wine in the minds of consumers.

The brand succeeded in doing just that, said Robert Nicholson, a Healdsburg wine industry consultant.

"I think that they have been instrumental and hugely impactful on the growth of public awareness of Sonoma County wines," Nicholson said.

Now that the company has established the Gallo of Sonoma brand, it makes sense for it to tweak the marketing of the wines to emphasize their family ownership, he said.

"I just think it's a natural evolution because when Gallo came to Sonoma County and put in their vineyards 25 years ago they were not known for their Sonoma County wines," Nicholson said.
Even though the brand is just over a decade old, the company's roots in the county are deep and will likely remain so, said Nick Frey, executive director of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association.

"Their presence here is substantial and I expect it to continue to be," Frey said.
Still, the revamping of a brand Gallo spent millions establishing is no minor undertaking, Frey said.

"You don't mess with your brand without having a good reason," Frey said. "If it wasn't performing to their expectations, maybe they thought a fresh look and a little redesign would be a good move."

Dropping Sonoma down a peg on the label doesn't strike Frey as a significant change give the company's commitment to the county. Nevertheless, the change does strike him as reducing the prominence of Sonoma on the label.

"Including Sonoma in the brand name is good because it makes sure it gets out there on the first breath instead of making people look farther down the label," Frey said.

The transition to Gallo Family Vineyards is already under way and should be complete by the company's 75th anniversary in 2008. The company's tasting room in Healdsburg and merchandising are all in the process of transitioning to the new brand.

By Kevin McCallum
© 2006 The Press Demcrat