Wine and dine
The history of E& J Gallo Winery dates back to the time during the early twenties when brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo worked in their father’s small vineyard, planting grapes during the Great Depression. It was at the repeal of the Prohibition in 1933 that they started their winery. Through hard work and dedication, they made more than 175,000 gallons of wine on their first production at such young ages. Presently, the brand continues to create high quality premium wines, has 90 brands and broadened internationally to different countries, including the Philippines with a prosperous relationship with Emperador Distillers Inc.
With that, it was on May 28 that both E& J Gallo Winery and Emperador Distillers Inc. welcomed Cebuanos to a night of revelry as they presented a new range of California wines from E& J Gallo Winery. At the Grand Convention Center on Archbishop Reyes Ave., wine enthusiasts had the opportunity to sample six new brands such as Barefoot, Canyon Road, Gallo Family Varietals, Turning Leaf, Starborough Sauvignon Blanc and Red Rock Merlot.
Apart from that, Aubrey Buckingham, the associates sales manager of E& J Gallo, took guests on a winery tour which included the story about the brand, photos of the vineyard as well as the winery among others. Von Hizon-De Torre, managing director of Emperador Distillers Inc., talked about the wine program and introduced to guests the wine preservation machine, a dispensing device that can house two or four bottles. According to Von, among the benefits of the machine is that not only does it help in preserving the wine but it’s also efficient for owners of establishments when offering different ranges to customers by glass.
While it is quite common in other countries to pair food with wines during meals, majority of the population in the Philippines do not practice such habit as drinking wine is mostly reserved for special occasions. However, given the many choices of wines in the country, there are certainly a lot more options to choose from other than just a glass of soda.