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Article: Heirs of Martini making a comeback, thanks to Gallo.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- December 29, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Fred Tasker
Back in the 1940s and '50s, before Robert Mondavi, before Rodney Strong, before Jess Jackson of Kendall-Jackson, the fine-wine business in California had five big names: Martini, Beaulieu, Beringer, Charles Krug and Inglenook.
Now one of them, Louis M. Martini, is making a comeback thanks to America's corporate wine giant. Purchased by Gallo but still run by its founder's grandson, Martini is vowing to take the resulting infusion of money to modernize and regain its reputation for making subtle, elegant, ``claret-style'' cabernet sauvignons.
Like so many California wine pioneers, Louis M. Martini immigrated from Italy in ...