Ernest and Julio Gallo have built the largest wine empire in the world. The E. & J. Gallo Winery sells more wine than its three closest competitors combined and now makes one of every four bottles of wine sold in the United States. Yet, despite their market domination and their influence, Ernest and Julio have zealously shielded their business and their families from public scrutiny.The Gallo history was little known to Ernest and Julio's younger brother, Joseph Jr., the "unknown Gallo." Ten years younger than his brothers and raised by them from the age of thirteen, following their parents' deaths in 1933, Joe worked for Ernest and Julio for nearly thirty years, and then established his own vineyards and dairy farms. But in 1986, after Joe began to market cheese, his brothers sued him to prevent him from labeling his cheese with his own name. The lawsuit revealed long-hidden secrets and intrigues that astonished Joe and his family. Although Ernest and Julio had always maintained that they started their winery, Joe and his attorneys argued that newly disclosed evidence indicated that the winery was a continuation of the wine and grape businesses begun by Joseph Gallo, Sr. This raised the issue of whether Joe Jr. had been denied an inheritance of a one-third share in the Gallo Winery, today worth hundreds of millions of dollars. As the court battle turned into a bitter feud between Joe and his brothers, more Gallo family secrets were exposed, among them the murder/suicide of Joseph Sr. and his wife.Blood and Wine is a riveting family saga of the Gallos and a revealing look at the California wine business, from the turn of the century to the present, from immigrant roots to bootleg exploits, from poverty and family enterprise to success, domestic discord, and tragic turns of fate. An epic account of violence and passion, deceit and ambition, it takes readers behind the scenes to watch Ernest and Julio Gallo build the winery that today dominates the industry, amassing a fortune for themselves and then using their money and power against their younger brother.Blood and Wine will change the way you think about Gallo. Read Less