The origin of this US beverage giant headquartered in Fairport, New York, dates back to 1945, when Marvin Sands (1926-1999) founded "Canandaigua Industries Co" in the city of Canandaigua with eight employees in the Finger Lakes area. The winemaking was learned from father Mack Sands at his Car-Cal Winery in North Carolina. Marvin's goal was to produce affordable mass wine. In 1972, the company was renamed Canandaigua Wine Company and in 1974 the purchase of the Bisceglia Brothers Winery in Madera (California) took place. In the 1980s, the company was extremely successful with Cooler.
Through constant acquisitions of wineries, vineyards, beer and spirits brands, and companies, Constellation Brands developed into one of the world's largest wine companies. These included the Bisceglia Brothers Winery in 1974, Batavia Wine Cellars in 1982, Manischewitz and Widmer’s Wine Cellars in 1987, Guild Wineries (with Dunnewood and Cook’s) in 1991, Vintners International (with Paul Masson and Taylor California Cellars) in 1993, Almaden Vineyards and the Inglenook Winery brand in 1994, Arbor Mist in 1998, Franciscan and Simi Winery in 1999, the Australian multi Hardy’s in 2003, the California winery Mondavi in 2004, and the Canadian multi Vincor International in 2006. The wineries Almaden Vineyards and Paul Masson as well as Inglenook were sold to the Wine Group in 2008.
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Markus J. Eser
Weinakademiker und Herausgeber „Der Weinkalender“