E&J Gallo's first and only public tasting room, located on the tourism yellow brick road that is the Healdsburg plaza in Sonoma County, shuttered last week, covering the windows with butcher paper and posting a sign on the door that said the company decided not to renew its lease, yet welcomed consumers to visit its web site and join its wine clubs.
Gallo, the Modesto-based winemaking giant that values secrecy as much as it does profits, surprised the Sonoma winemaking community by opening a posh tasting 'salon' on a busy corner of the Healdsburg plaza in 2003. Rarely has...