Vintner loses No. 1 status, toasts new growth
Vintner loses No. 1 status, toasts new growth
Aug 21, 2011 6
(AP) — Richard and Rob Sands took their father's little wine company on a two-decade buying binge, turning a regional purveyor of low-pedigree plonk into an alcoholic-drinks powerhouse with moderately priced wines, spirits and imported beers like Robert Mondavi, Svedka and Corona Extra.
Along the way, the brothers acquired one other seemingly enviable label in 2003: world's biggest vintner.
Even in a highly fragmented industry in which Constellation Brands Inc. claimed just 4 percent of global wine production, it was a high point for a family business with post-World War II roots in the Finger Lakes grape-and-wine country in western New York.
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