Wine giant Gallo lays off majority of Clos du Bois employees after acquisition

4 months after being acquired by wine large Gallo, Sonoma County’s Clos du Bois has been hit by mass layoffs. 

© Mike Groll / Related Press

FILE – On this July 1, 2008 file photograph, bottles of Clos Du Bois, Ravens Wooden and Alice White, wines within the Constellation Manufacturers, are seen.

Practically 40 workers — near all the workers — at Clos du Bois have been laid off Thursday, the Press-Democrat first reported. An worker informed the Press-Democrat that Clos du Bois gross sales “went from $4.5 million to $1.8 million,” a loss the worker attributed to their dad or mum firm Constellation’s disinterest within the model after being purchased by Gallo. 

Load Error

E. & J. Gallo bought 30 low-cost wine labels from Constellation Manufacturers in January for $810 million, one of many largest wine acquisitions in historical past. Amongst them was Clos du Bois, a 40-year-old Sonoma County vineyard recognized for its cheap, usually underneath $10, wines. The vineyard maintained vineyards in Sonoma County and the Central Coast. It was bought by Constellation in 2007.

Gallo confirmed the Clos du Bois layoffs, telling the Press-Democrat that workers will obtain assist discovering potential employment in different components of the corporate. “We’re transitioning the majority of our manufacturing from the Clos du Bois vineyard to our different wineries in Sonoma County,” a spokesperson stated. “We are going to keep some operations at Clos du Bois shifting ahead, however the present staffing ranges aren’t wanted for future manufacturing.”

 As a part of the restructuring, Clos du Bois’ Geyserville winemaking and wine-tasting facility will even be shut down.