>>6683475 (pb)
Started pulling this thread. Didn't take long to get to upstate NY,
NXIVM/Bronfman country, and Napa
including Clown vintner Agustin Hunneus
Ballast Point → Bought by Constellation Brands 2015 → Constellation Originally Canadaigua from Rochester NY→ Pres CEO Robert Sands /Chairman Richard Sands→ Franciscan Vineyards → Augistin Hunneeus
Constellation Brands is of course mostly owned by Blackrock and Vanguard. Their brands include own Modelo, Corona, Robert Mondavi wines
Moar on the Sands…
More recently Richard and Robert Sands have become a giant connection in Napa. They are better known for their ownership of Constellation brands, the world's largest winery, which now includes the legendary Robert Mondavi winery and Franciscan in Rutherford, and the newly acquired Atlas Peak Winery. Their great grandfather was Elias Sandomirsky, a Jewish merchant who emigrated from Russia in 1903 with his eight sons.
It was at Ellis Island where the family name was truncated to Sands. Their grandfather, Mordecai (Max), distributed bottles to wineries in the thirties. When his son, Marvin mustered out of the navy following World War II, Max urged him to purchase the Canandaigua winery in New York's wine country.
According to company spokesman, Mike Martin, its original offering and grand money maker was a sweet, Catawba-based wine, called Richard's Wild Irish Rose, and was named after Marvin's first son, who is now chairman of the company. From these small beginnings, the company has expanded to include other world known wineries beyond Napa, such as Buena Vista, Clos du Bois, Geyser Peak, Kim Crawford, Ravenswood, Ruffino and Simi.
https://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataId=51506
Always label themselves
<philanthropist
Today, Canandaigua is the country's second-largest wine producer after E.& J. Gallo; the second-largest beer importer, after Heineken, and the fourth-largest spirits producer. Worldwide, it is third in wine production and 10th in spirits.
Sands served as chief executive of Canandaigua, which is now based in Fairport, a suburb of Rochester, from 1945 until 1993. During his career, he was also president of the Finger Lakes Wine Growers Association and was a founder of the American Vintners Association, a national trade group.
Richard Sands took over as president of Canandaigua in 1993 and chief executive in 1996. Another son, Robert Sands, is chief executive for international operations and vice president and general counsel of Canandaigua Brands and chief executive of the Canandaigua Wine Co.
Sands was active in community affairs and in
<philanthropy.
Among his leadership roles, he was chairman of F.F. Thompson Health Systems and affiliated organizations for more than 25 years. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center, which was constructed as the summer home of the Rochester Philharmonic.