Constellation Brands history

In 1951, the younger Sands opened Richards Wine Cellars in Petersburg, Virginia, and asked his father to assume control of the operation.

In 1954, however, Sands was lucky enough to come up with something most entrepreneurs only dream about--a widely successful product that catapults a company into a future of rapid growth and high profits.

In 1972, the company was incorporated as Canandaigua Wine Company, Inc., and one year later, it went public.

1974: Bisceglia Brothers Winery, a West Coast varietal wine maker, is acquired.

1984: Canandaigua enters the wine cooler market with the Sun Country brand, leading to skyrocketing revenues.

1986: Richard Sands, son of Marvin, is named president of the company.

1987: Widmer's Wine Cellars, an East Coast table wine producer, and Manischewitz, the best-selling kosher wine brand, are acquired.

Canandaigua was so pleased with the revenue generated by these products that it acquired Guild Wineries in 1991 for $60 million.

In 1992, Cordorniu built a facility in Napa Valley where it began to produce the popular Cordorniu Napa Valley Brut Cuvee.

One of the most significant acquisitions included Barton Inc., which was purchased in June 1993 for approximately $123 million in cash, one million shares of Canandaigua stock, and the assumption of $47.9 million in debt.

1995: The company purchases from United Distillers Glenmore, Inc.

The company suffered a brief setback during the 1996 fiscal year after running into operational difficulties stemming from the aggressive string of acquisitions of the previous half-decade.

1997: The company changes its name to Canandaigua Brands, Inc.

Net sales for 1999 were a shade under $1.5 billion.

In 2000, the company changed its name to Constellation Brands, Inc. to reflect the scope of the company and its range of brands.

2003: Constellation Brands acquires BRL Hardy Ltd., the largest vintner in Australia.

2004: Constellation Brands announces the acquisition of California's The Robert Mondavi Corporation

It had sales of over $3.77 billion in fiscal year 2008.

In 2013, Constellation acquired Grupo Modelo's US beer business from Anheuser-Busch InBev.

In December 2015, Constellation announced the $1 billion acquisition of Ballast Point Brewing of San Diego.

In October 2016, Constellation announced the $160 million acquisition of High West Distillery of Park City, Utah.

In 2017, the company began investing in medical marijuana.

In April 2018, Accolade Wines (acquired under the name BRL Hardy) was sold to private equity firm The Carlyle Group.