The E.&J.; Gallo Winery is continuing to...

The E.&J.; Gallo Winery is continuing to de-emphasize the Gallo name on the labels of its less expensive products.

Company spokesman Dan Solomon says Gallo, the world’s largest winery, has given its Livingston Cellars line of ports and sherries the brand name Sheffield. Wines to be called Gallo Livingston Cellars include generics--Burgundy, Rhine, Blush Chablis, Chablis Blanc, Pink Chablis and Red Rose--and two varietals, Chenin Blanc and French Colombard.

The only wines that will carry the name Wine Cellars of Ernest and Julio Gallo are the remaining varietal wines--Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, White Zinfandel and White Grenache--along with Hearty Burgundy, a staple in the line, which recently was upgraded to a cork-finished bottle after decades in screw cap.

In addition, the company is now marketing a new wine, Copperidge Chardonnay, in restaurants, the varietal counterpart of Gallo’s William Wycliffe generic restaurant brand.

*

Heublein Inc., the second largest wine company in the United States, says it is renaming two of its brands to capitalize on the historic Inglenook Winery in the Napa Valley, which it owns.

The Navalle line of generic wines will now be called Inglenook Vineyards, though the wine will not contain any grapes from the Napa Valley, where Inglenook owns vineyards. The Navalle varietal wines will be renamed Inglenook Estate Cellars, even though the wines will not be made from Inglenook estate grapes.

Both brands will be produced in Madera in the San Joaquin Valley. Inglenook-Napa Valley will now be the name on the company’s top wines.

*

Silver Oak Cellars, located in the Napa Valley, has opened a tasting room at the former Lyeth Winery in northern Sonoma County, which it acquired late last year. Silver Oak intends to crush its Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at the facility. Justin Meyer, managing partner of Silver Oak, says his winery’s Oakville facility would remain the production site for his Napa Valley Cabernet.

Silver Oak bought Lyeth for an estimated $2 million. Included in the deal were 18 acres of grapevines.

Lyeth was part of the Vintech Wine Group when it went bankrupt two years ago. The Lyeth brand and inventory were sold to Jean-Claude Boisset, an importer and wine distributor, who continues to market wines under the Lyeth name.

*

The nation’s first countywide wine education center, the Sonoma County Wine and Visitors Center, has opened in Rohnert Park, 50 miles north of San Francisco off Highway 101.

The $1.6 million facility, open daily, features interactive videos on the county’s 10 growing regions presented in English, German and Japanese. A tasting bar offers complimentary samples of the county’s wines. The facility also offers four-hour demonstration cooking classes on Saturdays, coordinated by the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.

The building is run by the Sonoma County Wineries Assn., representing 105 wineries. The Sonoma County Grape Growers Assn. has planted a demonstration vineyard adjacent to the property. Eventually those grapes will be used to make 400 cases of wine at a model winery at the center.

For details on the center, call (707) 586-3795.