E&J Gallo is the largest winery in the world by volume, supplying 35 billion bottles of wine a year.
The Gallo family behind the company has endured murder, suicide, and tragic death on their journey to fortune.
HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
The roots of E&J Gallo go back to Joseph Gallo, who emigrated from Italy to California in the early 1900s.
During prohibition, he and his sons Earnest and Julio grew grapes and exported them to eastern states, where a loophole permitted home winemaking.
But on the eve of prohibition, Joseph shot his wife, and then killed himself.
Despite the tragedy, his sons Julio and Earnest pooled together their inheritance and founded their own winery in Modesto, California.
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E&J Gallo launched in 1933, almost immediately after the repeal of prohibition.
The young brothers split their duties- Julio was in charge of producing the wine, Earnest was the salesman.
According to legend, the brothers had learned the wine making process from pre-prohibition pamphlets they found in their local library.
But other reports indicate that although their father had been secretly making wine illegally for years during the ban.
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AMERICA’S TASTEMAMKERS
Although the origins of E&J Gallo are murky, their modern success is crystal clear.
Earnest proved to be a marketing genius, shaping a whole new culture around wine in the US.
In the 50s and 60s, Gallo brands like Thunderbird, Red Mountain, and Ripple formed America’s yet-to-mature appetite for wine.
Gallo wines was intended to be “the Campbell Soup of the wine industry,” according to Jerome Tuccille in Gallo Be Thy Name: The Inside Story of How One Family Rose to Dominate the US Wine Market (2009).
Their unpretentious brands were tailored to American taste palate, and the brand did not launch a vintage label until 1982.
To this day, labels such as Barefoot, Mirassou, and Gallo Family have maintained the status of E&J Gallo as the world’s largest winemaker.
SUCCESSION
Tragedy struck the family again in 1993, when Julio died in a car accident, aged 83.
His brother Earnest passed away 14 years later aged 97, and his son Joseph took the role of chief executive officer.
Considering the industry-transforming work of his predecessors, Joseph had giant shoes to fill.
But E&J Gallo has continued to be a major success, raking in 16 percent of the wine industry’s total revenue, according to IBISWorld.
The company has also expanded into other alcohols, with E&J Brandy, High Noon hard seltzer, and New Amsterdam Gin all under its roster.
LASTING LEGACY
Accepting Man of the Year at Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s 2013 Wine Star Awards Ceremony, Joseph said: “I feel very fortunate to have been able to build on the foundations of my father and uncle.
“I feel confident that those who follow will be able to build on the foundations of the past.”
Gallo is the largest exporter of California wine in the world, but remains under family control.
Joseph’s brother Bob serves as co-chairman of the board, and today, 14 family members work in the company, reports Wine Spectator.
The combined net worth of the Gallo family is $12.4billion, while the company does $5.3billion a year in revenue, according to Forbes.
But the Gallos aren’t the only family who have made a fortune in the alcohol industry.
The Brown family behind Jack Daniel's has been raising a toast to its success in the liquor business for over 150 years.
And The Busch family has amassed $18 billion after Adolphus Busch invented Budweiser in 1876.
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