Two brothers started a winery the year Prohibition ended, teaching themselves the craft from pamphlets in the public library. They built it into the largest family winery on the planet.
Not all of California’s wine history was written in the boutique cellars of Napa. Some of the most consequential chapters were written in the hot Central Valley, in the city of Modesto, where two sons of Italian immigrants built an empire out of ambition and hard work: Ernest and Julio Gallo.[1]
Starting from a library book
The E & J Gallo Winery was founded in 1933 — the very year Prohibition was repealed. According to the family’s own account, the brothers had almost no winemaking experience; they taught themselves by reading old pamphlets on fermentation borrowed from the Modesto public library.[1] From that improbable start, they began producing wine just as legal drinking returned to America.
Ernest sold it, Julio made it
The brothers’ success rested on a famously strict division of labor. Julio took charge of the vineyards and the winemaking, focused on quality and volume of production; Ernest ran sales, marketing, and distribution, and proved to be one of the most formidable business minds in the American drinks trade.[1] Ernest’s reported instruction to Julio captured the whole philosophy: make all the wine you can, and I will sell it.
“You make the wine, I’ll sell it” — and between them, they sold more than anyone.
The largest family winery in the world
Over the following decades, Gallo grew into a colossus — by many measures the largest family-owned winery in the world and the largest exporter of California wine.[1] Its vast portfolio, from everyday jug wines to a stable of well-known labels, put California wine on tables across America and around the globe, and did as much as anything to make wine an everyday American drink.[1]
| Founded | 1933, in Modesto, California — as Prohibition ended[1] |
|---|---|
| Founders | Brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo[1] |
| The division | Julio made the wine; Ernest sold it[1] |
| Scale | The largest family-owned winery in the world[1] |
More of the California story
Gallo’s mass-market empire is one half of California’s wine story; the boutique revolution of Napa Valley is the other. See how the two came together in the Judgment of Paris, and read about another family that struck gold with an accident at Sutter Home.
Related reading: Napa Valley and its history · Sutter Home · the Wine History Timeline · Jean-Charles Boisset (who married Gina Gallo)
Frequently asked questions
Who founded E & J Gallo?
Brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo, who started the winery in Modesto, California, in 1933 — the year Prohibition was repealed — reportedly teaching themselves winemaking from pamphlets in the public library.
How big is the Gallo winery?
E & J Gallo is by many measures the largest family-owned winery in the world and the largest exporter of California wine, with a huge portfolio of brands.
Sources
- “E & J Gallo Winery” (founded 1933 in Modesto by brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo as Prohibition ended; the brothers’ self-taught start and division of labor — Julio in production, Ernest in sales; the largest family-owned winery in the world and largest exporter of California wine), Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_%26_J_Gallo_Winery
Want to read more?
Books we drew on and recommend for going deeper on wine history.
9000 Years of Wine: A World HistoryRod Phillips
The World Atlas of WineHugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson
Wine Folly: Magnum Edition — The Master GuideMadeline Puckette & Justin HammackAs an Amazon Associate, Wine History Tours earns from qualifying purchases. This supports our research at no extra cost to you.
