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The Wine Giant: How Ernest Gallo Got His Start

Ernest Gallo was not your typical billionaire. Up until the day he died, he insisted on keeping his home number listed in the public phone book; he wanted everyone to be able to find him. But it is exactly traits like that which continue to make this winemaker stand out. Today, the business he started with his brother back in 1933 with just $6,000 in capital remains the leading exporter of California wine, producing some 2.64 million bottles of wine every day.

Getting Better with Time: E&J Gallo Winery Takes Off

It was 1933. Prohibition was coming to an end in the U.S. and Gallo wanted to be ready to go when it finally did. Together, he and his brother launched E&J Gallo Winery. With Julio in charge of the vineyard, Gallo went to work looking after the winery’s sales operations. His strategy from the get-go was to market cheap, fortified wines to inner city markets. With 20 percent alcohol content, Gallo wines such as White Port and Thunderbird were first introduced to consumers.

Lesson #1: Make a Commitment to Your Brand

Many before him had tried, but Gallo was able to do something that no one else had ever successfully done before: he introduced wine to a country that was only used to drinking liquor and beer. How did he do it? By building a brand that would stick, and by refusing to abandon that brand in the face of market pressure.

Lesson #2: Nothing Makes Up for Dogged Hard Work

From the time he was a young boy, Gallo lived and breathed wine. His father’s winery might have never taken off to the degree the family had hoped, but it was still an important introduction into the business for his young son. Once he was at the helm of his own vineyard operation, Gallo still might not have had much in the way of resources, but what he did have was his own manpower, and lots of it.

Lesson #3: Be Ruthless and Rise to the Challenge

“You make the wine and I’ll sell it,” Gallo once told his younger brother. Gallo never wanted to be involved in the fine details of making fine wine. What Gallo wanted was to get out on the sales floor, to hit the streets, and to sell his stuff. He became known as a ruthless businessman for one reason; he was good at what he did and he did not let anything stand in his way. Gallo always got what he wanted because he was never willing to settle for anything less.

Lesson #4: Cultivate Your Capital Connections

Gallo was not your average wine connoisseur. He abhorred the snobbishness that surrounded the industry and remained firm in his belief that excellent tasting wines of high quality could be produced and sold at low costs. It was with that same attitude that Gallo approached his circle of connections. It did not matter who you were or what you stood for, if Gallo had something to gain from you, he was going to make sure you were on his side.

Lesson #5: Position Your Business to Become an Industry Leader

Gallo did not just help put California’s wine industry on the map; he helped establish the modern U.S. wine market as a whole once prohibition came to an end. Aside from the personality characteristics and work ethic that helped Gallo succeed as an entrepreneur, it was largely his strategic decisions on how to gain industry dominance in all aspects of his operations that transformed E&J Gallo Winery from a two-man operation into an international success story.

Finding the Fruits of Success: How Gallo Turned Grapes into Gold

Later on in his years, Gallo was asked by a reporter if he was still enjoying life. “More than ever,” he said. “With great wines like these to drink every night, who wouldn’t?”

Ernest Gallo Quotes

Ernest Gallo Quotes

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