1933 – September 22 – Brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo founded a winery in Modesto, California, producing 177,847 gallons of wine in the first year.
1934 – Sold 440,000 gallons of wine in the Winery’s second year of operation.
1942 – Acquired the Valley Agricultural Company, which included what is now called Livingston Ranch.
1943 – Moved bottling operations to Modesto from Los Angeles.
1946 – Registered the Gallo trademark in most states.
1954 – Purchased the Cribari Winery in Fresno.
1958 – Established Gallo Glass Company, which today operates the largest single glass plant.
1966 – Recognized as the largest winery in the United States based on sales volume.
Introduced first sparkling wines, Eden Roc and André (André which went on to become the largest selling sparkling wine brand in the U.S.).
1967 – Introduced long-term grower contracts which assured future payments to growers for the planting of specific grape varieties.
1970 – Established the Livingston Winery.
1971 – Purchased 50% of the Frei Brothers Ranch in Sonoma (the Winery’s first investment in fine wine vineyards in California’s coastal region).
1972 – November 27 – Ernest and Julio Gallo appeared on the cover of Time for an article titled “American Wine Comes of Age.”
1974 – Introduced Gallo’s first varietal wines.
1975 – Introduced E&J Brandy.
Carlo Rossi brand launched.
1976 – Constructed oak cellar in Modesto.
1983 – Opened first International office in London.
Released first vintage-dated wines.
1984 – Introduced Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers.
1993 – Introduced Gallo Estate Wines, the Winery’s first offering in the super-premium category.
May 2 – Julio Gallo passed away at age 83.
1994 – Introduced Gallo of Sonoma in the western states (introduced the wines nationally in 1998).
1996 – Introduced Ecco Domani, the first foreign-based brand developed and imported by the Winery.
Bought the historic MacMurray Ranch from family of famed actor Fred MacMurray.
1999 – Named “Winery of the Century” by the Los Angeles County Fair’s Wines of the America’s competition.
2000 – Named “Best American Wine Producer” by the London-based International Wine and Spirits Competition.
2002 – Purchased Louis M. Martini Winery in the NapaValley.
Purchased the Mirassou brand.
2004 – Purchased Bridlewood Estate Winery in the Central Coast.
2005 – Received the International Standards Organization’s ISO 14001 certification (was first U.S. winery to receive such certification).
Purchased Barefoot Cellars brand.
2007 – Named “Importer of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast.
Purchased William Hill Estate Winery in Napa.
March 6 – Ernest Gallo passed away at age 97.
2008 – Celebrated 75 years as a family-owned winery.
2011 – Purchased Edna Valley Vineyards in the Central Coast.
2012 – Purchased Washington’s Columbia Winery, marking Gallo’s first expansion into the state.
Purchased Snows Lake Vineyard in Lake County.
CEO, Joseph E. Gallo named “Wine Person of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast.
2014 – Purchased Ledgewood Creek and Winterhawk vineyards in Solano County.
Gallo’s new Luxury Wine Group (LUX Wines) established.
2015 – Purchased J Vineyards & Winery in Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley.
Purchased Cypress Ranch and a portion of the Palisades Vineyard in Napa Valley.
Purchased the historic Asti Winery and Vineyards in Sonoma County.
Purchased Talbott Vineyards, an esteemed producer of estate wines in the Central Coast.
Purchased The Ranch Winery, a luxury production facility in Napa Valley.
New Amsterdam named “Spirit Brand of the Year” by Wine Enthusiast.
2016 – Purchased Orin Swift Cellars, a brand known for their excellent wines and bold imagery.
2017 – Purchased Stagecoach Vineyard, a coveted Napa Valley vineyard famous for its dramatic terrain, rolling hillsides and exceptional winegrapes.
Purchased Luxury California Brandy, Germain-Robin.
Selected by Glassdoor as one of the nation’s “Best Places to Work.”
2018 – Gallo named #14 out of 100 “Best Places to Work” in the nation.
2019 – Purchased Napa Valley’s Pahlmeyer Winery and Jayson by Pahlmeyer.
2021 – Gallo named a Best Places to Work by Glassdoor for 5th year in a row (2017-2021).
2021 – Gallo completes acquisition of more than 30 brands from Constellation Brands, Inc.
2021 – Gallo’s spirits division purchases Agave Loco LLC, the owner of leading cream liqueur brand RumChata.
2022 – The Spirit of Gallo brand is created, encompassing Gallo’s innovative and award-winning portfolio of spirits.
2022 – Spirit of Gallo entered the American Whiskey category with strategic investment in Horse Soldier Bourbon.
2022 – Spirit of Gallo expanded its tequila portfolio with Komos, the highest-rated tequila portfolio.
2022 – Gallo purchased Denner Vineyards in the Paso Robles AVA.
2023 – Gallo celebrated 90 years as a family-owned company.
2023 – Spirit of Gallo purchased Fishers Island Lemonade, America’s craft lemonade canned cocktail.
2023 – Gallo purchased Bev, a woman-founded beverage brand known for breaking down barriers and building people up.
2023 – Gallo purchased the Hahn Family Wines Collection of Brands.
2023 – Gallo named exclusive importer of Australian icon, Wirra Wirra.
2023 – Gallo purchased world-renowned Rombauer Vineyards.
2023 – Spirit of Gallo begins distribution of VMC, tequila-based canned cocktails by world champion boxer, Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez.
2023 – Gallo welcomed Massican and partnership with winemaker/founder, Dan Petroski.
2023 – Gallo partnered with trailblazing actress, writer, and producer Issa Rae to create Viarae Prosecco.
2023 – Spirit of Gallo, in partnership with Lotte Chilsung Beverage, added Soju to its fast-growing portfolio.
2024 – Gallo named a Best Place to Work by Glassdoor.
2024 – Spirit of Gallo entered the super-premium gin with Condesa Gin, “The Gin of Mexico".
2024 – Gallo entered the beer category with strategic investment in the Montucky Cold Snacks brand.
2024 – Spirit of Gallo re-entered the super-premium+ rum category with Ron del Barrilito, Puerto Rico’s oldest rum.
From our humble beginnings, the hallmark of our company has been an unwavering commitment to quality. By taking the utmost care through each and every step of the grape growing and winemaking process, we are able to consistently deliver world-class wines, spirits, and other alcoholic beverages for every occasion. Today we are recognized as one of the leading global producers of these products, both in the art of grape growing and wine and spirits making and also in the distribution and marketing of these products in more than 100 countries around the globe.
From its inception, our company has sought to turn challenges into opportunities and change into growth. Today, that vision defines the Winery’s culture along with our company values. These values serve as a compass for how we conduct business and our belief in the importance of living these values every day.
At Gallo, we are committed to building strong relationships with our distributors, customers, and employees, as well as contributing to the long-term success of the global wine industry. View our values.
We are committed to making a difference in the communities where we live, work, and play. Thanks to our employees who generously give their time and energy, we are able to make an even bigger impact year in and year out.
We understand that family and community go hand-in-hand and we are proud to support a variety of non-profit organizations, charitable foundations, community events, mentoring programs, and scholarships. Our matching gift program allows employees to make financial donations to eligible non-profit organizations, enabling them to make an even greater impact. We believe this not only improves our community but enriches the lives of those who need it most. Request A Donation
Like our customers, we place great value on big ideas. Innovation is at the heart of our values. As our industry evolves and changes, we continuously challenge the conventional way of doing things in order to remain relevant. We embrace change, because we believe it creates opportunities. In an ever-changing world, our constant is that we continue to innovate, create and maximize new opportunities throughout our business.
With more than a dozen wineries strategically located throughout California and Washington, our team of world-class winemakers craft wines from the highest quality fruit, picked from vineyards throughout premier grape-growing regions. Our skilled winemakers spend a great deal of time in the vineyard monitoring grape development and determining the best time to harvest the grapes, ensuring they are at their peak for color, taste and quality. Our winemakers strive to ensure that each of our more than 90 wine brands will enrich any occasion.
At E. & J. Gallo Winery, our goal is to deliver superior quality at a great value while providing a positive experience to consumers each and every time they share and enjoy our wines. To achieve this goal, we’ve assembled teams of highly skilled employees to manage our ever-growing brand portfolio. Our marketing teams collaborate with winemakers and our experts on consumer preferences, as well as other areas of expertise to deliver strong brands to the market, while our sales professionals strive to bring a better wine buying experience to the consumer.
From measuring consumer attitudes to conducting water conservation experiments in the vineyard, our thirst for information and innovation never ends. Ernest and Julio Gallo were committed to constantly improving their products. Today we continue that tradition by asking questions and applying learnings in order to improve the evolution of wine from grape to bottle and meet the ever-changing needs of our customers around the world.