Rare Video Interview With Ernest Gallo Reveals Rags To Riches Story Of The World’s Largest Wine Corporation

In 1933, upon the death of their father, Ernest and Julio Gallo took over the family vineyards in Modesto, California, and discovered that they had been mortgaged to the hilt. “My father left the small vineyards hopelessly in debt,…and we were on the verge of losing them,” commented Ernest Gallo, in a rare video interview with Marvin Shanken, Chairman of M. Shanken Communications. “We thought that by going into the wine business – taking the crop and converting it into wine – we could probably get enough to save the property, and that’s what we did.”

From that humble beginning, Ernest and Julio Gallo grew their company into the world’s largest wine corporation. By 2007, when Ernest passed away at the age of 97, E&J Gallo produced 40 different wine brands, totaling 75 million cases, with annual revenues of $1.5 billion. Today the company has grown to 130 brands, totaling 100 million cases, with $4 billion in revenues in 2020. E&J Gallo, still a privately held family-run company, employs more than 7,000 people and markets their brands in 100 countries.

But the video interview of Ernest Gallo, filmed by Shanken and his team in 1999, almost didn’t happen. “Ernest was very private,” explained Shanken, “and he rarely spoke to anyone. But we became friends in 1975 when he wrote me a thank you note for an article I had written about the Gallo Winery in my Impact newsletter,” (Shanken’s first publication, before Wine Spectator, Cigar Aficionado, etc.)

The Video Interview With Ernest Gallo That Almost Didn’t Happen

Shanken and Gallo continued to meet over the years, in both California and Shanken’s home in New York. “Ernest loved my wife’s (Hazel’s) brisket,” he said. “We became very close. He was like a mentor to me. If he asked me a question, he knew he would get an honest answer. Our relationship was built on trust.”

Eventually, Shanken approached Gallo with the idea of an interview. “I wanted to do the interview as a gift for his family,” explained Shanken. “For many years he rejected the idea, because he didn’t want to show himself in any way. Then one day he just called and said OK.”

So Shanken and his crew flew to California, but when they arrived, Ernest told Shanken he had to sign a confidentiality agreement with a $1 million violation penalty. “I refused to sign it,” said Shanken, “and Ernest turned to his lawyer and said, ‘I told you this was a dumb idea.’” And so over the next few days the video was filmed at the Gallo of Sonoma winery, and at Gallo’s home in Modesto, with roosters crowing in the background.

When the video was finished, Shanken had it edited and give 35 copies of the disk to Ernest to share with his family and grandchildren. But it wasn’t until the year 2008, (one year after Ernest’s death) when Joe Gallo, Ernest’s son, asked Shanken to speak at the 75^th anniversary celebration of the winery, that the topic of the video surfaced again. “That was when we learned that Ernest had put the 35 disks in a vault, and his family had never seen the video,” reported Shanken.

Once this was discovered, the Gallo family asked Shanken to share the video at the anniversary celebration. The current video, along with commentary from Shanken and an introduction by CBS sportscaster and winemaker, Jim Nantz, was created at that time, but not released to the public until March of 2022.

When asked why the video was finally released 23 years after its creation, Shanken responded, “It was never intended to be released to the public. It was a gift from my heart for future Gallo generations, but after the success of other video interviews, such as the one with Michael Jordan which received millions of views for Cigar Aficionado over three years, I wrote a letter to his son, Joe Gallo, and asked how he would feel about me releasing it. Joe wrote back and said yes.”

Wine Marketing Wisdom – The Legacy of Ernest Gallo

Since the release of the video interview with Ernest Gallo in March 2022, response from industry executives, wine lovers, students of wine, and the Gallo family has been very positive. Shanken has received many emails and notes of thanks.

“The video is important to people who care about the history of wine,” said Shanken. “While his brother Julio focused on winemaking, Ernest was in charge of wine marketing and sales. He was the first to look at distribution in a professional way. He was one of the first to do wine advertising and billboards. He was a true rare brand builder.”

Industry leaders agree with Shanken on the impact of the video. Wayne E. Chaplin, CEO of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, the largest wine distributor in the U.S., states, “When it comes to sales and marketing for wine, Ernest Gallo is the industry’s forefather. To him, it was obvious and just common sense to listen to the retailer, produce a product the customer wants, and display it in the best location in the store so the consumer can’t miss it. He and the Gallo organization have always focused on perfection, knowing that reaching for perfection would yield the best result possible. This foundational approach remains part off the Gallo winery’s DNA to this day.”

Bill Newlands, President and CEO of Constellation Brands
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, shares, “Ernest Gallo was an industry titan who made a profound impact on the US wine market and all those who were fortunate to work with him. Everyone recognized Ernest as a visionary. But perhaps even more importantly, he was also a great listener. He was once asked why he didn’t speak more in meetings. His answer: ‘I learn little when I’m talking.’ His genuine intellectual curiosity and passion for the business truly set him apart.”

Ray Johnson, Executive Director of the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University, home of the first Wine MBA in America, says, “Interviews like this historic one with Ernest Gallo showcase the lessons of our greatest leaders, allowing the next generation to benefit from their insights and wisdom.”

Stephanie Gallo, CMO of E&J Gallo, and great-grand-daughter of Ernest, shares, “This is a very special interview for me as it truly captures the spirit of my grandfather as well as the vision, drive, and confidence he and his brother, Julio, shared. They not only established their business but they helped create an American wine-drinking culture that continues to thrive today.”