How Much Gallo Is There?

It is estimated that Gallo’s sales in 1989 were 71 million 9-liter cases of wine. “But that’s only a best guess,” says one industry consultant. Major wine industry watchers are never certain their numbers on Gallo are correct. Gallo employees are forbidden to say anything about the company, which means even getting accurate case sales and dollar volume figures is a guessing game. As for dollar volume, an industry analyst said Gallo revenues for the year were probably about $850 million.

That figure comprises about $100 million from the sales of Gallo varietal wines, $120 million from the sale of 2.3 million cases of brandy, and the remainder from the sale of jug wines such as Boone’s, Thunderbird and wines sold in huge boxes for restaurant by-the-glass programs. Included in the restaurant sales are wines sold under the names Carlo Rossi and William Wycliffe.

Hambrecht & Quist, a San Francisco investment house with holdings in the wine industry, said in a recent report on the wine industry that in 1989, Gallo vaulted from third to No. 1 in the sale of varietal wines by U.S. wineries, with 4.3 million cases sold. No. 2 was listed as Sutter Home with 3.4 million 9-liter cases.

Gallo represents about 30% of all U.S. wine produced, and it gets most of that volume by buying grapes on the open market, though the company also owns 5,000 acres of grapes other than its Sonoma ranches. Most of that vineyard land is located in Livingston, along the Merced River in Merced County.