California’s Gallo Winery now has 24 liquor brands, and a new name for the booming branch
E.&J. Gallo Winery of Modesto has a new name, Spirit of Gallo, for a liquor division that has boomed alongside its core product.
The line includes 24 products, including New Amsterdam gin and vodka, Familia Camarena tequila, RumChata, E.&J. Brandy and a new hard seltzer called High Noon Sun Sips. Gallo either makes them or has distribution agreements with other companies.
The late brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo founded the business entirely on wine grapes in 1933. They added brandy, made by distilling wine to higher alcohol content, in 1975. Recent years have brought tequila made from agave plants, rum from sugar cane, Scotch whisky from barley, and more.
Gallo, the world’s largest wine producer, employs about 7,000 people. They work in the Central Valley, near the California coast, in Washington and New York states, and in several foreign countries. Another bottling plant is under construction in South Carolina.
“We are at the forefront of pushing the limits of creativity to serve the changing tastes of today’s consumers,” said Britt West, vice president and general manager of Spirit of Gallo, in a news release. “For example, we created High Noon Hard Seltzer as a premium alternative for occasions that were typically limited to just beer.”
High Noon comes in cans and is crafted with vodka, sparkling water and 11 choices of fruit juice. It is part of an industrywide trend in seltzers spiked with various liquors.
E.&J. Brandy was “a natural extension from wine,” third-generation CEO Ernest Gallo said in the release. “... Spirit of Gallo offers us the opportunity to highlight our portfolio of spirits, which includes tequila, rum, vodka, gin, vermouth, Scotch whisky and more.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 9:03 AM with the headline "California’s Gallo Winery now has 24 liquor brands, and a new name for the booming branch."
