Gallo Be Thy Name

by Jerome Tuccille

First published in 2009, this book has already received several awards. The Gallos rose from abject poverty in the early 1900s to create the most successful wine company in the world, the Gallo family used hard work, strong values-and crime-to find their success. In Gallo Be Thy Name, biographer Jerome Tuccille takes readers through Prohibition and the Great Depression, following the Gallos as they ride the turbulent currents of history to triumph. But beneath the shiny steel surface of the Ernest & Julio Gallo Winery swirl rumors of murder and a sweeping story of passion and power. Blue Mustang Press is proud to offer this revised edition.

Genres: Wine, Nonfiction, History, Business

244 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Jerome Tuccille (c. 1937 – February 2017) was an American writer and activist usually associated with the libertarian movement of American politics.

Reviews

[Michael Bagnoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was excited to read this given the description of the Gallo family/company history listed on Wikipedia, which discussed how the company was started with an initial loan from an immigrant Italian woman named Theresa Franzia to her son in law to start E&J Gallo along with another loan to her own sons to start Franzia, which are now two of the most successful wine companies in the world.

I was pleased to learn that the extended version of this story was even more fascinating, covering complex family dynamics, innovative marketing strategies, and wine industry evolution.

Hopefully some of the details I learned from this book will be useful this summer as I join the company as a lowly sales intern. I look forward to channeling Ernest Gallo’s passion and drive as I contribute to this rich legacy.

Cheers and Felice Anno Nuovo🍷

Review Post 2nd Read:

The story told by Tuccille is different from the one told at Gallo orientation. But times have changed, it’s a different company now. At least, that’s been my experience so far.

[Mary Underhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have lived in Modesto since 1981 and have experienced the Gallos first hand. The book was intensely interesting to me. It is fairly accurate based on my knowledge of them.

[Beverly Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be intriguing from multiple levels: as a Californian, as a wine lover, and as a person who has worked in marketing and branding for years. This book offers a sprawling family saga whose fortune began in the years of Prohibition, overcame murder, suicide, infighting, and lawsuits, and gained their fortune by trampling both the competition and other family members. From "By golly, be jolly, buy Gallo" and "What's the word? Thunderbird!" to the multitude of sophisticated brands you will find on any wine store or supermarket shelf today, the book takes you on the journey of how a business grows and changes with the times, if those at the helm are visionary--and ruthless--enough to make it happen. As one of the Gallo brothers was once quoted: "We didn't do the impossible. We did the obvious." And the obvious usually boiled down to this: Make the wines people want to drink at affordable prices.

[Jeff H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real life drama in the heart of California. Bootlegging, extortion, deceit, warring family members, and even murder in the Central Valley.

As someone who grew up in Modesto, visited the Gallo estate on Maze Rd several times in the '80s, have a handful from relatives and friends who have worked for Gallo over the years, and even have a distant relative who has married into the family, I was very interested in reading this book when I found it at my fathers house (in Modesto). I was even tempted to get a Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler when reading.

There is a lot of interesting information about the E&J Gallo's start in the business and their drive to grow and gain power. Many of the stories in the book I had heard before and most are common knowledge for those in the area. There were some elements which were clarified in the book for me, and a handful which I had never known. E & J clearly did what they needed to do in order to succeed, including shafting their own brother.

I am very glad I read this book.

That said, I felt the writing could be better. There were also a number of grammatical and punctuation errors (at least in this paperback edition) which I found annoying. Certain items were repeated throughout the book which wasn't really needed - once or twice would have been enough. It was almost like Tuccille knew he needed more pages so he found ways to repeat stories from previous chapters to increase the length.

I also felt that Tuccille added perceived, or possibly fictitious, drama.

For example, he repeatedly refers to Modesto as being a "company town" controlled by Gallo. This evokes the image from the western style movies of town living in fear by the land baron / rancher or the image of a mining town whose citizens are dependent on the mine owners for everything. I find the repeated use of this in reference to Modesto bothering and mildly insulting to the residents of Modesto.

It is true that the Gallos have exerted influence over the area. The book documents the donations (and resulting favors) to California & national politicians on both sides of the aisle and even president Clinton. It is also an open secret that in the past if you wanted to win a local election, you had better not go against the Gallo family (which may still be true today). And they certainly curried favors with their donations not only politicians but to the city itself (the Arts Center, etc).

But Modesto has always had significant industries and employers outside of working for (or with) Gallo. In the late 2000's (which the book was published), Modesto had over 180,000 residents. about 3500 - 4000 of them worked at Gallo, about 2% of the population. Hardly a "company town".

Even in the acknowledgements at the end of the book he had to insert some "drama". Two mini-stories come to mine:
1. when visiting the farm where E & J's parents died, a Fresno police cruiser showed up. Tuccille recounts how when they left to go into Fresno, the police cruiser followed he and his wife for 10 minutes as they drove from the rural farm - eliciting the notion that the cops were watching them. But instead of something ominous, it simply could have been that since the were on private land the police stopped to check on them. Then as they drove to Fresno, maybe the Fresno police officers also were simply returning back to town along the main route from the farm towards town. Nothing ominous, just 2 cars driving.

2. when Tuccille stopped at the Modesto Bee to buy pictures to use in his book, the person he spoke to was supposedly nervous and he implied that the paper was afraid of the Gallo's wrath if they sold him any pictures. But the Bee is owned by McClatchy which in 2008 (when he wrote the book) was the 2nd largest newspaper publisher in the country. This wasn't some local paper afraid of the Gallo family as Tuccile strongly implied. This is a vary large publishing company that doesn't sell the rights to it's photos. A very different story than what he presented.

[Liam Mycroft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into the vast empire created by the Gallo brothers.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt like I was reading the winery equivalent of The Godfather, especially during the early bootlegging days in Prohibition. It was interesting to see how the inter family and family-to-business dynamics changed over time. I didn't realize the enormous impact they have had on the California wine industry (good and bad), and the increasingly global impact. Ernest's trademark obsession was almost comical in its ridiculousness, especially now that I understand that very few of their wines even mention Gallo on the bottle.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, kind of lamely written. Although it was interesting to learn how the California's wine region "really" established itself. I'll look for other books with similar topics. Hopefully they will be more captivating.

[Frode · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting information on a controlling personality: Chicago gangster tie-ins, inter family squabbles, and domineering business practices.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellant book about the Gallo family empire. Especially since I have grown up in the same town as the family and my family has done business with some of the decendants.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not well-written, and thin on material.

[John Randall · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is great to have a book that references California's Central Valley. More interesting to us that were raised there and saw the wineries.