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Ernest & Julio Gallo Sues Mom & Pop Winery Over The Word â”Roosterâ”

  • Spence Cooper
  • May 4, 2009

Shakespeare was all wrong. A rose by any other name is NOT still a rose — especially in the corporate world of name brands. That’s why Ernest & Julio Gallo is suing a Seattle retail wine and specialty food shop (The Spanish Table) over pasta. To most Americans the name “Gallo”is synonymous with California wine. But it just so happens that the Seattle retailer sells Spanish-made “Gallo”pasta made by a 50-year-old Spanish company. What makes this even more amusing is that in both Italy and Spain, the word “Gallo”means “rooster”and is pronounced “Guy-o”. So in essence the largest family-owned winery in the United States is suing a mom and pop operation over the word “rooster”. The corporate world would have us believe you can own a word. What if every “Smith”in the world believed they owned exclusive rights to their surname and sued every other “Smith”in the world?

Considering Ernest & Julio Gallo’s past, one can surly appreciate the company’s interest in preserving the sovereignty of their brand name. Following the repeal of Prohibition, E. & J. Gallo Winery was founded in 1933 by Ernest Gallo and Julio Gallo in Modesto, California. The two founding brothers borrowed five grand from Ernest’s mother-in-law and learned commercial winemaking by reading old, pre-Prohibition pamphlets published by the University of California which they retrieved from the basement of the Modesto Public Library. With over 5000 employees including three generations working in the family business, E. & J. Gallo Winery is now the largest exporter of California wines.

But their brand name is E. & J. Gallo Winery, not “Gallo”. And by the way, ask any wino from New York to Los Angeles what they think of first when they hear the word “Thunderbird”, and they’ll tell you wine, not the car made by Ford. In the thirties, Gallo pimped Thunderbird in ghetto’s around the country. Their radio ad went “What’s the word? Thunderbird. How’s it sold? Good and cold. What’s the jive? Bird’s alive. What’s the price?. Thirty twice.”

So why didn’t they sue Ford in 1967?

The Spanish Table, owned by Sharon Baden and Steve Winston, is known for its wine, cheese and specialty Spanish food. They received a letter from a lawyer representing EJ Gallo, telling them to stop selling the “Gallo”brand of pasta or they would be sued.

“We just thought it was ridiculous,” says Baden. “First of all, why not contact the company in Spain who is the producer we’re just the retailer.”

“If they tried to sell their wine in Spain,”says Carme Huguet, visiting Baden and Winston’s retail store, “I don’t think Gallo would even bother to fight with them. Everybody knows who sells the pasta, who sells the wine, what’s the point? And the person who is selling it can’t change the name of the product.”

Gallo Winery press release:

“The Gallo brand is known, recognized and trusted throughout the world. The brand represents our promise to the wine consumer that there are Gallo family members involved in the business who are passionate about making wine, who care about the quality and are involved in every detail to ensure that the consumer is receiving the best quality wine. Thus, we must always protect the image of our brand and the promise it represents,” says Susan Hensley, Vice President of Public Relations for the E. & J. Gallo Winery.

Yadda, yadda, yadda.

The Gallo brothers sued their younger brother Joseph in the eighties for selling cheese with the Joseph Gallo Farms name. Joseph then counterclaimed, alleging that Ernest and Julio conspired to steal his share of the inheritance from their father, who Joseph claims actually started the winery to begin with.

I got an idea, instead of spending money for attorneys fees on all this frivolous pasta nonsense, why doesn’t Gallo spend their money on water fees instead of illegally using water from the Russian River.

“According to a complaint from California’s State Water Resources Control Board, Gallo avoided costs and fees totaling more than $65,000 over a three-year period by illegally filling the 8.2-acre reservoir from the Russian River. The $73,000 fine could rise as high as $547,500 if Gallo challenges the complaint in court and loses”.

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