Recently at Reason.tv: "Gallo Be Thy Name"—Ernest & Julio as thugs, winemaking entrepreneurs, and great Americans

September 3, 2009

When Reason.tv last checked in with author Jerome Tuccille (in July 2008), it was to discuss a new edition of his classic libertarian-movement memoir, It Usually Begins with Ayn Rand.

Now Tuccille is back with a new book that explores the lives and times of Ernest & Julio Gallo, the California brothers who went from relative obscurity to being the biggest winemakers in the world.

Gallo Be Thy Name: The Inside Story of How One Family Rose to Dominate the U.S. Wine Market is a mesmerizing story of true crime, murder, Prohibition, family drama, and capitalism. It is also an engrossing social history of the last 100 years of America and explains how we went from a nation that gulped Thunderbird, Ripple, Boone's Farm and other Gallo-created plonk to a country of refined Chardonnay and Zinfandel sippers.

Approximately 10 minutes. Interview by Nick Gillespie; shot by Meredith Bragg and Dan Hayes and edited by Meredith Bragg.

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Comments

Fist of Etiquette|9.3.09 @ 2:56PM|#

"Back in the 1890's people dressed up to go out; they put on suits and ties..."

He's giving you a hint, Nick.