TheWineBlog: Gallo's 'Hearty Burgundy's 50 Year Celebration' by Philip S. Kampe

Friday, January 24, 2014

Gallo's 'Hearty Burgundy's 50 Year Celebration' by Philip S. Kampe

Gallo’s Hearty Burgundy's 50 Year Souvenir Magnum

When I was in college in the early 70’s I remember buying a TIME magazine that had a bottle of Gallo’s HEARTY BURGUNDY on the cover. The article highlighted California’s contribution to the wine world and how Gallo’s Hearty Burgundy was the ‘best wine buy in America’.
To celebrate the ‘Fifty Years’ that Hearty Burgundy has been in the market, the Gallo Family sponsored a ‘Hearty Burgundy Party’ at the discreet Hudson Hotel in Manhattan. Unfortunately, I did not attend because of the blizzard like conditions that evening. What I did was simple, I bought to a bottle of Hearty Burgundy and celebrated on my own.
As much as I am supposed to know about wine—little did I know that this ‘Gem of a Magnum’ was so well priced and so high of a quality that I was literally overwhelmed. The wine is a combination of Zinfandel and Petit Sirah.
Hearty Burgundy is the type of wine I would serve at a big party, where you want to keep your wine costs down, yet you want to pour a wine that you would be proud of. The new packaging of the bottle (see photo) will be unveiled in February, just in time for your Superbowl party.
Legend has it that Hearty Burgundy was the favorite wine of Gallo’s founders, Ernest and Julio. The wine is credited for putting wine on the map when spirits dominated the market fifty years ago.
It is the type of wine, my wife’s family (Italian), would drink every Sunday while enjoying pasta with red sauce and meatballs.
Thank you Ernest and Julio Gallo for being a part of our life for the past ‘Fifty Years’.