Thunderbird (wine)

Thunderbird

Type	Flavored fortified wine
Manufacturer	E. & J. Gallo Winery
Distributor	E. & J. Gallo Winery
Country of origin	United States
Introduced	1957
Alcohol by volume	17.5
Proof (US)	35
Colour	Yellow
Flavour	Citrus

Thunderbird is a discount, flavored fortified wine marketed by E. & J. Gallo Winery in the United States. The wine is sold at 17.5% ABV. ^[1]

History

In the 1940s, Ernest Gallo wanted to expand his wine-making business by marketing to groups he felt were underserved but potentially lucrative. ^[2] After several new products failed on the market, including a beverage marketed towards women called Gallo-ette and a low-alcohol apple wine called Scotty, he found success with Thunderbird, which was targeted to the African-American community.

A change in federal law during 1955 allowed wine to be modified with flavoring agents without resulting in a higher tax, which previously would have impacted the final price of the product. A Los Angeles Gallo salesman noticed liquor store cashiers kept a bottle of concentrated lemon juice behind the counter and would add this to bottles of white port wine upon the request of the African-American purchaser. Upon learning this, Gallo instructed his staff to develop a wine beverage which resulted in Thunderbird, a sweetened, fortified lemon-flavored port wine. This product was very successful, and sold 32 million gallons in 1957, its first year of production ^[2] enabling Gallo to reposition from third place to first place in the California wine market and eventually become the top winemaker in the US. ^[3]

Gallo employed celebrity actor James Mason to help market the wine in television ads. ^[4] Thunderbird is frequently mentioned in songs. ^[5]

An early radio jingle, which followed a blues theme, contained the lyrics: 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.. Inflation later necessitated an update to the last line to "a dollar twice" ^[5]

References

1. Snyder, Molly (20 January 2011). "Guide to bum wine". OnMilwaukee. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
2. Pinney, Thomas (7 May 2012). The Makers of American Wine: A Record of Two Hundred Years. University of California Press. pp. 143–145. ISBN   978-0-520-26953-8 . Retrieved 4 September 2025.
3. Humes, Edward (22 October 2013). A Man and his Mountain: The Everyman who Created Kendall-Jackson and Became AmericaÕs Greatest Wine Entrepreneur. PublicAffairs. p. 147. ISBN   978-1-61039-285-3 . Retrieved 4 September 2025.
4. Veseth, Mike (17 July 2013). Extreme Wine: Searching the World for the Best, the Worst, the Outrageously Cheap, the Insanely Overpriced, and the Undiscovered. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. ISBN   978-1-4422-1924-3 . Retrieved 4 September 2025.
5. Martin, Scott C. (16 December 2014). The SAGE Encyclopedia of Alcohol: Social, Cultural, and Historical Perspectives. SAGE Publications. p. 1404. ISBN   978-1-4833-3108-9 . Retrieved 4 September 2025.

See also

• Fortified wine
• Night Train (wine)