Barefoot California Table Wines

Barefoot wine really did begin as a "garage" wine company in 1965. The brand made a small name for jug style table wines. The founder's son and a partner purchased the label in 1986. In the first quarter of 1992, Barefoot Chardonnay was added to the Barefoot repertoire and Barefoot White Zinfandel in late 1993. Other wines were slowly added to the list, and the partners hired branding expertise to create the "casual fun" brand that is now closely associated with the wines. The current winemaker, Jennifer Wall, was hired in 1995 when Barefoot produced four varietals. A year later, Barefoot wines became a national brand in the U.S. The appearance of Barefoot's cheerful label in supermarket shelves and chain drug stores—and on the racks of super discount stores like Sam's and Costco dramatically increased the brand's popularity as a casual table wine that was affordable and reliable. The winery continued to add varietals, and sparkling wines, to their repertoire. In 2005, Barefoot was purchased by the E. and J. Gallo company which increased Barefoot Wines' sales and distribution even more, and allowed for international export. For the curious, there's a fairly detailed history here and a timeline here.

Under Wall's direction, Barefoot currently produces fourteen varietals and blends: Zinfandel, Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, White Zinfandel, Moscato, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chardonnay. They also make a variety of sparkling wines, including Brut Cuvée, Pinot Grigio, Extra Dry, Rosé Cuvée and Moscato Spumante. There isn't a great deal of information about these wines in terms of grapes or blends (it's perfectly legal to label a wine a varietal in the U.S. as long as it's 75% or more of the wine or grapes used. I note that the labels on the wines offer "Modesto, California," and the Web site describes the wines as "California table wine," which I suspect means that the grapes and wines are all from California. These are also undated or "NV" wines—which means that they're free to pick and choose from the grapes and wines they have available in order to create a blend. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since wineries with Barefoot's scale are likely using some very good grapes and wines in an effort to achieve a specific taste and aroma and general appeal. Remember, the goal of NV wines is to cultivate repeat customers; that means they need to know it's "safe" to buy the wine again. At the same time, Barefoot wines have won medal after medal, across the board.

Barefoot has deliberately cultivated a relaxed image for the brand, but they've also cultivated a knack for producing quality table wines at prices that consumers are increasingly finding acceptable; as the economy has tanked, casual wine drinkers are finding table wines an affordable every day part of their dining.