Why Whiny Baby Matters

And why the wine doesn’t…

A quick note before I jump into the Whiny Baby article…Harvest is over for me and OND is in full swing, which means events, more road travel, and more ideas for stories. I’m nearly at 100 subscribers which is really great, thanks for subscribing, reading, and commenting on my articles. I’m sticking with one article per week at this point, as it’s manageable for me and I’m trying to be disciplined in my writing at between 500 and 1000 words. Thanks again for your support…now Why Whiny Baby Matters

Share Case by Case, by David Mastro Scheidt

The recent acquisition of Whiny Baby by Gallo made plenty of headlines, not just in the press, but within the insular (think palace intrigue) California wine industry.

A screenshot from their Instagram page

Let’s do a quick recap of what Whiny Baby is:

  • Whiny Baby (WB), founded by Jess Druey, is a wine company that, based on reports as of 2025, produces roughly 6,000 cases. It was established in 2020 and then “incubated” by McBride Sisters Wine Company to help with production and distribution. McBride Sisters produce Black Girl Magic, SheCan, and McBride Sisters Collection. Amy Butler is the winemaker for several of the brands including Whiny Baby.

  • The Whiny Baby wines are legally labeled California Red, White and Rosé Wine without vintage. They are bottled in 750ml flint (clear) glass with crown caps, not corks.

  • WB had multi-state distribution in big box stores and specialty retailers, like Sprouts and Whole Foods.

  • WB targeted the Gen-Z demographic, born between 1997 and 2012 or between the ages of 28 and 13. This is alcohol in the US, so targeting 21 and over here. There is a lot of focus on Gen Z in terms of trends. What are they drinking and why, is what the beverage alcohol community is studying closely. Obviously Gallo is studying it and was watching Whiny Baby closely these last few years. Whiny Baby seemed to nail it.

Why is this acquisition surprising, shocking or otherwise?

Answer…it’s not.

Silicon Valley companies acquire small, emerging companies on a regular basis that certainly do not make front-page headlines. Gallo, the largest wine company in the world by volume, buying Whiny Baby is a rounding error in terms of its production.

If Facebook or Oracle acquires a $10 million company, it’s a rounding error to them, barely makes news, and the industry just moves on. And like a Silicon Valley acquisition, it was about the IP and the founder of Whiny Baby that speaks loudly.

As a matter of history and perspective, Gallo has also acquired Massican from fellow Substacker Dan Petroski and Rombauer in the last few years. Massican is similar to Whiny Baby in that it had highly specific IP and an iconoclastic founder. In addition to physical property, Rombauer was a more traditional acquisition of a well-established and entrenched brand.

What do these three acquisitions by Gallo say about the wine world?

Have a strong brand and a founder that stands out.

Here’s what the Whiny Baby acquisition makes clear — the wine itself doesn’t matter.

In nearly every press release, they talked about the founder Jess, GenZ, the packaging, the branding, distribution, McBride Sisters, the messaging, the vibe. Nowhere does it talk about the wine or the winemaker. Because the wine doesn’t matter.

Let this be a lesson to every small winery and winemaker. Your wine isn’t always the most important thing in an acquisition or even in the current marketing and sale of the actual bottle of wine. The wine doesn’t matter.

What matters is everything else, especially the founder and her IP.

Distribution, packaging, vibe, feels, everything else matters except the wine.

“5 years ago I started a brand for the new generation. Today that brand is joining the largest wine company in the world.” Jess Druey from her LinkedIn Page.

BRAND. Not Winery. BRAND.

I think a lot of small winemakers like myself forget this. We’re so tied up with impressing people with our wine, site, stats, viticulture — we forget about two important aspects of the winery business; marketing (packaging, vibe) and sales (distribution).

A screenshot from LinkedIn

We’re not selling wine; we are selling a discretionary non-durable consumer product.

For emphasis — Wine is a discretionary non-durable consumer product. In other words, no one needs it to live (like water) and it won’t last long, (like a washing machine).

Jess figured her brand and distribution out rapidly, and the simple proof is the quickness of the Gallo purchase. At 24 years old, she founded Whiny Baby. By 28, she’d been bought out by the largest wine company in the world. Unicorn numbers.