Who owns Barefoot wine?

E. & J. Gallo Winery. Wine Enthusiast reported in November 2025 that Gallo acquired the brand in 2005, and Gallo's portfolio still listed Barefoot when we checked in November 2026.

How much does Barefoot wine cost?

In November 2026 the 750 ml Moscato, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Grigio had a regular price of $6.99 at Target and were $6.49 at Marketview Liquor. Prices vary by state and store.

Is Barefoot wine sweet?

Some of it is. The brand groups its Moscatos, Riesling, Sangria and Fruitscato wines as sweet, and calls its Sauvignon Blanc dry. Tastings.com recorded 7.2% residual sugar in the White Moscato.

What is the alcohol content of Barefoot wine?

It depends on the wine. Target lists the Moscato at 9%, the Pinot Grigio at 12.5% and the Cabernet Sauvignon at 13%. Tastings.com and Marketview list that Cabernet at 13.5%, so check the label.

Is Barefoot wine good?

Tastings.com gave the non-vintage White Moscato 87 points in February 2024, which at about $6.50 to $7 is a Great Value on our scale. Its 88 points for the Cabernet Sauvignon date from 2023 and are now archived, so we give that wine no verdict.

Barefoot Wine: History, Range & Prices

Barefoot is an inexpensive California wine brand, recognizable by the footprint on its label, that has belonged to E. & J. Gallo since 2005. It makes everything from Cabernet Sauvignon to sweet Moscato and flavored Fruitscato, and the three 750 ml bottles we priced cost about $6.50 to $7. This guide covers where the brand came from, what’s in the range, how sweet and how strong the wines are, and what critics have said. It’s for anyone standing in a supermarket aisle wondering which footprint to pick up.

Wine Blue Book is independent and isn’t affiliated with Barefoot or Gallo.

A short history of Barefoot

Barefoot dates to 1965. The brand’s own timeline and a November 2025 profile in Wine Enthusiast give the main dates:

Year	What happened	Source
1965	Davis Bynum makes the first Barefoot wine, Barefoot Bynum Burgundy, in his garage in Albany, California	Barefoot
1986	Bynum sells the label to Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey; the name becomes Barefoot Cellars and the footprint label appears	Wine Enthusiast, Barefoot
1995	Winemaker Jennifer Wall joins	Barefoot
2005	Gallo acquires the brand	Wine Enthusiast
2006	Barefoot launches Pinot Grigio, now the biggest wine in its portfolio	Wine Enthusiast
2025	Wine Enthusiast names Barefoot its American Winery of the Year	Wine Enthusiast, Barefoot

According to Cal State Long Beach’s Beach Magazine, the couple took on a winery’s debt to get started, ran the business from the laundry room of their Sonoma County home and, with little money for advertising, introduced the wines at community events. The magazine says the footprint on the label was Bonnie’s own. By 2005 Barefoot sold nearly 600,000 cases a year. That year they sold to Gallo, and they stayed on as consultants for a year.

Who owns Barefoot now, and how big is it?

Barefoot belongs to E. & J. Gallo Winery, the California company founded by brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo. Wine Enthusiast dates the purchase to 2005, Gallo’s portfolio site still listed the brand in November 2026, and the brand’s website carries the name Barefoot Cellars, Modesto, California.

It’s a very large brand. Wine Enthusiast called it the best-selling wine in the US in November 2025, with more than $555 million in sales “last year.” Food Republic, citing the American Association of Wine Economists, reported in June 2026 that Barefoot sold almost 19.5 million nine-liter cases in 2023.

Gallo describes Barefoot as “the most awarded wine in US competitions,” and Barefoot’s site credits Wall with more than 10,000 medals and accolades. Those are the company’s own claims and we haven’t checked them. In our view, competition medals say less than a named critic’s score, because shoppers rarely learn who judged the wine or how many others won the same medal.

The Barefoot range

The brand’s site groups its wines like this (November 2026):

Group	Wines
Red	Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Malbec, Sweet Red Blend, Rich Red Blend, Red Moscato, Sangria
White	Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Buttery Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Moscato, Lower Calorie Pinot Grigio
Pink	Pink Moscato, White Zinfandel, Rosé
Bubbly	Brut Cuvée, Extra Dry, Brut Rosé, Pink Moscato, Moscato Spumante, Pinot Grigio
Fruitscato	Peach, Strawberry, Pear, Blueberry, Lemonade, Mango, Apple, Pineapple, Watermelon

Fruitscato is the odd one out. The brand describes it as sweet wine with added natural flavors, so it isn’t a straight grape wine. If you want to know what’s behind the grape names, start with our guides to Pinot Grigio and White Zinfandel.

Size varies by wine. The brand lists the Moscato in 187 ml, 200 ml, 500 ml, 750 ml, 1.5 L and 3 L, and the Cabernet Sauvignon in 187 ml, 200 ml, 750 ml, 1.5 L and 3 L. Wine Enthusiast also mentions 200 ml Tetra Paks and a packaging update with short two-word descriptions of each wine.

How sweet is Barefoot wine?

It depends on the bottle. The brand’s “sweet wines” page lists the Moscato, Pink Moscato, Red Moscato, Moscato Spumante, Riesling, Sangria and all the Fruitscato flavors, and calls them easy to sip and a good choice for beginners. The wine list calls the Sauvignon Blanc a “dry white wine.”

The brand doesn’t publish sugar figures on the pages we opened, so the only hard number we can give comes from a critic. Tastings.com recorded 7.2% residual sugar (the grape sugar left in the finished wine) in the White Moscato. The Cabernet Sauvignon is described by the brand as rich and smooth, with no stated sweetness level.

Our rule of thumb: if the name includes Moscato, Sweet, Sangria or Fruitscato, expect sugar. For a drier bottle, we’d start with the Sauvignon Blanc. Our guide to low-sugar wine explains how to judge the rest.

Alcohol content

The brand’s product pages don’t list alcohol, so these figures come from retailers and Tastings.com. Bottlings can change, so the label is the last word.

Wine	Alcohol	Where listed
Moscato	9%	Target, Marketview Liquor, Tastings.com
Pinot Grigio	12.5%	Target, Marketview Liquor
Cabernet Sauvignon	13% to 13.5%	Target says 13%; Marketview Liquor and Tastings.com say 13.5%

What Barefoot costs

We checked regular prices for three of the wines in November 2026:

Wine (750 ml, non-vintage)	Target	Marketview Liquor
Moscato	$6.99	$6.49
Cabernet Sauvignon	$6.99	$6.49
Pinot Grigio	$6.99	$6.49

Our best Moscato list found the Moscato at up to $8.99 at a third store in October 2026, so expect some variation by state. These listings show no vintage.

What critics say

The reviews we could open come from Tastings.com:

Barefoot White Moscato NV (California): 87 points, tasted February 2024, with a Silver Medal; the only professional score we use for this wine. At about $6.50 to $7 (November 2026), it’s a Great Value under our value method, which sets that verdict at $10 or less for 85 to 87 points. It’s a non-vintage wine, so the blend can shift between bottlings.
Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon NV (California), archived review: 88 points, rated March 2023. Tastings.com now says it can no longer certify that rating without a current sample, so we give this wine no verdict.

Wine Enthusiast’s Winery of the Year award is a recognition of the brand and its reach, not a score for any single bottle. In our view, Barefoot is best treated as a low-cost everyday brand where the Moscato has the clearest evidence behind it. If you want other low-priced bottles with recent scores, our best cheap wine list uses the same method.

Wine is for adults of legal drinking age. Please drink responsibly.