Our take
Ballatore Gran Spumante Sparkling Wine 750ml
- Style
- Sparkling wine
- Size
- 750 ml
- Region
- California
- Shelf barcode
- 0085000007570
Our take
What we make of this bottle
This bottle is a sparkling wine from California, sold under the Ballatore name. In our September 2026 checks the price ranged from $10.99 to $12.99, and that puts it among the least expensive sparkling wines we track.
1 shopper has rated this wine, scoring it 5 out of five. That is one person's score, not a crowd's. If a toast is on the calendar and the budget is fixed, this bottle earns a look on price alone.
Ballatore comes from E. & J. Gallo Winery, and the brand's starting point is the company's own account: Gallo says it introduced Ballatore Gran Spumante in 1985.
The producer's own description calls this a wine 'styled after the traditional Spumantes of Italy's Asti region,' sweet with 'robust flavors of ripe apricots and melons,' made at Ballatore Cellars in Modesto, California, though neither the producer's site nor Gallo's publishes an alcohol percentage or grape variety for it. Ballatore's own pages carry two different measures of its track record: the brand's awards page cites specific wins, a Wine Enthusiast 'Best Buy' in 2006 and a 2007 endorsement from the Quarterly Review of Wines calling it 'the best sparkling wine of its kind under $15,' while Gallo's own portfolio page credits the wine with more than 250 awards overall since its 1985 introduction; the two producer-linked pages describe the same track record at different levels of detail, not in conflict so much as incomplete on both sides.
Our call: this suits a shopper who wants a sweet, Asti-styled sparkler at one of the lowest sparkling-wine prices we track, backed by a decades-old track record even where the producer keeps the exact numbers, alcohol and grape variety, off the label copy. Pass if you want a dry style or full technical specs before you buy; neither this producer's page nor Gallo's states an alcohol percentage or grape variety, and the single rating on record is one shopper's score, not a crowd's.
The Grocery Store Wine Desk · written Sep 16, 2026 from our research file for this wine. Numbers reflect our latest checks.
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Read our take →The prices we checked
Dated store checks, not a promise about your store.
- Kroger, Atlanta suburbs, GA$10.99
- Ralphs, Long Beach, CA$11.99
- King Soopers, Colorado Springs, CO$10.99
- Smith's, Las Vegas, NV$12.99
- Kroger, Knoxville, TN$10.99
- Fry's, Tucson, AZ$10.99
- QFC, Tacoma, WA$12.99
The regular price can vary by store and date.
From the producer
Introduced 1985
Gallo says it introduced Ballatore Gran Spumante in 1985.
Research status
What we are still checking
Our overview above draws on the dated store feed, shopper ratings, our region and grape research, and any sourced producer facts. We are still working to confirm the current release, the full producer record, and the bottle itself, and we update this page as we learn more.
Getting to know California.
California on the label is useful provenance but weak detail about place. For these wines, sourcing disclosure, blend construction and house-style consistency carry more decision value than a generic climate paragraph.
What the name means
A state-level appellation, broader than an individual American Viticultural Area. It permits a multi-region blend and does not by itself identify one climate or soil.
How grapes grow here
The state spans cool maritime zones and hot inland valleys. A California designation alone does not reveal which conditions shaped the fruit.
What lies under the vines
At state scale, sourcing and house-style construction matter more than any single soil story.
How large the region is
- Reusable question
- Which counties or AVAs supplied the blend, and did that mix change by release?
Places within the region
- Resolution limit
- County, AVA and vineyard claims begin only when the release names them.
Where this information comes from
- Store listing
- Price, package, product identifier, and shopper rating. Checked Aug 10, 2026.
- Barcode
- The shelf barcode shown here is computed from the store product identifier. It has not been checked against a bottle.
- Method
- Every price, rating and fact here is a dated observation. How we check.