BLAST FROM THE PAST: Wine Coolers

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There was only one beverage that ruled them all in the 1980's and that was wine coolers. There were 3 titans in the wine cooler business: California Cooler, Bartles & Jaymes, and Seagrams. Before they were commercialized, wine coolers were an underground hooch made in a plastic pail at college parties, or as a way to for suburbanities to class up backyard BBQs. Homemade wine coolers require a few simple ingredients: wine, carbonated soda, and fruit juice. The cheaper the wine the better the buzz. The fruit juice helped to offset the cheap wine taste and added an extra dose of sweetness.

The first mass produced wine cooler was California Cooler introduced in 1981. The company was started by two high school friends, Michael Crate and R. Stuart Bewley. They raised $140,000 from family and friends to start the company. California Cooler became an instant hit and a popular libation at many hot tub parties, beaches, and other get togethers. California Coolers were freakin' delicious. I drank my fair share of them during high school and college. Actually, I guzzled them. They were refreshing and after a long day of  working at a shitty job to pay for college and then coming home to cram for an exam, it was the perfect beverage to unwind. In 1985, they sold the company to Brown Forman for $146 million. BTW, Brown Forman owns Jack Daniels. 


In 1985 Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers was introduced by EJ Gallo Winery. B&J became well known for their commercials which featured 2 elderly fictional characters - Fred Bartles and Ed Jaymes. The 2 plugged the product in a home spun, folksy manner. The 2 dudes who portrayed them were not professional actors. One was an Air Force veteran and the other a general contractor who won a  talent search. B&J came in a bunch of flavors. My personal favorites were the original and Ed's Red.  But my loyalty was with California Cooler.

Popularity for wine coolers began to wane mainly because of the US government. Damn lawmakers ruin everything that's fun. In 1990 the US Congress increased the excise tax on wine by a shitload. It became cost prohibitive for manufacturers to make the product. California Cooler stopped production in 1992. Bartles & Jaymes decided to change their formula from wine to malt based which altered the taste of the products. Because of this change, B&J could no longer call their products wine coolers. Eventually, they ceased operations because no one was buying them. 

The closest thing to a wine cooler that exists today are hard seltzers but they are malt based. They're not even close to the flavor profile of a real wine cooler. If you want a genuine wine cooler, you'll have to drag the bucket out and whip up a batch at home. 

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