The Weird and Wavy History of Wine Coolers

27, May. 2024

 

The Weird and Wavy History of Wine Coolers

The other day, a friend asked me to meet her for a drink at The Wing , a women-only social club in Manhattan. She ordered us both something called Ramona ; it was a bubbly, pinkish concoction with a zingy, fragrant grapefruit tang, and it came from a can, like a soda. It was delicious'sophisticated, even'but I knew exactly what it was:a wine cooler, a girly throwback rarely seen since the s. Yet here it was, served as a featured bar item in this exclusive feminist enclave of creative capitalism. Could the wine cooler be making a real, actual, unironic comeback?

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The story of wine coolers' rise and fall fits almost perfectly into the pocket of Reagan-era America. The first wine coolers were sold in . At their peak popularity, in , wine cooler sales topped a billion dollars annually, and accounted for 20 percent of all wine consumed in the US.

The story of wine coolers' rise and fall fits almost perfectly into the pocket of Reagan-era America. The first wine coolers were sold in . At their peak popularity, in , wine cooler sales topped a billion dollars annually, and accounted for 20 percent of all wine consumed in the US.

But by the time of Bill Clinton's first inauguration in , they had gone nearly extinct, replaced by malt-liquor-based surrogates like Zima and St. Ides that delivered the cloying fizzy fruitiness, but without any actual wine. What had seemed like the Next Big Thing turned out to be a passing fad.

But by the time of Bill Clinton's first inauguration in , they had gone nearly extinct, replaced by malt-liquor-based surrogates like Zima and St. Ides that delivered the cloying fizzy fruitiness, but without any actual wine. What had seemed like the Next Big Thing turned out to be a passing fad.

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The original wine cooler was the California Cooler, a drink born in the salt spray and endless summer vibes of Southern California's surf beaches. 'The gang would get together on the beach in Santa Cruz, and I would mix together all these tropical flavors'pineapple, grapefruit, lemon-lime, white wine, and a little bit of club soda,' Michael Crete, the cooler's inventor, told me. Everyone loved it.

The original wine cooler was the California Cooler, a drink born in the salt spray and endless summer vibes of Southern California's surf beaches. 'The gang would get together on the beach in Santa Cruz, and I would mix together all these tropical flavors'pineapple, grapefruit, lemon-lime, white wine, and a little bit of club soda,' Michael Crete, the cooler's inventor, told me. Everyone loved it.

At the time, Crete was working in wine and beer sales, and he saw an opportunity. He teamed up with his high school buddy, Stuart Bewley, who had a business degree and a knack for financial wizardry. They were both in their mid 20s then, easygoing but on the make, and natural salesmen. They spent a year and a half perfecting the formula, finding the right mix of fruit juices, wine, and carbonation to produce a citrusy drink with sunny, tropical feels. They packaged it in 12-ounce green glass bottles, with gold foil tops'kind of like Beck's beer, Crete told me'and sold it chilled, in four-packs.

At the time, Crete was working in wine and beer sales, and he saw an opportunity. He teamed up with his high school buddy, Stuart Bewley, who had a business degree and a knack for financial wizardry. They were both in their mid 20s then, easygoing but on the make, and natural salesmen. They spent a year and a half perfecting the formula, finding the right mix of fruit juices, wine, and carbonation to produce a citrusy drink with sunny, tropical feels. They packaged it in 12-ounce green glass bottles, with gold foil tops'kind of like Beck's beer, Crete told me'and sold it chilled, in four-packs.

Wine coolers are making a comeback with a fresher look ...

For drinkers of a certain age, Bruce Willis is synonymous with wine coolers. Back in the mid- to late '80s, the actor was best known as the spokesman for Seagram's Golden Wine Cooler. In splashy prime-time TV ads, he sashayed through neon-lit New York City, flirted with a new bride (and in another commercial, Sharon Stone) and performed with a posse of would-be blues musicians and a shaggy dog on a rural porch. 'It's wet, and it's dry,' he'd say at the end of each.

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