Flavored fortified wines
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
MD 20/20 bottles
Flavored fortified wines
are inexpensive fortified wines that typically have an alcohol
content between 1% and 50% alcohol
by volume (ABV). They are usually made of grape and citrus wine, sugar, and artificial
flavor.
Contents
Brands
- Buckfast Tonic Wine is a caffeine- and sugar-laced tonic wine with added alcohol, produced under license from Buckfast Abbey, a Roman Catholic monastery located in Devon, England. It is very popular in Glasgow, East Kilbride, Hamilton, Coatbridge and other Strathclyde areas in Scotland, but critics have blamed it for being one cause of social problems in Scotland. Some have called it “Wreck the Hoose Juice”.[1]
- Cisco is the brand name of a fortified wine produced by the Centerra Wine Company (a division of Constellation Brands) with varieties selling at 13.9%, 17.5%, and 19.5% alcohol by volume (ABV). Cisco has a syrupy consistency and sweet taste; because of its color and bottle shape, it is frequently mistaken for a wine cooler. The Federal Trade Commission required the company to put labels on their bottles stating that Cisco is not a wine cooler, to change the shape and color of their containers, and to recall their advertising slogan “Takes you by surprise”[2]
- Night Train Express, usually abbreviated to Night Train, typically contains 17.5% ABV. Night Train Express has been condemned by some civic leaders who think inexpensive high alcohol content drinks contribute to vagrancy and public drunkenness.[3]
History
An early reference to the
problem of cheap and poorly made wines is in the “Report on Cheap Wines” in the
5 November 1864 issue of The Medical Times and Gazette. The author, in
prescribing inexpensive wines for a number of ills, cautions against the “fortified”
wines of the day, describing of one sample that he had tried:
When the cork was drawn it was
scarcely tinted, and was a very bad one – a thing of no good augury for
the wine. There was no smell of port wine. The liquid, when tasted, gave the
palate half-a-dozen sensations instead of one. There was a hot taste of
spirits, a sweet taste, a fruity taste like damsons, and an
unmistakable flavor of Roussillon [an alternative name in France for wine made from
the grape Grenache]. It was a strong, unwholesome liquor, purchased very
dearly.[4]
It is reported, however, that
the popularity of cheap, fortified wines in the United States arose in the
1930s, as a product of Prohibition and the Great
Depression:
Prohibition produced the Roaring
Twenties and fostered more beer and distilled-spirit drinkers than wine drinkers, because
the raw materials were easier to come by. But fortified wine, or medicinal wine
tonic—containing about 20 percent alcohol, which made it more like a distilled
spirit than regular wine—was still available and became America’s number one
wine. Thunderbird and Wild Irish Rose, to name two examples, are fortified
wines. American wine was soon more popular for its effect than its taste; in fact,
the word wino came into use during the Depression to describe those unfortunate
souls who turned to fortified wine to forget their troubles.
— Kevin
Zraly, Kevin Zraly’s American Wine Guide (2006) p. 38.
Concerns and media attention
While overtaken somewhat in the
low-end alcoholic drink market by sweetened malt beverages by the 1990s, the
appeal of cheap fortified wines to the poor and homeless has often raised
concerns:
Community
groups in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland have urged makers
of fortified wines such as Wild Irish Rose and E & J Gallo’s Thunderbird
and Night Train brands to pull their products from the shelves of liquor
retailers in skid row areas. In Nashville, Tennessee,
one liquor store owner told Nashville
Business Journal reporter Julie Hinds that police warned him to
stop selling his biggest selling product, Wild Irish Rose, because it
encouraged homeless people to linger in the area.
— Janice Jorgensen,
Encyclopedia of Consumer Brands: Consumable Products (1993), p. 492.
In
2005, the Seattle City Council asked the Washington
State Liquor Control Board to prohibit the sale of certain alcohol
products in an impoverished “Alcohol Impact Area”. Among the products sought to
be banned were over two dozen beers, and six wines: Cisco, Gino’s Premium
Blend, MD 20/20, Night Train, Thunderbird, and Wild Irish Rose.[5] The Liquor Control Board approved these
restrictions on 30 August 2006.[6] The cities of Tacoma, Washington
and Spokane, Washington
also followed suit in instituting “Alcohol Impact Areas” of their own following
Seattle’s example.[7][8]
In popular culture
Flavored fortified wines have
appeared in numerous songs as well as other media forms.
Films
·
Night Train made an appearance in The Blues Brothers (1980), wherein
it caused Jake’s head to hurt.[9]
·
The 1994 feature film Forrest
Gump featured a scene in which Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks),
is told by the wheelchair-bound Lt. Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise)
shortly after they meet for the first time after their military service,
telling him to go get a bottle of Ripple.
·
In the 1996 film Trainspotting, the character Begbie is
seen drinking a bottle of Thunderbird on a bus.
Literature
·
Beat
Generation author Jack Kerouac recounted in Lonesome
Traveler (1960) trading a hobo a bottle of Thunderbird wine for an interview about his
experiences.
·
In Junot
Díaz‘s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar
Wao, Yunior recalls Cisco’s popularity during the 80s and 90s, remarking “Liquid
crack, they used to call it”.
·
In World War Moo, a group of “chavs”
attempt to fight off a gang of pit bulls using Buckfast bottles.
Music
Northern Irish Oi/punk band ‘Runnin’
Riot’ have a song entitled “Buckfast Tonic Wine” with lyrics such as, “God
bless the crazy monks, who keep the water flowing.” Flavored fortified wine
inspired the Guns N’ Roses song “Nightrain“. ZZ Top (on Fandango!),
Seasick
Steve, (on I Started
Out with Nothin and I Still Got Most of It Left), and They Might Be Giants (on The Spine)
have all recorded songs titled “Thunderbird”. The latter drink has been popular
since the 1950s, at which time a popular rhythm and blues lyric went: “What’s
the word? Thunderbird / How’s it sold? Good and cold / What’s the jive? Bird’s
alive / What’s the price? Thirty twice.” Additional songs in this vein include:
·
Rapper Kool G Rap mentions Night Train in the
song “Streets of New York”.
·
“When the Word Was Thunderbird” (1976) by Billy
Joe Shaver.
·
“Wild Irish Rose” (1981) by George Jones “He sits
there holding his wild Irish rose, a song about war veterans/PTSD.
·
“Hard Times” (1971) by Baby Huey speaks of sleeping on motel floors and
drinking Thunderbird.
·
The Beastie
Boys song “Hold It Now, Hit It“ (1986) mentions
Thunderbird in the lyric, “Peter eater parking meter all of the time / If I run
out of ale it’s Thunderbird wine.”
·
In the song “Last Cigarette“ by Dramarama
there is a lyric that includes Thunderbrd. “I throw him a dollar, that’s
exactly what he needs to get another jug of Thunderbird and naturally ask me
for a Last cigarette...”
·
Rock band Clutch
mentions Thunderbird in their song “Worm Drink”.
·
The single “Sweet Gene Vincent“ by Ian Dury and the Blockheads mentions
Thunderbird in the line: “Shall I mourn your decline with some Thunderbird wine
and a black handkerchief.”[10]
·
The song “Three Rings” by Insane Clown Posse also mentions Thunderbird.
·
The Detroit garage rock band The Gories
had a song entitled “Thunderbird ESQ”.
·
Townes
Van Zandt sings a talking blues song reflecting on his experiences with
Thunderbird entitled “Talking Thunderbird Blues”.
·
In the song “Reeko” by NOFX references Cisco
in the line “The Cisco was emptied in to the aquarium, The fish all seem to
float”
·
“Roller Derby Queen” (1973) by Jim Croce
Talks about Ripple Wine that has never seen a grape, made by DuPont. (VTN
Concert 1973)
·
In a song named after it, Teenage
Fanclub describes Mad Dog 20/20 as “the best girl I ever had.”
·
Songwriter Elliott
Smith refers to MD 20/20 wine in the instrumental song “Kiwi Maddog 20/20”,
on his album Roman Candle. He also mentioned Night
Train in the lyrics of the song “See You Later”.
·
Pirate-metal band Alestorm
includes a song entitled “Buckfast Powersmash” on their third LP, referencing Buckfast Tonic Wine.
·
Gangster rapper Freddie
Gibbs refers to Mad Dog 20/20 in his song “Knicks” from his 2014 album Piñata.
·
The song “These Boots” by Eric
Church mentions Wild Irish Rose.
·
The song “Whatcha Got in that Cup” by Thomas
Rhett mentions Mad Dog wine.
·
The song “Wild Irish Rose” by George
Jones mentions Wild Irish Rose.
·
In her song 2004, “The Beer”, Kimya
Dawson refers to drinking Mad Dog and Night Train.
·
The song “Mean Man” by W.A.S.P.
features the lyrics “Mad Dog 20/20’s king, I drink that stuff and start getting
obscene.”
Television
·
The TV series Sanford
& Son often referred to Ripple, as it was Fred
Sanford‘s alcoholic beverage of choice.[11]
Fred would also say he would mix Ripple with champagne and make “Champipple”.
In one episode, Fred stated that he had created a new mixed drink, a
combination of creme de menthe and Ripple, that he had named “Cripple.”
·
An SCTV sketch from the late 1970s
features John
Candy‘s character Johnny LaRue being served Thunderbird in a French
restaurant, when he is unable to afford the more expensive French wines on the
menu.
·
In a 1994 episode of the American comedy series Frasier,
Frasier Crane - a connoisseur of high quality, expensive French wines -
sarcastically quips that Ripple would be his wine of choice if stranded on a
desert island.
·
In his 1996 King
of the Ring acceptance speech, Stone Cold Steve Austin mentions “a cheap
bottle of Thunderbird” to mock the alcoholism of his defeated opponent, Jake “The
Snake” Roberts.
No comments:
Post a Comment