What Was The First Wine Advertisement That You Recall?

[Bill Hunt]

Predicated on a topic in Not About Food - CH, I got to thinking, "what was the first advertising reference to wine, that I recall?"

For me, I think that it was the "Little Old Wine Maker Me," from Swiss Colony. I think it was their French Colombard.

Next was probably Riunete [SP?] and the "Aldo Chelo," bits.

Last, and from about the same circa, were the Harvey's Bristol Creme (usually at/near the Holidays).

What were the first ads, TV, radio, print, that you recall for wines?

Hunt

[montrealeater]

I'm pretty sure the one I remember was for wine. The juice was in a wine bottle shaped bottle and was, IIRC, a rose/dark pink colour. It could have been some kind of sparkling wine? I remember seeing this advertisement during The Young and the Restless soap opera that my mom always watched when I came home from school - no jingle, just a group of upper-middle-class looking white 30-somethings who appeared to live in California, all having a great time drinking. Probably early 90's? Even as a kid, I knew those people were dicks and that I definitely didnt want to drink their crappy wine.

[rozz01]

Martini and Rossi maybe?.....

[SpareRib]

The Babycham ads with the bambi character that ran seemingly non-stop during the holiday season in England during the 60's.

[Motosport]

Ernest and Julio Gallo or the Little old wine maker me?

[Chinon00]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGOr3s...

[Bill Hunt]

Yes, I recall André, and it was most often their "Cold Duck," that was most prominent.

Thanks for the link,

Hunt

[JmVikmanis]

Fun thread. When my husband and I and our long-time travel companions get in our cups while traveling, inevitably we return to our favorite ancient wine commercial;
Temple wine is fine
Serve it when you dine
For eating or treating
Make it Temple Wine

[Bill Hunt]

Jim,

"Temple Wine?" That is a new one to me, and I though (at my advanced age), I knew most of them. Hey, guess that I am not "too old to learn."

Thanks for playing along,

Hunt

[Withnail42]

I remember the Orson Wells commercial.

There was one for Blue Nun. Which featured said blue nuns picking grapes on a hillside.

There was also a very dramatic one for Black Tower.

[Ralphie_in_Boston]

The Black Tower one had a girl sitting on a picnic blanket holding a peach, while the guy poured the wine....quite artsy-fartsy lol

[Bill Hunt]

Glad that this old post has regained a bit of life. As many of us, relate wine ads on TV to the Holidays, it seems appropriate.

Hunt

[Akitist]

Man oh Manischevitz, Italian Swiss Colony, and Arthur Shields from Asti, California (but for the life of me I can't recall the brand). That was parodied as I'm Arthur Asti from Shields, California" in a drunken slur.

[sunshine842]

It was only a spoof played for laughs, but does anyone else remember the Heinie Wine commercials?

[pprairie]

Orson Welles did the Paul Masson commercials "We shall sell no wine before its time" and another fantastic voice did the Gallo spots "... because the wine remembers". I can't remember his name. He was also the voice of National Geographic specials. I met Welles once and asked him if it was true that he did all the Masson spots and the other guy (whose name I can't remember) did all the Gallo spots, and he said, "That's right son, the voice of God is all locked up."

[rozz01]

hell yeah

[pprairie]

With Google's help, I found it. Alexander Scourby was the Gallo narrator who said "...because the wine remembers." The music, the visuals, and that incredible voice. Fabulous. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.

[jmckee]

Sammy Davis Jr.: "Manischewitz, Man oh man oh what a wine!"

[jcmods]

All my faves are mentioned here (Man O Man, Inglenook, Boones Farm, Andre Cold Duck, Paul Masson, Almaden....getting a good picture of the average american's wine cellar in the 1970's....WOOF!)

Anyway, here is one that no one mentioned. I didn't even know how to spell it until just now.
Giacobazzi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSfyHR...

JACKO-BOTZI

[kattyeyes]

HA HA! That's a blast from the past--Giacobazzi! Remember the jingle, "Make friends, make friends with Giacobazzi!" I tried to find it, but no dice.

Meantime, check out this Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill commercial. "Hello, young lovers!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhWgFG...

[jcmods]

Oh my god. All this after posting old ads for the Nevele and Mt. Airy Lodge on facebook. I believe I am in a 1970's time warp. If you are from the NY area you will get it. Lots of shots of big haired people drinking white wine and sitting in champagne glass shaped hot tubs.

[LindaWhit]

LOL! Ahh, yes, growing up in northern NJ, I remember the various Mt. Airy Lodge commercials very well!

Just found another ad - the Gallo Pink Chablis. Oy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxgPem...

[jcmods]

"This is not a wine for drinking, this is a wine for laying down and avoiding."
Monty Python
This thread has been a much needed source of laughter in rough times. Thanks!

[Bill Hunt]

You have made my humble efforts worthwhile with that comment!

Thanks - I needed that,

Hunt

[shaogo]

Right around the time Martini & Rossi was doing their thing and before Bartles and James came along, Fu-Ki plum wine had a presence on NY Metropolitan area television. I also fondly recall "man-oh-Manischewitz" and Sammy Davis, Jr.

The most memorable booze ad of all time, for me, wasn't for wine... it's "Smirnoff leaves you breathless." So smart on so many different levels.

[cuccubear]

Nothing new here, first ads I remember were for:

Martini and Rossi Asti Spumonti
Paul Masson with Orson Welles

But reading through this has really brought back a lot of memories!

[chef chicklet]

Andre Cold Duck for the holidays! Ick and I drank it!

[Joel Axelrod]

The first wine commercial that I can remember seeing was on our Hoffman "Easy-Eye Vision" Black and white tv...Barry Fitzgerald's brother, Arthur Shields, saying "You just can't miss with Italian Swiss...Italian Swiss Colony Wine." We used to sell a bottle of Festival Wine's Tokay in our Venice Boardwalk grocery store for 19 cents...that was the local wino's favorite.
One of the first commercials that I performed in as a young actor in the 1970's was as a recruit readying for boot camp and being screamed at by a vicious drill instructor played by Len Lesser (crazy Uncle Leo on Seinfeld). I was rescued by General "Bull" Apple, a Teddy Roosevelt spokesman/icon for Boone's Farm Apple Wine...played by Roger Carmel (the space trader, Harry Mudd, on Star Trek). I later did tv spots for Olympia Beer (seen on Youtube "Olympia Beer, Bus").

[ChefJune]

I don't remember which came first, "You just can't miss with Italian Swiss...Italian Swiss Colony Wine." or the Little Old Winemaker. but I'm pretty sure both precede the Mateus Rosé commercial, or the Lancer's by quite a few years. Somewhere in between was "We shall sell no wine before its time..." Oy!

[EclecticEater]

Asti Spumanti was the first. Then Mateus, then Stiller and Meara with Blue Nun. Swiss Colony was in there somewhere. Those were the very early ones.

[charlestonfoodiegal]

I guess it would have to be "Bartyles and James" for me. It seemed so sophisticated from the eyes of a 5 year old! :)

[mnosyne]

"Say it again...Virginia Dare." A LOOOOONNNNG time ago.

[zin1953]

Right. In 1933, the first "singing" commercial for wine on radio . . .

[jlawrence01]

Roma Wines of Fresno, CA was the sponsor of Orson Welles' Suspense program as early as 1943.

Considering that the US wine market was decimated by Prohibition (repealed in 1933), I would think that the Roma Wine ad was one of the earliest.

What ever happened to Roma Wine?

[zin1953]

It's a bit frightening to realize that both the father and an uncle of famed Berkeley wine importer Kermit Lynch both worked for Roma . . .

Roma was founded by John Battista Cella and his brother, Lorenzo. they came to the US in 1898 from the town of Bardi in northern Italy. After working in New York restaurants, they got into the wholesale grocery buisness and became quite successful. In 1916, Battista came to California and bought the Scatena wineries in Lodi (their headquarters), Manteca, and in Healdsburg. Lorenzo remained in New York City to sell the wines.

Through Prohibition, they survived making Sacramental wines. After Prohibition, the Cellas moved their winery from Lodi into the old Santa Lucia Winery in Fresno, and renamed it Roma. In 1942, Schenley Distillers bought Roma (and Cresta Blanca, by the way).

The Cellas reentered the wine business, but Roma remained a Schenley brand until Guild Wineries & Distilleries bought it in 1970.

FWIW, at one point, Roma owned Greystone in the Napa Valley. In 1945, The Christian Brothers began to lease a portion of the building from Roma, and bought it outright in 1950. They used to for Charmat-process sparkling wines until it closed, later to re-open as home to the Culinary Institute of America's Napa Valley campus and home to the Wine Spectator's restaurant . . .

For a look at an old Roma ad, check out http://www.tias.com/3943/PictPage/192...

[jlawrence01]

From my little research (and a 1943 Time article), it appears that the distillers were looking to buy the entire wine industry.

[Bill Hunt]

Jason,

I recall Guild Wines, but the rest is news to me. Thanks for the info!

Interesting about Greystone. I've done the dining, and the tours, but do not recall any of this, in the history lesson.

Always appreciated,

Hunt

[penthouse pup]

In the late 1970s, Monseiur Henri wines sponsored absurd radio ads in NYC for Premiat wines (Romanian cabernet)--A "french" voice claimed, "Zis vine must be French!" and
an "American" voice responded, "No, It's Premiat." Used to retail for about $1.99 and was
sad stuff...

Inglenook also in the early 1980's used a radio jingle, "When the thought is from the heart, let be Inglenook" or something to that effect.

[ClaireWalter]

"What's the word? Thunderbird."

[kenito799]

Riunite on ice...was the first one that popped into my mind...

No one has mentioned the somewhat sinister ads for "Black Tower" riesling...

[zin1953]

FWIW, Black Tower was Liebfraumilch, and never sold as Riesling. Indeed, it wasn't, and eventually when on to lose the ability to call itself Liebfraumilch.

[oakjoan]

I remember we used to call it "leapfrogmilk" and laugh hysterically.

[zin1953]

Frog's Leap Winery (in the Napa Valley) used to MAKE "Leapfrögmilch" -- now they make "Frögenbeerenauslese."

[Bill Hunt]

I'm not sure who wins the "Play on Words Award," John Willams of Randall Grahm.

Hunt

[fussycouple]

Andre Cold Duck at Christmas.
Boone's Farm Strawberry Wine
Riunite On Ice.
Ernest and Julio Gallo's Hearty Burgandy
Inglenook
Martini & Rossi Asti
Something about Lancer's but I don't remember the words, just the bottle.
Manechevitz

are the first ones I remember.

No, wait, I remember MD20/20, Thunderbird and Wild Irish Rose, and Night Train! But maybe those were local ads...

[MagnumWino]

This is a great thread. All of these remembered commercials bring back fond memories of that era in which I grew up. That was a great time.

[meatn3]

Cold Duck - the name just seemed so intriguing to me as a child. The image in my mind just didn't seem to go with the image projected by the commercials!

I had many food related interests from t.v. then. Growing up in Fl. there were many references to "cake" canaveral - I was sure it must be like the witches house that Hansel & Gretel found. Took me a few years to figure that one out! Busch beer also held my interest because of the majestic Clydesdales

[Caroline1]

Well, I can't remember for sure if they were the earliest wine commercials I ever heard (doubt it) or just the ones I liked best at the time. Can't remember all the details, and they may have been regional to the SF Bay area, but there were a whole bunch of radio and TV spots about "Sonapa-noma-mendocino" wines. It was a tongue twister play on the Napa Sonoma Mendocino regional vinyards of Northern California, where the wines produced aren't too shabby!

As I said, a lot of the details are failing to flood back to me, but I think it was a PR campaign sponsored by all of the vinters of those regions. "Sonapa-noma-mendocino" has stayed with me. The details have not.

[zin1953]

Caroline,

The "Sonapa-noma-mendocino" as NOT done by "all the vintners of those regions. As mentioned above, it was an ad campaign by Italian Swiss Colony featuring "that little, ol' winemaker -- me."

Italian Swiss Colony was attempting to tout the fact that their wines were grown along California's north coast, rather than the Central Valley such as their chief rival, Gallo. That said, at one point in the 1960s, Gallo was using one-third of all the grapes grown in each county -- Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino -- respectively. In the late-1970s, Gallo pulled out of Napa and focused on Sonoma exclusively.

Cheers,
Jason

[Caroline1]

LOL! So much for long term product identification with some consumers, anyway. Thanks for the details, Jason. I don't remember anything at all about Italian Swiss Colony from the commercials. It would seem that "Sonapa-noma-mendocino" ain't no "Plop, plop. Fizz, fizz!" '-)

[manomin]

"Aldo Aldo"......"Chill a Cella" - Aldo Cello.

[sunshine842]

ROFL - I'd nearly forgotten that one.

[MC Slim JB]

Jingle: "When you open your heart, open the Lancer's."

[ChefJune]

Two came immediately to mind....

"That little old winemaker, Me!" and "We will sell no wine before its time." (LOL)

[Angela Roberta]

I loved the beautiful shots of vineyards and Vangelis music for the (a Google search tells me) Gallo wine. At some point, were liquor ads banned from TV? I vaguely recall being miffed about losing these lovely commercials.

The Inglenook commercials were always as cozy and appealing as the name. And I'm not even sure I knew what the word meant back then.

Was it Madria Madria Sangria? Some female member of the family did the commercials. Yago Sangria advertised, too, but I can't recall those spots.

André's "champagne" had a wonderful Christmas commercial, with the clinks of glasses set to a carol. "Christmas Is Here"? Always looked forward to the return of that one each December.

Burt Bachrach and Angie Dickinson for Martini & Rossi. "Say yes, yes, to Martini & Rossi on the rocks."

I remember a whole series of commercials for Harvey's Bristol Cream. Apparently, serving it on the rocks would get a girl to come up to your apartment.

Aldo Cella. Chill a Cella.

"Sono Franco Bolla." Which, when I was taking Italian, was kind of amusing, as it almost sounds like "I am a postage stamp."

[Bill Hunt]

You are correct. The song is Vangelis' "Hymn," though with a slightly different arrangement, than on his CD ("Opera Sauvage," IIRC). When we first heard the score, three of us immediately screamed, "Vangelis," and went in search of the CD. It took months for it to hit the shelves, in Colorado.

Do not recall the Inglenook, though I have scored some of their older (much older) Cabs, which were amazing. Obviously, things changed dramatically.

Hunt

[kattyeyes]

OMG, thank you...Madria Madria Sagria. Another childhood favorite! Hey, the jingles were catchy and fun to sing! I wish I could find the clip of their commercial with "Come on over, we're having a party!" The town across the river from my hometown had (still has) a big, stone wall with "COME ON OVER" painted on it. When I was a kid, I thought it was an advertisement for the sangria.

This is all I could find. If someone can find the one with the "Come on over" song, that would make my day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prMihD...

[dave_c]

Due to it's funny name, when I was young I remember an advertisement for "Cold Duck."
I don't even know what that is or if it's still being made.

[Midlife]

YES! This is the one that popped into my head too. "Andre For The Holidays!" it said. A quick Google has it around 1975. Seems like Mateus and Gallo should be older than that.

[mpalmer6c]

Don't recall for sure, but it might have been Mogen David. This was before we moved to the Bay Area and learned about wine.

[MagnumWino]

It wouldn't have been Christmas without the Andre Cold Duck commercials.

[Bill Hunt]

Ah, yes, how could I forget those.

Thanks,
Hunt

[chef chicklet]

Yes that is the first that came to my mind. Then it went to Black Velvet, which isn't wine, but I really loved that commercial!

[adamshoe]

Hey, hey, hey.....Mateus Rose. Also loved the Stiller and Meara shtick for Blue Nun. What was the wine Sammy Davis Jr. used to shill for...?
P.S. " Everybody knows...Wild Irish Rose" (not ro-zay, but rose like the flower) No, that's not the answer to the Sammy question.

[bigbob]

How about Annie Green Springs and Boones Farm along with Mogan David and MD2020 Ahhh the late 60's what fun!

[Fydeaux]

There was a National Lampoon Radio Show spoof of the Green Spring/Boones wines in the 70s with a James Taylor soundalike singing:

"Oh my favourite juice is
Mother Goose's
Sweet Potato Sparkling Wine

Let's get loose
on Mother Goose's
Sweet Potato Sparkling Wine"

It makes my tongue curl up and retreat to the back of my throat just thinking about it!

[Bill Hunt]

Back in the day, long before I became the wine snob, that I am, I used to drink some quantity of Annie Green Springs, as it's acid level was lower than the comperable Boone's Farm product (note that I did not say wine).

I do not recall a TV commercial for either, but that might have just been my sheltered life.

So there you have my wine (?) evolution: Mogen David/ManOmanochevitz [joke], to Boone's Farm, then to Annie Green Springs, then to an OZ product (or so it seemed - never read the fine print), Matilda Bay (bag in a box, and it had to have Viognier & Muscat - can you say Conundrum?), then Mateus & Lancer's, and finally, the monster was born!

Hunt

[coney with everything]

I remember the Orson Welles and Tyrolia commercials--Trink, trink, trink Tyrolia, trink es wieder!

My god, Annie Green Springs! I consumed a bottle or two of that myself.

Best cheap wine memory is from being at the University of Michigan football games in the 70's. After halftime, where the Wolverines almost inevitably were beating some poor opponent by 50-0, the students got bored and started chanting "BOONES Farm! BOONES Farm", whereupon we passed all the empty bottles to the top of the stadium. To this day I have no idea where those bottles ultimately went.

Dreadful plonk, wasn't it.

[pine time]

Lancer's--was that the one in an opaque squat bottle? I remember thinking that drinking that chablis was the ultimate of sophistication. Well, maybe it was for a 15 year old me!

[Bill Hunt]

The brownish bottle was their Rosé, but have no idea Rosé of what. The green bottle was a white, and again, I have no idea what the varietal was.

We did a lot of Lancers, having moved "up" from Mateus... [Grin]

Hunt

[zin1953]

The Rosé was, in all likelihood, made from Periquita -- overwhelmingly, if not exclusively. The white was probably Arinto, Malvasia, and possibly some Roupeiro and/or Rabo de Ovelha.

[Bill Hunt]

Thank you for the probable historical breakdown. I cannot recall ANY mention of a varietal, but that was way back, when it was not common, even in the US.

Thanks,

Hunt

[PrincessBakesALot]

And "cinnamon apple in my Zapple, wine is on my mind"!
I don't think Boone's Farm paid for a jingle!
I think Annie Greensprings was the first "wine" I ever drank in high school!

[JasmineG]

I can't remember which came first, the "sell no wine before it's time" ads, or the Ernest and Julio Gallo ones, but the latter was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw this thread.

[markabauman]

Man-oh-man-oh-shevitz

[Veggo]

Thanks, Mark!
Veggo

[Bill Hunt]

Hey, that was one of the two most common "wines," around my house, but I do not recall the ads. Maybe the South was not considered an appropriate market.

Hunt

[zin1953]

"Man, oh man, oh Manischevwitz" -- featuring Sammy Davis Jr. for their White Cream Concord!

[Fydeaux]

I cant remember if "Amoretto" was a Mogen David or a Manischewitz product, but I remember Sammy Davis Jr singing the jingle to the tune of "Alouetta".

[melly]

Yes..Man oh man...that one!

Mogen David wine...always a bottle in the house, way up in the cupboard. God, I am old.

[kkak97]

Blue Nun - the wine you can serve with anything.
They also had radio adds that were (I think) with Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.
They were classic!

[Ruth Lafler]

Those Blue Nun ads *were* funny. And yeah, it was Stiller and Meara.

I ran a google search on those ads and found the following in the NYTimes: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage...

[rozz01]

Those started a psychotic fascination w/Anne Meara, at least for a kid only in junior high!! LOL

[Fydeaux]

Does vermouth count?

I clearly remember "Say 'Yes' to Martini & Rossi on the rocks" from the mid-60s. This was kept alive for quite a while, and sometime in the 70s, Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson did this song in a M&R commercial.

[Bill Hunt]

Oh yes, Vermouth counts. Had forgotten that one.

Hunt

[kattyeyes]

God, yeahhhhhh! Stay with this clip, the quality improves after the first couple of seconds.

I was 6 when this commercial came out and my friends and I loved to sing, "Martini and Rossi on the rocks, say yes!" and then the sexy, "Yeahhhhhhhhhh!" after that. It was a big hit both on the playground and on the bus. HA HA HA!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBLMbJ...

[buttertart]

Jeez! all this time I've been misremembering that as RIUNITE on the rocks...check this swell Riunite commercial from 1982 out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7JEjb...
Yes we used to dress like that in the 70's and 80's. And party!

[Ruth Lafler]

The first one that popped into my head was Mateus Rose -- which also had an ear-catching jingle. But yeah, Little Old Winemaker would have been about the same vintage (pardon the pun) and that Orson Welles/Paul Masson spot was famous (or infamous).

[manomin]

Exactly! I immediately heard "hey hey hey Mateus Rose"......too.
I even remember drinking it when I was 13.....I've since evolved!

[romansperson]

I remember the Canei wine ads - I think that was one of the first wines to ever have a twist-off cap ...

[kewpie]

Canei? yes you can, anytime

[Ralphie_in_Boston]

The Ernest and Julio Gallo spots.

[Kelli2006]

It was either E&J Gallo or the wine cooler adverts.

[LStaff]

Martini and Rossi Asti Spumante

[LindaWhit]

Definitely the "Riunite on ice? That's nice!" ad.

Looks like it was a late 70s/early 80s ad.

http://riunite.com/americas_best.php

[burlgurl]

just found the 'Spamanti Bambino!" ad I referenced above on you tube..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6aNHt...

[zin1953]

And let's not forget

"What's the word?"
"Thunderbird!"

[Bill Hunt]

I used to hear that a lot down on Camp Street, but that was years ago. I doubt that the folk down there, even know of Thunderbird, but could be wrong.

"What's the price? Thirty twice."

Hunt

[zin1953]

Check out Thunderbird's TV commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTDEpS...

[Bill Hunt]

New one to me. I also do not think that any of the folk in that commercial would have been caught dead on Camp St. Now, Club 77 on S. Claiborne, well, that's another story. I also think that the denizens on Camp St were totally off of everyone's demographic list, but could be wrong. Now, I did see a few mixing Katz & Bestoff's "Purple Lable Gin," with T'bird. One offered me a taste, but I declined. Good thing, as I have lived a healthy life for another 40 years.

Hunt

[olivethegreat]

Definitely "Riuniti on ice, Riuniti so nice...Riuniti, Riuniti!"

I think I was about five when that jingle played over and over. Had no idea what it was for but...

[firecooked]

"we will sell no wine before it's time"

[Leonardo]

...thus sayeth Orson Welles regarding Paul Masson. Was it the hearty burgundy? That is my earliest memory too.

[mengathon]

On radio, Clos du Bois, Sonoma County, with a man badly mimicking a French accent.

And another radio spot. A traveler asks how to get to Napa County, she's given directions to a local market or butcher, and a short recipe with a wine pairing. I'm pretty sure that was Beringer.

Saw my first Nicolas Feuillatte billboard recently in NYC.

[livetocook]

The first thing that popped in my head was Hochtaler early 80s. I remember this lady in a leotard suit with top hat and cane sing a song. Catchie tune

.....haha I just found it on youtube!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB2_Ku...

man that bring back memories.

[Bill Hunt]

Wow, that is a new one to me. Reminded me of Madeline Kahn in "Young Frankenstein." Maybe a regional thing.

Thanks for sharing and for the URL.

Hunt

[Blush]

That was the first thing I thought of too. I wanted to be her for Halloween when I was little but my parents wouldn't let me! ;)

[Bill Hunt]

Now, just think how they'd love to have a VHS of you in that role! Let the kids express themselves, but keep the video cam close....

Hunt

[Honeychan]

I'm not a huge wine-drinker, but clearly remember seeing the ads for Blue Nun wines as a kid. I thought is was highly amusing, that a religious figure was hawking wine. Of course, I was probably 5 years old, too!! *LOL*

[burlgurl]

"Spamanti Mantino, Pamanti Mantino! That's my vino..Wow!" is the first that comes to mind..it was an 80's commercial with a women in a cocktail dress singing..

Second is a Piat Dior wine commercial..she's french and remembering.."Moi, mais amis..et me vin prefora..La Piat Dior"..

[monkuboy]

I was just thinking about that "Little Old Wine Maker" ad the other day. That's the first one and the other one I thought of was Orson Welles, about serving no wine before its time.

[Bill Hunt]

Ah, the Orson Welles ads. I had forgotten about those. I think I purchased my first black turtleneck sweater, after those...

Was that E & J Gallo?

Thanks,

Hunt

[zin1953]

Paul Masson: "We will sell no wine before its time." Problem was he was using Emerald Dry -- a wine that was in the bottle within six months.

I, too, remember "that little ol' winemaker, me" from Italian Swiss Colony, but rather than French Colombard, I remember him having trouble saying, "Sonapa-Noma" in trying to sell their "Napa-Sonoma-Mendocino" jug wine. Also he was selling "Tyrolia" . . .

The ads Jerry Stiller and Ann Meara did for Blue Nun were classics! Indeed, much funnier -- but less ironic -- than Adam "Batman" West and ZsaZsa Gabor advertising Weibel Green Hungarian . . .

Harvey's Bristol Cream -- and Dry Sack -- were the two sherries that were advertised annually.

Almaden did a lot of print ads for their half-gallon Grenache Rosé.

[KevinB]

The late John Candy did a fabulous spoof of this on Second City TV. After delivering the Welles schtick, he looked off camera, and asked "What time is it? Six o'clock? It's time!".

[Bill Hunt]

Thanks Jason, I knew that E&J Gallo did not ring true.

I do recall the Stiller & Meara Blue Nun bits. But both the Weibel Green Hungarian and the Dry Sack (only recall the Bristol Cream) were either not aired in my region, or I have just forgotten them. Same with the Almaden.

Hunt

[zin1953]

Dry Sack starred Frank Gifford (New York Giants, ABC's Monday Night Football) drinking Dry Sack on the rocks instead of Scotch!

Oh, and let's not forget Bartles & Jaymes! Thank you for your support.

I think Adam West and Zsa Zsa may have been a radio campaign, the more I think about it . . .

[Bill Hunt]

Now, the B&J commercials with the "older gents," were priceless. I do not recall the actors, if I ever knew their names, but think they might have been "character actors," from that circa.

Do not recall Frank Gifford and the Dry Sack commercials. Depending on the era, I was either in New Orleans, or Denver. Most likely NOLA, as it was never considered a national market for much of anything. In Denver, we were the test market for so very much, back in the '80s & '90s. I would assume that it is still similar, as the demographic is good for marketing/advertising.

Thanks,

Hunt