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Jug Wine Goes From American Mainstay To, Well, Hip

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 26, 2007

Jug wine has gathered some retro charm as a few winemakers tweak its down-market persona into something hipper and more contemporary.

The new 'tude toward jug wines has been particularly noticeable at Three Thieves, the California operation that scored big beginning in 2003 with wines served in 1-liter jug bottles.

"We wanted to make a statement against the snobbery in wine and the belief that wine has to look a certain way," the company's Charles Bieler said.

"I've always heard it asserted that Americans make the best jug wine in the world," said Doug Jeffirs, director of wine sales for Binny's Beverage Depot.

Flavor, Page 3

•From the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 to the mid-1970s, jug wines were the only domestic wine available for most Americans.

•Jug wines made in that time frame were simple, often sweet and astonishingly cheap.

•Danny Meyer, with Nielsen's Beverage Alcohol Team, noted jug wines generally are continuing to hold their own in sales.

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