Ray's Station, Wine For Men

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Mar 29th 2006 at 8:00AM

Wine marketers are getting more and more savvy about positioning wines for various target groups. We've seen wines aimed at women, the carb-conscious and the latest trend seems to be wine for manly men. Back in January, we covered the Jarhead Red Marine wine and just yesterday, we mentioned a new wine with the man-friendly name of Used Automobile Parts. Now the Associated Press has the story on Ray's Station, a Sonoma County winemaker has created a merlot and a cabernet sauvignon that are hoping to appeal to men. The wines have simple packaging with a non-girly galloping stallion. Their ad campaign features the winery's namesake John G. Ray in Marlboro-Man-like settings saying "John G. Ray did not serve pinot noir," a dig at the pinot-loving Miles in the movie Sideways. At $15 a bottle, the wines aren't for the wine-savvy crowd but for the barbecuing dad who wants to have a nice tasting wine without having to learn about terroir and varietals.

Tags: cabernet sauvignon, california wine, merlot, ray's station, Ray'sStation, sonoma wine, wine, wine advertising, wine marketing

Filed under: Wine

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Luc Paquin Mar 29th 2006 4:07PM

What does having a nice tasting wine has to do with knowing varietals, vintages, or terroir? You can appreciate and find great tasting wines without knowing anything about wine. If you taste it and you like it, it is a nice tasting wine, and knowing more details about it does not make it better tasting.

Lucito

Pumuckel Salzstreuer Apr 3rd 2006 9:39AM

While I find the news interesting, the assumptions towards the end of the article seem inconsistent. A $15 wine can absolutely appeal to a wine connoiseur, possibly not from California, but from many other parts of the world. Hot tipps to thhat end would be Southafrica, Argentina, Mexico, Austria, Southern Italy or Southern France. OTOH I would contest that 'barbecuing dad who wants to have a nice tasting wine without having to learn about terroir and varietals' wouldn't absolutely appreciate a Latour or Shafer Cab or Hill of Grace by Henschke - just give him a chance. Learning about terroir and varietal serves one important purpose besides scholarly ways: to help you select a wine you probably like without having it tasted before. That is, as long as the region the wine is from hasn't been Parkerized...