Remembering Ripple: The ‘Wine’ That Walked So FMBs Could Fly

Anyone not living under a rock for the past 10 years has likely encountered High Noon, White Claw, and, more recently, BeatBox. These spirit-, malt-, and wine-based, flavored beverages are now standard fare at bars, house parties, and beach hangouts. But like many beverages we enjoy these days, they represent the evolution of other drinks that have come and gone in decades past. And perhaps the most important egg that broke to make the omelette that is now the “flavored malt beverages” category was Ripple.

Beloved by the flower children of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Ripple was a fruity, cheap, wine-adjacent offering. It may not sound like anything special by today’s standards, but at the time, the world had never seen anything quite like it. Truth be told, if it wasn’t for Ripple, we might have never seen the genesis of Bartles & Jaymes, Zima, Bud Light Lime-A-Ritas, or even White Claw.

What Was Ripple?

Ripple was a carbonated, fortified, artificially flavored wine product produced by E.& J. Gallo from 1960 to 1984. By many accounts, it was incredibly sweet, having been concocted with a medley of fruits, artificial flavoring and coloring agents, and sugar. The first expression of Ripple was the fittingly ambiguous “Red” flavor, later followed by the rollout of “Pear” and “Pagan Pink” in the early-to-mid ‘60s. Why it was called Ripple is unclear, but it could be a nod to the rippling effect caused by the beverage’s carbonation.

Ripple arrived on the heels of Thunderbird, a similar higher-octane, wine-based beverage that E. & J. Gallo debuted in 1957. But Ripple was different. Unlike Thunderbird, Ripple was aimed at a younger clientele with early ads touting it as “a new drink for lively people,” “the wine that winks back at you,” and a drink with “ring-a-ding flavor” — whatever that means.

Strange ads aside, Ripple was a hit right from the beginning. E. & J. Gallo released it just as hippie counter culture was starting to take shape, and there were droves of young drinkers searching for a beverage that would separate their tastes from their parents’. While the older generation was preoccupied with macro beers and increasingly dry Martinis, the youths were getting down with bubbly, sweet bottles of 11-percent-ABV Ripple.

A Pop Culture Icon

In the early ‘60s, E. & J. Gallo also unleashed Boone’s Farm, an apple-based wine product that clocked in at a more modest 5- to 7.5-percent ABV depending on the flavor. While Boone’s Farm would eventually leap-frog Ripple in sales over the following decades, Ripple enjoyed substantial success throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s, earning it a staggering number of mentions in pop culture across many mediums and music genres.

“Vintage Dead,” a 1970 live album by the Grateful Dead, featured a bottle of Ripple on its album cover. In his 1976 track, “Spanish Moss,” the late folk artist Gordon Lightfoot sings, “Georgia pine and Ripple wine / memories of Savannah summertime.” Even British hard rock group Motörhead shouted out the beverage in its 1982 song “America,” as did rapper Eazy-E in his 1988 track “Still Talkin’,” a sign that Ripple’s cultural impact persisted through the decades.

Arguably the most iconic pop cultural support for Ripple came from Fred Sanford of the popular 1970s sitcom “Sanford and Son.” In several episodes, Sanford professes his love for the beverage and coins a number of ragtag Ripple cocktails, such as Champipple (Champagne and Ripple), Manischipple (Manischewitz and Ripple), and Cripple (cream and Ripple). He even compares Sangria to Ripple at one point, taking a sip of the former and saying, “It tastes good — tastes like Ripple that’s gone flat. In fact, they should call it ‘Flapple.’”

Despite its traction on TV and radio, Ripple’s production in the real world would soon come to a screeching halt.

Why Did E. & J. Gallo Kill Ripple?

The beverage corporation never explained why exactly it discontinued Ripple in 1984. According to an article published in Modern Drunkard Magazine, “some alcohol historians claim Ripple was ruthlessly purged in an attempt by Gallo to clean up its image.” This theory does have some legs, as E. & J. Gallo started selling wine with cork closures in 1974 and released its first vintage-dated Cabernet Sauvignon in 1983. Meanwhile, Ripple was reportedly “available in vending machines in gas stations.”

However, the theory that Gallo wanted to revamp its public perception doesn’t entirely add up. Even upon Ripple’s initial release, the parent company never put its name on the flavored wine’s label, so average consumers weren’t aware that Ripple was a Gallo product. On top of that, Gallo continued to produce its other flavored, bottom-shelf offerings like Thunderbird long after Ripple bit the dust. Hell, Boone’s Farm is still available to this day.

So why did Gallo kill off Ripple? We will probably never know for sure, but it was likely due to fading popularity against other products in the company’s portfolio. The once-young hippies were aging into other beverages, Boone’s Farm was cutting in on Ripple’s market share, and Gallo unveiled its brand of single-serving wine coolers, Bartles & Jaymes, just a few years before it did away with Ripple. Perhaps the beverage conglomerate simply scrapped the brand so that it could focus on Ripple’s more promising siblings.

Regardless, 30 years after the drink was discontinued, The Drinks Business reported that unopened bottles of Ripple were valued at $150 to $200 — a stark increase from its original list price of $1, even with inflation factored in. Clearly there are still some folks out there who have nostalgia for the much-bemoaned beverage.

To give credit where it’s due, Ripple walked so that the FMBs of today could fly. It was a wine cooler before the term existed. And it shaped the way many of us drank, and still drink, even though it’s long gone.

*Image retrieved from Ripple Wine Bar via Facebook

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