Wineries

BERKELEY, Calif. — Cal Dennison likes a nice glass of chardonnay. And he’s man enough to admit it.

That’s hardly surprising since Dennison is winemaker at the Modesto-based Redwood Creek winery, but is he an exception?

Judging by some marketing campaigns, you might think so. Take the Super Bowl ad that ran a couple years back in which men invited to a wine and cheese party sneaked into the kitchen for beer.

It was a stereotype played for laughs but maybe one with a crumb of cultural truth. The designator for "average dude” in political campaigning last fall was Joe Six-pack, not Peter Pinot Noir.

A Gallup Poll from last July found that among women who drink, 43 percent say wine is what they drink most often and 28 percent say beer. Among men who drink, 58 percent say beer is what they drink most often and 17 percent say wine.

Wine companies would like to change that. In the past few years some have adopted guy-friendly marketing with tie-ins to red-blooded pastimes like camping and racing.

Take Maximus, a blend of cabernet sauvignon, syrah and merlot introduced by the Bennett Lane Winery in Calistoga a few years back. Bennett Lane, which owns a NASCAR team, is sponsoring a NASCAR West event at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., this Father’s Day weekend.

Then there’s "The Slammer,” a syrah from Big House wines (their Soledad winery is near a California state prison), that features a back label showing a tough-looking guy wearing pants slung at plumber level.

Redwood Creek doesn’t define itself by gender — the outdoors isn’t solely a male preserve — but it is sold under a campaign strong on muscular pursuits; corks are emblazoned with GPS coordinates leading to various hiking spots.

"Without a doubt, we start with the great outdoors,” said Dennison. "If you decide to bring a little wine on an outdoor adventure, by golly, Redwood Creek is the wine of choice.”



by the associated press